Thanks for posting that Kevin. I've joined the Harness Racing Forum and will aim to make contributions from time to time.
It's great to see you interacting with industry supporters David, through all of the various channels.While I'm from WA so much of what you talk about doesn't really affect our horses, it definitely gives me a feeling that you're thinking of the little guys
Thanks Katie. The 'little guys' have been a significant focus for HRV in recent months. They play a really important role in the sport, and I know from my discussions with many of them how tough they're doing it. Initiatives like the $750 bonus for any horse winning a $3500 or $5000 race in September and October will hopefully helped a few, along with other races such as the 2.02 race (can only enter if your horse has an average time of 2.02 or worse for it's last 5 starts) or the other race whereby you can only enter if as a trainer you had 2 or less wins in the prior season. If you or others have ideas that we can consider, we'd love to hear them.
I don't know what your advertising budget is like but I wonder whether getting a couple of young social media influencers along to a night or two will help raise awareness and the profile of the trots amongst younger audiences.
I think having 2 meetings (a day and a night) whenever there is a Mildura meet is worth considering as IMO a Mildura meet is the equivalent of an interstate meet to many Vics - you just have to run your eyes down the Trainer column to see that they are a whole different group
http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fie...s/?mc=ML211117
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Surprising/ridiculous to think a $7k C0 at Swan Hill tonight would end up with only 4 going around
http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fie...ic#FDC19121705
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
I still don't think the prizemoney for an M0 in Victoria is enough at $16k. We have some C0 races for $10k
I know for trainers and owners, it is about picking the most profitable path for your horse and therefore they may not be concerned but IMO a metro win should be a big deal
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
$1,000 bonus on offer
http://www.harness.org.au/media-room...?news_id=36916
Personally I would rather see $3,500 meetings that are the sole meet for the day become $5,000 meets (eg Bendigo today)
To me, $3,500 races are almost an embarrassment when you consider the cost of living nowadays
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Agreed Kevin but I can't see it happening .Originally Posted by Messenger
If the 3.5k races are really for the battlers I would like them to all be selected from the bottom up and the horse with the most points being balloted out. This would give horses with poor form a chance and stop uneven races.
Don't die wondering !
Hi Kevin,
Whilst we did put a $750 bonus on these races in Sept/Oct last year to stimulate horse numbers for those months, we have to be mindful of not being seen to apply a bonus to circumvent HRAs limit of $3500 prizemoney for penalty-free races. Hence we decided rather than risk that perception, it was preferable to add a $1k bonus to the $5k races in May/June with approx 40 of those races conditioned for trainers with 25 or less wins in the prior year, (amongst other conditions aimed at avoiding uneven races).
In terms of $3500 races, as evident by the strong nominations at Bendigo last Sunday, there are a lot of people who do want to run in these races. There has been lengthy discussions in other social media forums about the need to retain these types of days.
Cheers, David
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