Industry Indicators - Good, Bad & Ugly

[Messenger]

Yesterday I wrote this in the 'Harness Racing needs something better than Sky 1' thread

If you listen to the sound bite, Dayle Brown talks about TrotsVision here as being a viable alternative BUT as much as I love TrotsVision
What we really have to address here is the fact that we are virtually irrelevant
Wont ever be for me but to survive we have to turn around our decline in the market

peterprofit.com wrote about it today and went a lot further. I don't think he will mind me posting a snip of some of it below

He goes on to point out that TrotsVision is not a solution for as we all know, it really is just something that pleases us Rusted On.
As we die out and are not replaced by kids and grandkids to the same extent that may have happened in the past - then the sport is doomed

Like I said yesterday - relevance/market share must be addressed
8% market share to the Dogs 19%
We cannot ignore that 'what the sports leaders have been doing is not working'

[Showgrounds]

South Australia is a complete basket case and is on death row. Tasmania ditto if the sudden departure of Racing Tasmania's CEO is an indicator.

And on the eve of its biggest race of the year Queensland's racing minister has withheld $600,000 of funding payments from the Albion Park Harness Racing Club for refusing to implement Racing Queensland's directive to the Club to stand down its CEO while he was under investigation for alleged sexual assaults. That directive, issued under the industry's own policy on 1 September last year, was ignored. The CEO has now been committed to stand trial on one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault.

Oh, the Minister has refused to enter into a funding agreement with the Club for 2022-23 until the Club follows the directive.

This, plus Tas and SA, hardly paints a rosie picture. Throw in the APG dilemma - need I say more?

[Messenger]

PP reporting that HRV CEO Dayle Brown is leaving
While talented media presenter Nikkita Ross has announced she is moving to the gallops

[Adaptor]

PP reporting that HRV CEO Dayle Brown is leaving
While talented media presenter has announced she is moving to the gallops

Nikkita Ross. Congratulations!

[Messenger]

Thanks Noel, how did I leave out Nikkita - I'll blame the anaesthetic

[Messenger]

I hope PP is wrong with his latest posts about HRV.
He says they are about to reveal a big loss in their annual report
And that Tabcorp have withdrawn their promised sponsorship of ID22

[Messenger]

Yesterday, I mentioned HRV were not good at keeping things/records up to date but then I went off topic with the following, which is better placed in this thread.

I emailed info@hrv.org.au Attention Fiona Mellor (I don't know the acting CEO's direct email address) the following on the last day of September

I was wondering whether the Gemba research mentioned in the TrotsVision drives into colourful new era article is ‘Racing, Chasing and Pacing Horse Racing Betting Insights’ or whether there is some other research that I might read

You see she had stated:

“Research conducted for HRV by Gemba this year revealed a significant number of thoroughbred racing and ‘non-racing’ fans engaged with harness racing each month, meaning there is a substantial group of people engaging regularly with our sport that we can connect with further through extended broadcasts. This is a huge opportunity for growth.”

https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...ture-meetings/

And I was seeking more info about this research

NO ANSWER

If you email Cody you will always get a reply but not so much others and I don't think it is fair to direct all my HRV inquiries to him

[Messenger]

Plymouth Chubb's Derby heat loss is why I have some reservations about Victoria's commitment to the trotting gait
I don't know whether races like this are ever going to convert gallops punters

My support for the trotting emphasis is on the proviso that we tap into the European market again

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...22#MHC23102203

[Messenger]

Yesterday, I mentioned HRV were not good at keeping things/records up to date but then I went off topic with the following, which is better placed in this thread.

I emailed info@hrv.org.au Attention Fiona Mellor (I don't know the acting CEO's direct email address) the following on the last day of September

I was wondering whether the Gemba research mentioned in the TrotsVision drives into colourful new era article is ‘Racing, Chasing and Pacing Horse Racing Betting Insights’ or whether there is some other research that I might read

You see she had stated:

“Research conducted for HRV by Gemba this year revealed a significant number of thoroughbred racing and ‘non-racing’ fans engaged with harness racing each month, meaning there is a substantial group of people engaging regularly with our sport that we can connect with further through extended broadcasts. This is a huge opportunity for growth.”

https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...ture-meetings/

And I was seeking more info about this research

NO ANSWER

If you email Cody you will always get a reply but not so much others and I don't think it is fair to direct all my HRV inquiries to him

I am a bit of a bulldog and want to know if this
"Research conducted for HRV by Gemba this year revealed a significant number of thoroughbred racing and ‘non-racing’ fans engaged with harness racing each month, meaning there is a substantial group of people engaging regularly with our sport that we can connect with further through extended broadcasts."
really exists?!

So AGAIN I emailed info@hrv.org.au Attention Fiona Mellor (I don't know the acting CEO's direct email address)

The same day, October 20, Reception replied that the email had been forward to Fiona Mellor and Michael Howard in the Communications Department

The problem is HRV do not communicate

[Messenger]

This is from an interview with Freddie Hudson on the HRU website

What do you see as harness racing’s greatest problems?

“Four main ones:

“1. Nobody knows who we are. I’ve sat in on numerous equine organization meetings. Very few people know that we even exist. It’s pretty difficult to get improvements when people have no idea of what they are improving.

“2. Drugs, drugs and drugs. We have found that drug testing just doesn’t work. The chemists are ahead of the testing, often way ahead. It’s pretty difficult to test for drugs which you don’t know exist. The FBI has found that the best way to get rid of some of the miscreants is to follow them and pick up the threads of their evil deeds. The recent arrests have close to 100 per cent conviction rates. That was accomplished with not a single one based on the results of drug testing.

“3. The absence of youth participation in the sport. The entity that solves this will earn the everlasting gratitude of all involved in this wonderful sport.

“4. The leadership of our sport has to drastically change the status quo. We have to show the outside public that we are against the drugging of our horses, abusing them and then discarding them. Anyone who does so needs to be run out of the sport.”

https://harnessracingupdate.com/2022...?cn-reloaded=1

Very few people know that we even exist

This is from the USA - it would seem that they have the exact same problems that we do, I had always thought they had a higher profile over there

It makes sense to me now that we are going down the trotting route in Vic - as long as we go the whole hog and reconnect with Europe again

We and the USA have to make ourselves known/relevant again

Thanks to Ray Chaplin of Equine Excellence for emailing the above article