IDEAS on how we can improve Harness Racing

[Showgrounds]

Not like this.
Is it little wonder why people continue to walk away.
One participant gets 6 mths for TWO positives.
Another gets 12 mths for ONE positive for the same drug.
What am I missing???

It's what HRNSW is missing, Trish. Consistency.

It's not what you are, it's who you are seems to be the way they dish out penalties.

[trish]

100% agree Trevor.

I seem to remember a participant getting time served , which was a little over 2 weeks , for their 2nd positive swab.
How do you explain that to someone who just got a year on their 1st offence or for those people who have been beaten
by trainers waiting for their cases to be heard.
Beats me!!!!

[Showgrounds]

100% agree Trevor.

I seem to remember a participant getting time served , which was a little over 2 weeks , for their 2nd positive swab.
How do you explain that to someone who just got a year on their 1st offence or for those people who have been beaten
by trainers waiting for their cases to be heard.
Beats me!!!!

I was thinking the other day, by the time John McCarthy has his positive charge (for levamisole) heard he might be too old to remember it. Three and a half years and counting!

[Messenger]

The US trotting industry obviously has a better relationship with the thoroughbreds than we do

The Meadowlands management is pleased and excited to again showcase harness racing’s greatest horses and events on the Fox Sports Network via the popular television series America’s Day at the Races this season. The opportunity to join this initiative comes via an association with the New York Racing Association (NYRA).

The first of eight broadcasts will take place this Saturday (April 29) with the entire card televised alongside the opening night of Thoroughbred racing for the spring meet at Churchill Downs. The placement is ideal, exposing harness racing to a large Thoroughbred audience that is focusing on Churchill with the Kentucky Derby just a week away.

https://ustrottingnews.com/meadowlan...ports-network/

In Oz the thoroughbred states are at war, much less embracing harness as a partner

More Fox Sports coverage for US harness

The Meadowlands Championship Meet is underway and will be broadcast as part of NYRA’s America’s Day at the Races on both Friday and Saturday this coming weekend (May 19 and 20).

https://ustrottingnews.com/meadowlan...-and-saturday/

The US seem to be heading in the right direction

[Messenger]

The constant battle to get fans in the racetrack stands

https://harnessracingupdate.com/2023...?cn-reloaded=1

Even troglodytes like me watch sports on two devices, one for the contest and another that allows searches for player stats and visualizations. We can get live scores, follow the action on social media, and fetch related videos. Getting fans out of their massage chair, navigating to a strange place, subjecting themselves to viruses, and socializing is like asking a 14-year-old kid to join a Boy Scout troop. The activity may benefit the kid but rarely happens in 2023.

I know you know all this. We all know the empty grandstands are troubling and that new digital fans are missing a cool thing being in a crowd as the trotter pulls and moves up on the backstretch, the smell of popcorn, and slapping backs with your pals. But it is not 1967, and it is what it is.

Anybody reading the whole article who does not know what 'boffo' means, just read it as good

[Messenger]

Call me harsh but the fast class race of the night at Melton was a terrible advertisement for our sport - no wonder you hear criticism that our racing is boring. The drivers might not have been able to do much about it - 1,2,3 were stablemates.
Administrators need to do something about it by either:
Demanding bigger fields (with 8 or more they cannot all race single file) OR
Bring back handicaps/stand starts

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#MXM01072301

[aussiebreno]

Call me harsh but the fast class race of the night at Melton was a terrible advertisement for our sport - no wonder you hear criticism that our racing is boring. The drivers might not have been able to do much about it - 1,2,3 were stablemates.
Administrators need to do something about it by either:
Demanding bigger fields (with 8 or more they cannot all race single file) OR
Bring back handicaps/stand starts

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#MXM01072301

Plodders on smaller tracks have a 64 minimum first half. FFA at Melton have a 64 minimum first half. Doesn't make sense to me they both have the same minimum requirement.

[Messenger]

I can't say I like 1200m races but maybe there is something to be said for them - there are no easy leads and therefore quite often you get barnstorming finishes

[Messenger]

The AHRIG facebook page and the Campbell's Comments fb page both have have plenty of comments on "What Industry Do You Want?". It was from a few days ago so you will have to look down the page a little. There are a few nuggets to be found

https://www.facebook.com/vege07

https://www.facebook.com/groups/236380660102847

[Messenger]

I stumbled on a good interview with HRV CEO Matt Isaacs by Brittany Graham
I really did stumble on it - saw it below the TrotsVision screen when watching Mildura today
I have struggled to find how to give you a link, as I fear it could disappear from below the TrotsVision screen
(I really do wish HRV would make it easy for us)

I think this is the best way is below as The Morning Line is a Sky program

https://www.skyracing.com.au/watch/c...e-Morning-Line

Go down the list until you find The Morning Line - HRV Major Announcement 19- 07-2023

He was impressive enough so fingers crossed that he could be our savior