So what do people think of this initiative ?
Personally I think Skyracing is putting pressure on harness racing to shorten the races and make them more like the dogs. Next it will be coloured numbers and drivers like the dogs.
They are pushing horse welfare, but I wonder what effect these sprint trips will have on the horses.
I would have preferred the series be over a mile trip, as this is our sprint distance.
Don't die wondering !
we get this push every so often from the knuckle draggers at the TAB who have no idea how to market the product we give them, just dumb ideas about more races per hour of screen time, this is what you get when corporatise a simple business, the owners pay peanuts and get monkey's with no idea running the show.
Next time I promise to be a bit more blunt.
cheers,
Danno
I guess I am a traditonalist but I hardly call shortening the distance raced (again) 'innovative'
The times end up meaning nothing
Here is the link to the story
https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...up-the-summer/
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Geez and we are pulling out a few well worn cliche's to boot,
I'm just wondering when the Melbourne Cup is going to be shortened to 2400 metres and the Cox Plate becomes a 1200 metre sprint in order "to innovate and keep up with the times"HRV Racing General Manager Stephen Bell said it was important harness racing moved with the times and found new ways to innovate.
“It is no secret faster racing appeals to a range of punters and we’re going to pull out all stops to ensure everyone has a great experience during the Mercury80 series,” Bell said.
To be fair The Everest well and truly outdone the Caulfield Cup this year. Both on the same day, one with 100+ years of history and the other with 2 years of history.Originally Posted by Danno
If we had 2 x 1200m races at every meeting along with 2 x 2400m races at every meeting and the odd 2800m, 3200m race it would add variety to our meetings and be a POD from other racing sports while showcasing various attributes of our breed. Some people will like the hectic 1200m while some people will like the war of attrition. Beats having 8 races on the program that look pretty similar like we have now.
Depending on the size of the track e.g. Melton should be having 2x2740m races, and god I don't even know my own tracks long distance racing length (Wagga) because we probably haven't had a race over that distance. Probably around 2700m I imagine. Menangle should have 2x3000m races each meeting.
Unlike Vic, does Menangle still have predominantly mile after mile?
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
They say they are listening to the industry, I hear "how good are those distance races in NZ" , "those long Inter heats at Melton were great" and lets bring back stand starts". What do they give us ? The old tried and failed 1200m sprint races and less staying races. We are doomed until we can get out of the current Sky racing deal.
Don't die wondering !
We often hear the term "Boat Race" for a fixed or uneven race. So they name the series after a boat motor "Mercury80". The critics will love that. Miricale80 would have made more sense.
Don't die wondering !
I agree with that type of thinking Brendan, variety in race distances is something we are lacking, but they are not proposing that are they, I'd love to see some data on average race distances over the whole industry in Australia say 20 years ago compared to now......my guess would be average distance is now about 1800 metres compared to previous average of about 2200 metres, but the number of times you see a meeting has 80% of the program over the mile is frustrating.
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