May have been on the cards for sometime Wayne but to me it is putting the cart before the horse. All participants, call them what you may are effected by $5000 C class races, and the penalties incurred for winning one, R races are often restricted entry forcing grassroots participants to nominate for C class. I am for supporting the grassroots but I don't see how this is doing it. Surely higher prizemoney in restricted grade and only a restricted penalty incentivises participants considered higher then grass roots to nominate for restricted grade, and in my twenty years as a grassroots trainer the calibre of the opposition in R races and the probability of winning one has been of greater concern to grass roots trainers then the actual prizemoney.
In this day and age there can be little doubt that new owners are difficult to come by, I fear that this focus on increasing restricted prizemoney will back fire and drive them further away rather then incentivise new owners to become involved. In my view country front prizemoney should have been increased to a higher minimum first, say $7000, even if that meant reducing the number of $10,000 C races, and clearly differentiated from restricted race prizemoney.
I doubt we can attract new owners focussing on restricted grade races and it should be country front racing with a minimum level of $7000 that we market as the "normal" entry level for new owners or participants entering the industry. From this position there are two ways to go, up to Metro and feature level racing, and a fallback position of participation at restricted level.
In time as hopefully our financial position improves then increase prizemoney for both, even if it is just a $100 at a time but maintain a clear distinction between the two.
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