Tiered prizemoney in Victoria for new racing season

[Amlin]

Press release available today regarding prizemoney changes for next season - the Industry Advisory Council involved in this also in their early stages


http://www.harness.org.au/news-artic...?news_id=29294

[gutwagon]

To me this looks like it will make the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Seemed to be rushed through before the new board takes over ! Three times as many restricted races.

[aussiebreno]

Not saying its perfect but I like it. Only downside is a good horse being put in a $3500 race and having an easy kill. Gives horses running midfield collecting also run cheques a chance to get winners/place cheques. Rewards higher quality horses with higher prizemoney. Getting the right mix of meetings will be a bit of a juggling act as well.

[Messenger]

Any chance we will have less nights like tonight at Ballarat

Here are the odds for 6 of the winners
$1.04
$1.04
$1.20
$1.20
$1.30
$1.30

(Favourites had a good day at Maryborough too with 7wins and a second, but only 3 of them were odds on)

[Messenger]

We have 9 races for Melton's metro program tonight but the prizemoney total only comes to $110k
(Maryborough Cup on Sunday is no excuse - we are STRUGGLING)

[Showgrounds]

Think I expressed similar sentiment some months back but got howled down by higher authorities for my condemnation of the halving of stakemoney for the Victoria Cup.

[gutwagon]

We have more prizemoney this season than ever before ! They are clearly going for quantity over quality. Trying to run as many small $ races as possible even if they only have 6 runners. Horses will have to race more often and travel more to pay their way. I don't see how this will help in the long run !

[Messenger]

Yes Rick, that was the gist of the CEO's talk when he toured Vic - HRV do just as well out of $3500 races (bad luck trainers and owners)

[gutwagon]

If they don't start using that extra turnover to bring owners, breeders and trainers back to the industry they are just wasting their time. They are going to run out of horses very quickly !

[Messenger]

I received the following info from CEO David Martin (David will always reply to your email folks)

"Importantly, Victorian Trots are once again growing, with 5 months in a row now of double digit growth and individual horse numbers up approx. 6% for the last 6 months. We listened to the industry and have been making changes. Our financial performance will continue to improve and that will support our desire to add a bit more variety into our racing mix."