Queensland Winter Futurities Wrap

REDCLIFFE SALE TAKING HUGE STEPS

The success of the Redcliffe Harness Racing Club’s Yearling Sales Series continues to go from strength to strength. With a 3YO race now added as of this season, the 2YO Final increasing in stakemoney and the continued support of club patron Chris Garrard through the sponsorship provided by his Garrards Horse and Hound enterprise, the Redcliffe Sales Series has firmly established itself on the landscape of Queensland racing.

With a further announcement that the club will increase the stakes of the race to $100,000 and thus achieve Group 1 status as of the 2016/17 racing season, the Redcliffe Yearling Sales Series has fast launched itself as the sales and race to be a part of. From its inaugural running for $30,000, next years round of yearling sales could well find the Redcliffe sale unseating Australian Pacing Gold as the premier yearling sale in Queensland.

Restricted to horses passing through the sales ring at the Redcliffe sale, there were 92 horses aiming up to make the 2015 sales race series. In a great achievement for the club, they managed to attract 32 acceptors.
Spread across 4 heats, there was a great mix of siring credits across the 32 acceptors. Leading the way was Cammibest with 6, followed by Western Edition with 4, Rock N Roll Heaven had 3, Art Official, Live Or Die, South Park Hanover and P B Bullville each had 2. Meanwhile with individual progeny being represented were The Falcon Strike, Changeover, Gold Dust Beach, Camelot Hall, Julius Caesar, Brigadier Jujon, Shadow Play, Bettors Delight, Somebeachsomewhere, Tell All and Tintin In America.

Noel and Christine Denning’s Burwood Stud continue to find the recipe for success in the race and continued their affinity with the Peninsula Club’s flagship event again in 2015. The Denning family’s stud operation based on the Darling Downs has dominated the 6 Series held thus far, having direct involvement in the past 5 winners in succession.

Leading into this year’s final, Burwood Stud had bred the previous 4 winners, Mathilda Diventa by Cammibest, Designer Style by Mr Aviator, Couldntresist by Ultimate Falcon and Cha Ching Chaching by Cammibest.

Cammibest, a resident stallion at Burwood recorded his 3^rd siring success in the 6th edition of the race, when his gelded son Leos Best landed the 2015 title.Cammibest was a 37 time winner who took a lifetime mark of 1.50.0 At stud he has produced 86 starters for 49 individual winners. There are 3 $100,000 earners with the richest being Pub Blitz.

Leos Best is out of the Lotsa Clout mare Miss Marleo and was purchased at the 2014 yearling sales by Solid Earth. Not normally a buyer at the yearling sales, the purchase came about through the recommendation of their principal trainer Grant Dixon.

Aiding the purchase were the breeders certificates they had at their disposal. As well as receiving a QBred cash bonus at the first career penalty win in eligible races, 2 and 3YO’s of both sexes win a Breeders certificate for the owner at the time of the race. This certificate has a face value of $1,000 to be redeemed in the purchase of a stallion service fee or a purchase at the yearling sales.

So armed with surplus bonus certificates and Dixon’s appraisal, Solid Earth went to $13,000 to secure the colt.The family is well known to the Seymour’s who have been closely involved in the maternal family. They bred the dam Miss Marleo and bred and raced the majority of Miss Marleo’s immediate descendants tracing back to one of their wonderful foundation mares Goldrush Girl.

Bred by Martine Dwyer, Leos Best is the 3^rd foal and 3^rd colt out of Miss Marleo. Her first foal by Elsu raced as Doctor Dave and was a winner in 2.00.2 from 25 lifetime starts. The second foal is a full brother to Leos Best, and is the winner of just one race at this stage. A current 3YO he has 1 win and 4 placings from 13 starts.

The 3^rd live foal is Leos Best. Only just making the field as the last horse included following the heats, driver Grant Dixon settled in the run 4 back along the marker line and stayed in that position for the majority of the event as a solid tempo was being set at the head of affairs.Traversing the Redcliffe triangle 5 and 6 wide turning for home, Leos Best finished strongly to gain the prize. 

There would be few Group races on the Queensland calendar that Solid Earth have yet to taste success in as either owners or breeders and the win in the Redcliffe Sales Final helped fill a void in the trophy cabinet.

Proving the win was not just a case of getting the right run in transit, Leos Best franked the winning form at his next start at Albion Park. Leading out from an inside barrier, the gelding was allowed to free wheel at the head of affairs. Going down to the line to win by a narrow margin, the clock stopped on a brilliant run returning a mile rate of 1.54.9 for the 1660m trip.

A 6 year track record went by the wayside following the emphatic win. If Leos Best can go on to emulate the career of the previous record holder, Chariot King, then the Seymour’s will have another top horse on their books.

QBRED SCHEME SPREADS THE JOY

Under the revised format of the QBred race series’, unsustainable heats that have regularly provided multiple odds on favourites on the same card were replaced by a Consolation. Prizemoney earned throughout the season up until nomination closing time of the Finals went towards lifting a horse’s QBred ranking.

The highest 12 ranked horses (10 for 2YO) that were then nominated for the Final become the starting field with the next highest ranked becoming the Emergency. Consolations were staged for 2 & 3YO, so the emergency could start in the Consolation if not required for the Final.

This format ensured a greater spread of the feature prizemoney available, to more participants. The changes have been well received and this was confirmed by the strength of the nominations for each of the age/sex divisions across both the Breeders Classic Events and the Triad Finals.

A year-to-year comparison shows:

2014 2YO Fillies 2 Heats- Heat’s 1 and 2 7 starters, Final with 10 starters- 80% capacity
2015 2YO Fillies Final 9 starters, Consolation 7 starters- 80% capacity
2014 2YO C&G’s 2 Heats- Heat’s 1 and 2 7 starters, Final with 10 starters- 80% capacity
2015 2YO C&G’s Final 10 starters, Consolation 10 starters- 100% capacity
2014 3YO C&G’s No Heats, Prelude only 11 starters, Final with 10 starters- 58% Capacity
2015 3YO C&G’s Final 12 starters, Consolation 10 starters- 92% Capacity
2014 3YO Fillies 2 Heats- Heat 1 9 starters, Heat 2 10 starters, Final with 8 starters- 75% Capacity
2015 3YO Fillies Final 12 starters, Consolation 10 starters- 92% Capacity

This highlights the growth that has occurred in one year, even though the foal numbers and QBred registered horses fell in the same period. With QBred Breeders Classic races held under the same format, the spread of the feature race money under the scheme is reaching more pockets.

The 2014-15 racing season, up until the end of June has seen the QBred scheme make the following bonus payments

• 14 2YO Colts and Geldings at $5,000.
• 13 2YO Fillies at $10,000
• 71 3YO at $5,000
• 64 4YO at $3,000.

With the announcement that the 2015-16 racing season will realise a further increase in QBred Bonus stakes, the Queensland breeding industry is receiving the shot in the arm it desparately needed. The increase also now pitches the scheme as the strongest bonus structure across Australia. It is now up to breeders and owners to get behind QBred and make full benefit of it’s lucrative nature.

The bonus structure for the next season has been set at:

• 2YO Fillies $12,000
• 2YO Colts & Geldings $ 10,000
• 3YO Fillies $7,000
• 3YO Colts & Geldings $5,000
• 4YO Either sex $3,000

 

4YO Entires& Geldings

The 4YO Entires & Geldings Final saw success go to Mafuta Vautin.  Bred and owned by Linda Graham and trained and driven by husband Darrel. He is the third foal of Ashleysplace, whom the Grahams also raced. A chestnut like his sire, Mafuta is a Swahili word meaning Fatty- so named after the former Queensland rugby league legend and footy show host, Paul Fatty Vautin.

Mafuta Vautin is a ‘homebred’ being by the Fake Left stallion Rollon Bigred. In winning the Triad Final, he became the first horse to win a Triad, sired by a Triad winner. Rollon Bigred, a 30 time winner was successful in the 2004 4YO Entires& Geldings Final and was also successful in the 2YO Triad Final in 2002. In 2003 he finished 3^rd behind Left Devil.

The potency of Fake Left was on full display in that 2003 3YO Colts and Geldings Triad Final, with all 12 combatants boasting the incomparable stallion as their sire. Amazingly, the 3YO Fillies Triad Final held on that same night featured the same remarkable statistic. Stamping his dominance on the Queensland and Australian breeding scene, this is a feat that has not happened prior to these 2 races and may certainly never occur again.

The dam of Mafuta Vautin, Ashleysplace is by Perfect Art out of the Explorador mare Perfect Amy and faced the starter on 44 occasions for 2 victories.Since retiring to stud, she has produced 4 live foals, all to the court of RollonBigred. The first foal a filly named Bigred Ash raced four times, all unplaced. The second foal has never raced. Her 2010 foal is Mafuta Vautin. Plagued by a leg issue, the Grahams have been patient and been selective in his racing career and did not start the gelding until 3. As at July 27 his figures read 18 starts for 12 wins and a best time of 1.55.2, which he has recorded at both 3 and 4. Ashleysplace 4th and final foal to date is the 4 time winner Sista To Mafuta.

Rollon Bigred has done a fair job at stud from limited opportunities. He is the sire of 133 live foals. 65 have reached the races and of these there have been 35 individual winners. The richest being RollonGidget who is out of a Panorama mare, secured a win a NSW Breeders Challenge Regional Final last season. While his fastest is the 1.54.7 mare Get A Rollon.
The broodmare supremo Perfect Profile has left a remarkable legacy in the stud book and across racetracks worldwide.The 4YO Entires& Geldings Triad Final was a perfect example of this marvellous matrons dynasty. Perfect Profile was responsible for the trifecta placings thought the deeds of 3 of her sons.

The winner, Mafuta Vautin, cites Perfect Art as his broodmare sire. The 2nd placed horse, Raring To Go is by Art Major, the full brother to Perfect Art. Meanwhile Art Major and Perfect Art’s half brother, the Western Hanover stallion, Western Edition, sired the 3rd place getter The Duke Downunder.

An amazing achievement, achieved via a unique impact that the great mare has had on the breeding of the sport.
*** At time of writing MafutaVautin had reportedly tested positive to cobalt for his win in the Triad. No further information was available at this time.

3YO Colts & Geldings

The 3YO Colts & Geldings final was a well deserved win for trainer Donny Smith. The Smith trained colt A Good Chance was a popular victory for the well liked former State cricketer. It also went some way to erasing the colts narrow defeat in the 2YO Triad final the previous season where he went under by a short half head margin. 

It also signified the first Group 1 victory for his sire, Mr Feelgood.

Ironically both ‘dad and son’ were recognised at the previous season RQ Awards evening. A Good Chance was given the title of Queensland 2YO of the year, whilst Mr Feelgood was granted entry into the Queensland Hall of Fame.

A Good Chance is out of the Perfect Art mare Chance The Walk. A winner of 13 races form just 23 starts, the mare is a half sister to the 1998 2YO Colts & Geldings Triad winner Attack Life and to Catwalk Beauty. In a brief career that was curtailed by injury, Catwalk Beauty started just the 10 times, winning on 9 of those occasions which included wins at 2 in the Nursery Pace and the Triad Final. Her last career start finished in a 4^th placing in the 2009 Queensland Oaks behind Ima Spicey Lombo.

Mr Feelgood from limited starters in Australia is showing the signs of being a formidable force on the breeding sphere. The sire of just 14 starters, he has thrown 12 winners. Heading this list are Charming Allie and A Good Chance, who both cite Perfect Art as their damsire. This could bode well for the abundance of Art Major mares that will slowly start heading to the breeding barn now that his oldest Australian bred progeny are rising 9 years old.

Chance The Walk has produced 6 live foals with the first 5 all being colts. 3 of the 6 have raced thus far and all 3 are winners. Ranking as half brothers to A Good Chance is the 8 time winner Attacovita and the 5 time winner Hey Sam. The Triad win propelled A Good Chance over the $100k stakes barrier and his current best time shows an impressive 1.54.8, recorded at just his second start back in his 3YO campaign.

Finishing 2^nd to A Good Chance was the Modern Art gelding Drifting Away. Out of the Andrell mare Lindrell, this mare has produced just 4 live foals from 9 matings, however 3 of the 4 that have raced are all winners. Breeder Rhonda Morton has bred and race this family. The half sister Third Strike, an As Promised mare was a 15 time winner who recorded victory in the 4YO Mares QBred Breeders Classic. Third Strike’s first foal is the 4 time winner Witch Striker.

Finishing 3rd was Duke Jujon, a son of the Cold Mountain Stud stallion Gold Dust Beach. From 30 foals to the races, Gold Dust Beach has recorded 17 individual winners, his richest being the 10 time winner Jare, while his fastest is the 1.54.7 horse, Chevals Diamond.

4YO Mares

The G2 4YO mares edition of the Triad was taken out by the Art Major mare Joys A Babe. Bred on what is arguably the golden cross of current times, she is by Art Major out of a Fake Left mare in Joy To Behold. This cross is currently represented by 16 individual Australian bred $100,000 earners, as well as the millionaire For A Reason.

Horses bred on this cross include the triple Triad/RQIS winner Shez No Fake, the dual Triad/RQIS winner Rani Major, Brigadier Bronski, All Eyes On Us, recent The Blacks A Fake winner Philadelphia Man and Lettuereason.

The win for owner breeders Solid Earth P/L was their first in this Sires category since 2010. Coincidentally their previous win in this category was also a 5 year interval, back in 2005. 

The Solid Earth juggernaut, managed by Kay Seymour has now won 21 Triad Finals since the turn of the century across all age and sex divisions. 2004 and 2007 are the only years when they did not breed at least one winner of the Queensland Scheme.

Joys A Babe win took her stake earnings over the $200,000 mark and her best time now sits at 1.55. Finishing 2^nd was the Elsu mare Il Cavalino. The dam of Il Cavalino was the 14 time winner Rapt In Red by Fake Left out of Cashmere Cate, herself a daughter of one of Queensland’s strongest maternal families, being out of Call Girl.

3rd in the event was another Solid Earth runner, Charming Allie. The daughter of Mr Feelgood was attempting to land the ‘threepeat’ of Triad victories following on from wins at 2 and 3.

3YO Fillies

The 3YO Fillies Final was a reversal of the quinella placings from the 2014 2YO Final. Gaining the spoils at the expense of her stablemate, Bettor Promise emerged victorious. Although punters sent Bettorthanspecial out the odds-on elect, perhaps following the lead stable driver for the Shannon Price team, Brad Cowen had elected to drive Bettorthanspecial.

The 2 fillies, both bred and owned by Raboki P/L, managed by Shannon’s father Tony Price, have managed to amass very similar numbers in their careers to date. As their names would suggest both by super sire Bettors Delight, both fillies have eclipsed the $150k stakes barrier and both have bettered 1.55. Bettor Promise cites a best rate of 1.54.4, while Bettorthanspecial holds bragging rights with 1.54.2.

Competing in a Rising Stars Final in early July, the pair once again ran the quinella, making it the 7^th time they have ran the quinella in their careers, all at Albion Park. Another famous Queensland duo that also shared a sire and met frequently were Blacks A Fake and Be Good Johnny. Both by Fake Left, the millionaire pair ran the quinella 9 times in their career, spread over 4 different tracks in Australia.

The win of Bettor Promise set a 3YO Fillies Triad record when held over the 2138m of Albion Park. Highlighting the quality and authority of the win, is it also the 2^nd fastest of either sex. The only Triad Final to record a quicker time was the 2001 Colts & Geldings victory of Cam Dee. 

Bettor Promise is out of the Fake Left mare As Promised and ranks as a half sister to the dual Oaks winning filly All Promises. Bettorthanspecial is out of the Christian Cullen mare Specialagentcullen who is a full sister to Raboki’s former Group winning star Secretagent Cullen.

Finishing 3^rd to the “Bettor pair” was Feel The Faith. A daughter of Mr Feelgood, the Grinfromeartoear stallion only has 2 foals in his 2011 crop, but what a talented pair they are, being Feel The Faith and A Good Chance. Feel The Faith is out of the Fake Left mare Faith Prevails, out of Girl From Ipanema by Vanston Hanover.

2YO Fillies

The Queensland and moreover the entire harness sport lost one of its greats when Queensland Harness Hall of Famer Tony Price passed away after battling ill health, just the morning after the 2015 2YO Triad Finals.It was only fitting that the last night of Price time on earth that one of his fillies manage to give him one last Group 1 triumph.

The poignancy of the success in hindsight was in the name of the filly. Special Moment.

In recent years, Price’s team has gone from strength to strength, with success coming on the back of a lot of heartache and rebuilding following the EI crisis that gripped Australia in 2007. The Price team fared worse than most affected and Tony Price spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to improve the health of his team.

Fast forward to 2015 and after the success of his now, 3YO Fillies in filling the quinella position in the 2014 2YO Triad Final, Raboki had just the sole runner lining up. Many in the field would have felt that they were lining up for the place money at best. The exciting, Australian record breaking filly Heavens Trend is a QBred and had made the trip from Victoria.

However the old saying that there is no sure thing in racing rang true. Hitting the lead at around the 450m mark, the $1.10 favourite went off stride, putting paid to her chances. With Get In The Groove having her driver unseated, Covert Beauty crashing heavily to the track and the field being scattered in the aftermath of the scrimmage caused by Heavens Trend, the race had, in amazing fashion opened up. 

That left Aussie Vista, Sweet As Candy and Special Moment to battle up the Albion Park straight for the Triad title.
Special Moment gained the verdict for the Raboki partnership, giving the dam of Special Moment, the title of dual 2YO Fillies Triad victories for her progeny. A feat that has never been achieved by a matron in achieving back to back 2YO Triad titles. The full sister to Special Moment and the 2014 fillies Triad winner is Bettorthanspecial.

By the all conquering Bettors Delight out of the Christian Cullen mare Specialagentcullen, Special Moment became another Group 1 winner for this successful cross. Others boasting this magic cross with Group 1 success are the Victoria Derby winner Ohoka Punter, the Ballarat Cup winner Highview Tommy and the Group 1 Nursery Flying Stakes winner Burnaholeinmypocket. Other Group winners of this cross are the Teeny Teeny Stakes winner Pas Ultimate Delight, God Send and Bettorthanspecial. As a broodmare sire, 8 of Cullen’s top 16 performed by stakes are by Bettors Delight.

Specialagentcullen is by Christian Cullen out of Secret Asset by Vanston Hanover. She is a full sister to the Price’s former smart performer Secretagentcullen. A QBred Breeders Classic winner at 3, at 4 he won the Paleface Adios to qualify for the Chariots at Harold Park in 2006 won by the mare Innocent Eyes.

Specialagentcullen is an unraced 2006 foal. Her first foal is the Falcon Seelster filly Shesaspecialone who is yet to taste victory at 5 attempts. At her next mating to Bettors Delight Bettorthanspecial is the resultant foal with Special Moment the 3rd foal. There is a rising 2YO that is a full brother to his Triad winning sisters, while the rising yearling is a son of the Bettors stallion Betterthancheddar.

Ironically, under the revised format of QBred ranking determining the final field for the rich final, Special Moment was the lowest ranked at 14 to gain a start. Another Raboki bred and owned filly, Rocknrollhighlight was ranked 15 and became the emergency for the Triad Final. With no scratchings, she took her place in the consolation. To cap a successful night for Team Price, that filly duly won the consolation in fine style.

Finishing 2nd in the Fillies Final was Sweet As Candy, a filly by Courage Under Fire out of the Westburn Grant mare Likeness. 3rd was Aussie Vista, one of the limited foals on the ground in their first season racing crop of Tintin In America. A New Zealand bred son of Mcardle, he is a multiple Group 1 winner and dual Jewels winner at 3 and 4. Aussie Vista is the 5th foal to race for her dam, the Panorama mare Terranora Vista. From her 5 foals 4 are winners, including Aussie Vista, with her best being the Redcliffe Sale Series runner-up Falcon Vista.

Stamping his mark on the Australasian breeding world, the Direct Scooter stallion In The Pocket had direct involvement in the trifecta of the 2YO Triad Final. His involvement included being the maternal grandsire of Special Moment, through his son Christian Cullen, being the paternal grandsire of the runner up Sweet As Candy through her sire Courage Under Fire and he ranks as the damsire of Tintin In America, the sire of Aussie Vista.

2YO Colts & Geldings

Leos Best became the first horse since Abbey Tiara to win both the Redcliffe Yearling Sales Series Final and the 2YO Triad Final in the same season.

In taking the victory, he once again lowered his career PB and the newly established track record at Albion Park in stopping the clock in a rate of 1.54.8. 

NSW visitor, Daniell Rowell finished runner up with his PB Bullville gelding Roarn. The first foal out of the Jeremys Gambit mare Beckoning, he was bred by Burns Bloodstock and purchased from the Brisbane APG sale for $7,000. Beckoning herself was a 14 time winner who took a lifetime mark of 1.57.2.

Her dam Fiery Spirit, by In The Pocket is a full sister to the NSW Derby winner Top Speed. Roarn looks to be a horse with scope and connections will be keen to atone in his 3YO campaign. His beaten margins in both the Triad and Breeders Classic were a nose and a head respectively. Or the difference in stakes of $65,000 should the margins have been in the geldings favour for such a small distance.

Finishing 3rd was the Group 2 QBred Breeders Classic winner Catcha Lefty. By the champion Jate Lobell horse Village Jasper he is out of the broodmare gem Lefty, a 10 foal, 100% producer. Trainer and breeder Cristina Monte has had amazing success with the family of Lefty, herself a Triad winner. As her name suggests, Lefty is by Fake Left out of the Rip Van Winkle mare Miss Winkle.

With such a successful QBred season, the increased stakes of the bonus payments and a positive outlook for QBred breeders, more and more people should be looking at making the change. Head north, the dollars are greener with QBred.

Wish list unharnessed

FOREWORD

Twitter is a wonderful thing, however if the executives who run the company struggle to define exactly what Twitter is, what is anyone else supposed to take it as.

I find Twitter an amazing way to connect to people, news and information. It is also effectively an open forum where anyone can enter into a dialogue or banter on any given subject. It is this fact and the number of people from the Harness racing community who are active on the platform of Twitter has lead me to take an active interest in what others see as some of the challenges that are facing this great sport.

As a result I have decided to put my harness “Wish List” into the same location and document. Some of the things that follow are extensions of what others have exchanged through social media discussions, some are ideas from the many participants I have talked to over time, others are my ideas that may seem unrealistic or downright ridiculous. However they are opinions and as the saying goes, like those things that point to the ground, we all have them.

I have been involved in the harness game since I was a boy. Introduced to the sport by my Dad who loves the game, loves to have a little punt and loves nothing more than watching his own horses go around. My interest as a young lad blossomed and since then I have been a punter, owner, breeder and most recently administrator (handicapper and race day steward) and writer.

So here is my Wish List in an order that was hard to compile with continuity, so my apologies if it seems to jump around or hard to follow. I wrote my wish list over the past 4 months whilst travelling abroad, written old school in a spiral notebook! 

 HOOFNOTE: Some of the things I address have wheels in motion or have been implemented since I started putting my list together.
FEATURE RACE CALENDAR

There is no clear structure on what the Feature Race Calendar actually entails. Each State has their flagship events and carnivals, yet they never seem to lead into each other or have a staggered approach so horses can follow a feature race path.

A Feature Race Committee needs to be established and meet every year to set the following Season’s feature races.

Every State (include NZ if necessary) has one member appointed to the committee and each representative is afforded one voting right. All representatives can then work to establish the calendar and through the voting rights come up with what is the best approach for the entire sport.

This leads into the relevance of the Grand Circuit. It has run its course and is no longer relevant in today’s landscape. Rather than having set races forming the Grand Circuit legs, every Group 1 event for Open Age performers has a sliding point score scale. Similar to a NASCAR Sprint Cup format, the top point scoring horses then face off in a race at Season’s end, with the winner being the Australasian Pacing Champion.

If feasible, the same format could be used across all age groups and in both gaits. It could effectively be a Jewels-type day open to all horses from Australia and New Zealand.

Sires Stakes/State Schemes

Why should a horse have dual State scheme eligibility. One area where things have not followed a progressive approach. Under the former “Sires” based schemes, it was wherever the sire stood. Now with nearly the majority of foals conceived via artificial insemination and the opening up of the breed, multiple State eligible foals has become a reality.

I would like to see multiple eligibility scrapped and create a super day or night of racing. Owners can still pay up for multiple state schemes should they fall under the current requirements. However, have a moonlight date where any horse that fits multiple eligibility, the owners have to choose which State scheme they will compete in.

Then on the chosen date through the Feature Race committee (ideally as a lead up to the Breeders Crown and replace Breeders Heats- another issue to be covered) all State Finals are held in conjunction with each other. Be it a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, whatever works best, with each State showcasing their best against each other on the same day to create a Super States race day. Dedicated coverage from each state to highlight the best that state has to offer will complement the National approach.

HARNESS RACING AUSTRALIA

In a nutshell, there either needs to be an increasing in the power that they hold, or their relevance is redundant. They are the overarching body of Harness Racing in Australia, but under the framework of the rules, each state effectively does it’s own thing.

HRA need to have a firmer governing hand. If they can achieve this, it will lead into more collaboration and cooperation between the states.

If you choose to go further with the idea of HRA strengthening their power, can each state simply become an HRA office and the Principal Racing Authority of each state is the HRA. Does each state need it’s own PRA? What costs could be reduced with each state duplicating resources and departments.

Is the extra layer of governance required or best for the sport? Similar to the duplication from Federal to State to Local government, is the sport big enough for it to be still relevant to be beneficial to continue with the current model and framework of administration. If each state took on a different department or level of the HRA administration, would there be improvements, efficiencies and cost reductions realised? Would doing this strengthen clubs and give them performance increases, with each state having greater collaboration with their clubs.

Club Model

Is the Club model of racing relevant? Could clubs work more collaboratively together to provide a stronger base with which to grow? If HRA became the PRA in all states, would this allow each state to focus on working more closely with the clubs to achieve greater outcomes.

Under the government idea, where municipal councils have merged to form larger councils, could clubs merge to provide a stronger base? It would allow sharing of assets, sharing intellectual knowledge and ideas. If we are all competing for the same prize, that prize being a strong and prosperous sport, does one club need to be stronger than the next? It is not like football where clubs are competing against each other for the trophy, so why not look it from a more collective angle.

While big may not be better with many things finding the right mix would certainly be more effective. So many small race clubs do amazing things with a loyal band of volunteers and committee staff. These are effectively a ‘mum and dad’ investor scenario. Given the opportunity to have these ‘small time investors’ have at their disposal more income, event staff, managerial experience and varied industry and sporting administrative background would the end result not be one of stronger operations and performance.

This model would also allow those who know the market, in terms of the local hard working team, collaborate to achieve great results for their local track, but also feed back into the good of the overall sport.

HANDICAPPING

Ever since I can remember harness racing has had an issue with short priced favourites. Whether it is seen as a problem or not, I guess is up to the individuals perception if they like to take a short quote or if it does actually have a negative impact on turnover.

Some of the biggest “organic” quadrella pools are realised when there are distinct and obvious favourites in each leg. This is may offset the win pools in the race, but what you drop on the whirlybird you pick up on the roundabout.

  It is, unfortunately, the nature of the beast. Particularly in juvenile racing, where there is quite often a large gap between the good horse and the next horse in line.

The harness handicapper, with so much mobile racing, has very few tools to be able to handicap the field under a numerical, class assessment based handicapping model. Other than writing conditions into race programmes, the only other tool at their disposal is the barrier draw.

There needs to be more like-for-like racing to make the racing more competitive. In theory, more competitive racing will lead to an increase in the average starting price, which again in theory, should lead to larger wagering pools. The argument from any trainer I speak to is always that they want to place their horse. That placing their horse is an art that form part of their training craft. Quite often the old line is trotted out place your horse in the worst company and keep yourself in the best. My response to this is always it is hard to soar like an eagle if you are surrounded by turkeys.

Simply put, the trainers can’t be the handicapper. If you allow this to happen, there will be a continuance of a dominant horse being placed into a race the trainer sees as an easier option. The handicapper needs to be allowed to handicap the field. Barrier draws need to be random barrier draw, only in higher staked events.

Having a tiered prizemoney structure across the programme has merit in principle. However it again allows the owner or trainer to be the handicapper. It does not work in attracting a more even quality of horses competing against each other.

There needs to be a shift towards implementing a ranking or rating system that is dynamic, allowing a horse to slide up or down depending on its form. Races need to be weighted against the rating, by that I mean higher stakes races carry higher rating points shifts.

Western Australia attempted this with their Harness Performance Rating. I don’t know the reason as to why it didn’t gain traction but from reading the framework of the idea, it seemed to have merit.

NSW has gone down the path of conditioned racing, decided primarily at Metro meetings on prizemoney. While it seems to work and is making races open, reading it clearly and concisely in a formguide can become confusing.

Queensland has used the Band ranking races. They were well received and produced even racing, yet for no definitive reason were scrapped by the board.

A ranking or rating, that is applied on a national scale makes sense and will make it easier for formguides and from a punting perspective. The rating will be easy to display, against both the horse and the race and becomes a clearer way to define the numbers of the national racing population. A rating could also have state weighting or adjustment, allowing the handicapping panel to assess their racing population on a state specific basis.

If the HRA were the PRA a rating system would also allow the handicapping panel to work in a more collaborative manner. It would encourage the sharing and implementation of ideas and allow a state focus with an overarching national framework.

Barrier Draws  
The barrier draw is one of the few handicapping tools available in mobile start racing and it needs to be better utilised. Random Barrier Draw should only be used if the field is evenly allocated or in major (some) major Group races.

Simply, the best horses in a race and the horses with superior form (under current numeric class reached over time) need to be allocated the widest/second line barriers.

This, more than the increase in field size will help stimulate turnover. The punter has to be prepared to take the risk that the better horse will need to overcome more in the run to get the win. Adds a greater variable to the race and helps create a greater spectacle in the racing product. It is not so much a case of odds-on favourites being the huge problem, it’s the case of the dominant horse draws the best barrier, leads easily and turns the race into a procession.

If they draw a bad barrier, they may still start at a short quote, however the variable is then added which may mean if the horse draws 1 in a RBD and starts at $1.20, it draws the second line, the predictability of the outcome changes and the starting price may get out to $1.80, whilst still odds-on may actually generate more wagering on the event because of the change in predictability/variance.

Under current handicapping system- Not denying that track bias may be a factor, however I firmly believe race tempo and favoured runners drawing to lead a race accounts more to leaders winning at short quotes. A horse draws to lead and is of better ability, then the procession follows of it leading, controlling the speed of the race and therefore the leader wins. If that same horse draws wide or on the second row, with equal or slightly lesser ability horses drawing prominently, the race has added variables and the notion of track bias would swing.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Understandably, to get the ‘right’ people into a sport, they need to have a passion for the sport. However the lines become too blurred when you have people in positions of power on executive committees, in club administration and board member positions who are active owners/participants in the sport.

It is a double standard to have rules in place where stewards/handicappers/registrars cannot have direct (or indirect through family) ownership or interest in any horse, yet other administrators/executives/board members can have any interest they so desire. Sure they may have to disclose these interests, but in the interest of transparency I don’t think it serves the best interests of anyone to allow this.

Being realistic, doesn’t a member of a board have a far more reaching influence of the entire sport than a steward. They can directly influence and approve policy changes, directives on programming, breeding schemes and any other number of initiatives that may stand to benefit their own interests, even if it also is a either a benefit or detriment to others.

In short, conflicts of interest need to be better documented and addressed to provide overall transparency for all involved.

INTEGRITY

Under the same idea that HRA needs to increase its power base, Integrity matters need to face a bigger national approach.

Penalties
Each state operates under the National Rules, how can it be that the same offence carries different penalty dependent on the state the offence takes place. This is one of the single biggest issues that face the sports integrity.

The same offence can carry a penalty that varies significantly between states. The fact that one state may disqualify a participant, whilst another issues a fine for the same offence should not be tolerated

Coupled with this issue is the way that appeals are heard and decided upon. There needs to be a more effective appeals system, so that the course of natural justice can be decided, however civil claims tribunals are not where they should be decided. A national racing appeals board should be established and used by all three racing codes. Find intelligent members with judicial backgrounds to form the panel and they only deal in racing related appeals.

There needs to be a nationally agreed penalty template. NSW have lead the way here with a class scheduling of banned substances. Introduce the national integrity body to set the framework and template for penalty. A national template would clearly define a scale of penalty that is matched against the offence and is automatically applied.

There appears to be too much grey area, when often it is a black and white case. Weighting applied for repeat offence and the overall offence record needs to be considered.

Race Tactics
The bane of many punters frustrations, the change of tactic rules and notifications of such variances, needs to be reviewed.

It is a tricky situation as to when or if a tactic notification needs to be made. On one hand there needs to be some protection for the punter so that they are advised and on the other you have the owner with their argument of why they should have to declare their tactics if they are going to change them.

Either way it needs to be addressed by integrity teams in consultation and a solution found. At present the systems in place do not work and when tactics are notified and then not followed, it makes the situation even worse. Again a problem with too much grey area and variable factors that may or may not attribute to the situation have influence over the outcome.

Stewards Reporting
Twitter has seen the advent of notifications being more easily broadcast and this has been a positive move. However there is so much more that stewarding panels could do either through social media or through technological use to improve the work they do.

Through the HRA website and again through a national approach, they need to overhaul how stewards reports are published. There should be a national template that can then be reported against to show race incidents, fines inquiries and any other matter that needs to appear. Presently, you can read one state report and it takes three scrolls down the page to get to the start of the report or read another states and the format is completely the opposite, with minimal information.

A video should accompany every steward’s report, showing any incident that has caught the panel’s eye with a commentary and review by the chairing steward to explain what they have seen, their interpretation of the incident and what action they have taken resulting from the incident.

The timeframe for release of the reports needs to be expedited. The fact that it may take up to 4 to 5 days to read a stewards report when a horse may be facing the starter again prior to the release of the report from its last start should not occur. Thoroughbred steward reports are generally available within a few hours of the conclusion of the race meeting, there should be a move towards achieving the same in harness.

“Explanation noted”- a very ambiguous statement that appears far too frequently. There needs to be a more definitive wording of what has transpired and a more concerted approach to come back to such matters at a later date. Far too often an explanation noted will appear, without any research having been conducted into it from prior to that race or at subsequent starts as to the nature of what has occurred.

One recent example highlighting that this is not appropriate, there was a race incident recently where a driver came off the back of the leader approaching the bell to move into the position outside the leader and apply pressure. Had he stayed in the original position he was occupying, an easier run and then the sprint-lane opportunity at the finish would have been available. At a subsequent stewards questioning, the driver stated it was his opinion that the leader was a horse that would surrender the lead as it had down at its previous starts. The lead horse in question had in fact lead and maintained the lead in its most recent starts. The stewards report simply stated- explanation noted.

Victoria’s approach to adding supplementary reports and adding them in a different area is a step in the right direction.

Trainers/Licensing  
Firmer stance needs to be taken against the transfer of horses following the disqualification of a trainer. Instances of trainers being placed in charge of horses when they have held training licences for a limited period or are known staff members, family members or close associates needs to be addressed. The sport wants to uphold integrity and rightly disqualifies a trainer, yet then allows the transfer of that horse to someone who in most cases is closely linked to the disqualified person. It is a terrible perception even if it is an innocent situation. That person may have the highest of horse skills and be gifted in equine husbandry and care, however it makes a mockery of procedures and policies aimed at making the sport a level playing field.

The transfer of training of a horse from a disqualified trainer should only be permitted to a trainer who has had a period of X number of years free from training suspension/disqualification. There should also be an embargo placed on the training location of a horse following the disqualification of it’s trainer. It should not be allowed to be trained from that same property for a set period to attempt to close the loophole of a new trainer coming on to the existing property and it effectively becomes business as usual.

There needs to be a bigger emphasis on the regulating of the location of horses out of competition. Currently compliance is poor. Improving this will also assist out of competition testing and regulating being undertaken. The pre-training and location of horses and who is undertaking this should also be closely watched.

Currently a trainer’s stable return will show all horses that are “supposedly” in the care of that trainer. A horse that is spelled will more often than not still appear on that trainers list of current horses in their care. If this is more accurately defined, to include only horses with a time period of X from racing, it will become a valuable tool for both integrity and programming of races. Implementing will provide a more accurate snapshot of the pool of horses available and a more defined location of the horse population.

OPS
If states are going to go down the path of letting the barrier draw be the handicap, there needs to be a stricter policing of horses being out of position at the start and the penalty applied for a rule breach.

Horses drawn inside the second row on their own that shift out prior to the start, or if they do have runners outside them and are a length off the frontline runner to get into the running line, they are not filling their allotted barrier. Horses drawn wide the front line that are already restraining prior to the mobile releasing the field are doing the same.

Is a monetary fine to the trainer suffice? Or should the horse be made ODM and made fulfil the same requirements that a horse made ODM though its racing manners is required to undertake. I’m sure the trainer/driver would me much more diligent in getting into position knowing that if they aren’t that the horse will be out of the draw for 2 starts rather than copping an obligatory $100 fine.

HEAT RACING

Heat racing is outdated and should be consigned to the annals.

The only place for heat racing is in the pinnacle events such as the Inter-Dominion or Great Southern Star. All other races should have it removed.

In minor event heat finals, there are so many occasions with a “happy to qualify” mentality. This serves no favours to anyone and only further harms the perception that may be held of the sport.

Granted, many clubs use heat racing to make budgetary savings to bolster the purse of a final and thus make a more attractive event. However there needs to be alternate ways rather than having races that don’t provide a racing spectacle.

If the heats for that were removed and the money used from those heats added to the final or to supplementary races, the money would not only be better spread, if done correctly, the same dominant horse that gets the ‘easy-kill’ in the heat would be no worse off financially. A ranking using a handicapping ranking/rating or position by dollars earnt in the season be used to determine the field.

Take the Vicbred scheme as an example. In the 2014/15 season 3YO Colts & Geldings there were 6 heats conducted paying out 6 x $10,455 in each race with $6,050 going to the winner. If you took $44,000 of this and added that to the final, making the final worth $154,000 and paying back to last bringing that figure up to the same as a heat win. That would leave $20,000 in reserve.

Remove the $40,000 for the two semi finals and there is then $60,000 made available that could be used in 3 consolations, each of $20,000, spreading the entire pool across a wider base. Obviously there are any other number of permeations that could be used to make a wider spread of funds for all.

HRA WEBSITE
The structure of the HRA website is ready for a spruce up. The frame with which to work with is viable, like the whole industry it’s ready for a new wardrobe. Currently its quite easy to find fields, formguides, results and any other basic piece of information. However there are many areas where I see it could improve, without needing HarnessWeb to access.

Statistics
As well as season totals for trainers and drivers, there needs to be a weekly tally of performance. This will provide an accurate snapshot of trainers and drivers and how their form is, this will allow punters/enthusiasts (can then be advertised/broadcast) to know who is in current form.

Lifetime statistics for trainers and drivers should also be incorporated. This also helps in the idea of celebrating our heroes. We want to showcase the human heroes of the sport, yet there is no way of easily viewing an individual career statistics.

Engagement Finder
Currently unless you have a horse in your blackbook, there is no way to tell if it has an upcoming engagement. A function where you enter the horse name and it takes you to the link of fields if that horse has an engagement. An easy tool for punters or other interested people to quickly and easily find any upcoming entries for a horse.

This should also be expanded to trainers and drivers.

Formguide
The HRNZ website custom formguide builder is a great tool. The HRA could follow this model. Allowing an individual to tailor a formguide to their individual desires and what they like and require.

Individual horse form, regardless of an upcoming engagement needs to be added. Under horse search, enter the horses name and be able to print a form history of that horse for X number of starts that you wish to view. This would be a great tool for people looking at purchasing/selling stock with the formguides already incorporating the embedded video of race performances.

Currently if looking up a horse performance and you click on a particular race performance, it takes you to a different result screen to the meeting results screen. This is particularly cumbersome if looking to watch a replay of the race. I would suggest making the page that is race specific either redundant or add an embedded video of that race to the page.

Trainer and driver performance with a horse should also be part of the form. Showing how many starts for that trainer and their performances under their training. For drivers, how many times they have driven that horse and their performances when driving that particular horse.

Trials
Why across all the states are trials done differently?  Victorian trials don’t appear in the fields section of the website, WA trials appear in the formguide via the horse performance. Some videos for trials are found through club websites, others through youtube or Queensland through Trottips. Some results can never be found, some are on the HRA website, some in another area. Why can they not be accessed in the one place?

Surely in the current environment of technology and with the way race fields are displayed, all trial fields should appear on the HRA website. Results should also be complied and shown in the same format as race results with the video embedded. How much more efficient and streamlined would this be if it was all in the same location.

BREEDING 

 Bonus schemes have been increasing year on year across all states, however it appears to not be achieving the goal of why most bonus schemes were introduced- to encourage more on-breeding and re-investment.

At present the schemes are all delivering great money back to the owners, however it is not translating into increased foal numbers. There needs to be a greater shift in the incentive to breed another horse with the bonus payment.

On top of current bonus schemes and rewards, a scheme where any resultant foal bred by a mare that was a recipient from the earnings of a bonus certificate/payment, automatically qualifies for increased bonus. Or some such similar reward based system where there is incentive to breed.

A breeding register should also be looked into. Any mare that retires from racing is then entered onto the breeding register, Not only would this help in capturing details of the potential size of the breeding population, open the avenue of information sharing and the possibility of leasing and sale.

A potential breeder can then look on the register for mares that are not being bred to- for whatever reason they are not being put into foal. This would then more easily open the avenue for people to contact the listed owner of mares not being bred and potentially lease the mare or acquire the mare for breeding purposes. This has the potential to help increase foal numbers.

It also becomes an easy way for any potential breeders who are trying to locate a particular bloodline that they may find easier access to. Or a stallion that may not be getting the patronage that the studmaster is hoping for, can access the register and see if there are any mares that suit their stallion and are available for breeding.

Stallion numbers should be looked at being capped at an agreed ceiling limit per season. This would need consultation between stallion owners and the major stud farms. A limit of 150 could easily be realised. Whilst not wanting to pander to mediocrity, there needs to be a fine balance of levelling the playing field.

WAGERING PAPER

The Wagering Paper was a very good document that covered many topics and on face value appeared to be well received.

How many action items out of that report have been adopted or have the state PRA’s moved towards initiating? Why spruik the outcomes and findings of a report if they are then not initiated?

The same idea as the Wagering Paper needs to be undertaken with overall ideas and frameworks for the growth of the sport.

There should be the establishment of a working party with a call for anyone who wants to add submissions and ideas. After all submissions, the working party decides upon a draft agenda.

Set aside a date and venue and all interested parties can attend where all submissions chosen to be discussed are done so. Make the gathering a regular event and give the consultation process a real chance to be heard. There are enough sensible, intelligent individuals passionate about the sport to get together and proactively discuss and propse initiatives that will help the entire sport to grow and prosper.

Actioned items need to be delivered and implemented.

OWNERSHIP/SYNDICATION

The sport needs more owners and it needs more ‘new’ owners. People who have not experienced the thrill of ownership before.

With the strength of current bonus payment in the various state based schemes, there needs to be a more concerted push to highlight the benefits that these schemes make and the potential of new owners to be well subsidised for winning performances early in the career of a horse.

Thoroughbred syndication has worked extremely well in number of subscriptions and success of syndicated horses, there needs to be a concerted focus of achieving similar results in harness.

There has been some good inroads into this recently, the more the better. Achieving success with higher profile individuals in such groups can only help the cause. Horses such as Nathans Courage, Stone of Destiny, Steffi Rice and Zee Dana can bring in a different base of interest.

Attracting individuals with a profile away from harness racing gives an ideal platform to leverage from these and help build on the ownership aspect. HRV announcing a position dedicated to this .is certainly a step in the right direction.

Many clubs have seen the value in attracting new owners as well by having “club horses” and initiatives like Race-a-Pacer and the NSW model where they have had female only or other open ownership groups with horses selected from yearling sales.

Another initiative that should be looked into is more “competition” style ownership to help whet the appetite of potential owners. Bling It On had a small percentage share won in a competition during his 3YO Brisbane campaign. Getting the right people on board to ‘sell’ a percentage of their horse for the night to the race club who then raffle or give away that share for the night, giving them race night priveleges is an ideal way in attempting to showcase the benefits, joys and thrills of ownership to a new audience.

Many trainers are also becoming more active in chasing new owners and social media is an ideal platform for trainers/owners to freely and easily promote what they have on offer to try to bring in new owners.

To ensure this is successful however, there needs to be a trainer education/best practice model followed. Its all well and good to attract new owners, however if they end up owning a horse with a trainer that may not provide the experience that the new owner was expecting, there is potential for a sour taste to be left and that owner may be lost forever.

I have spoken to many owners who have chosen not to re-invest or purchase other horses because of experiences with their trainer. Some of the things spoken about was the inability to be able to watch their horse in trackwork or at least see it in it’s training environment, the “closed ranks” mentality and unwillingness to be forthcoming in how the horse is actually performing, not being given an indication of the training/nominating/acceptance/racing process and the belief that their horse would be in a particular event only to find out it had not even been nominated. While this may certainly be a minority instance, it has been across various trainers.

The point is, that syndicates, clubs or the PRA’s can do all the hard work to attract the new owner. They are then let loose with a trainer who may have all the horse nous available, but does not have the skills or knowledge to build and foster a strong relationship that ensures positive outcomes are experienced.

Clubs also need to see their role in looking after owners. Owners need better service from the clubs on race-nights. It doesn’t need to be a big cost item or have any exclusivity attached, however there needs to be a sense of benefit felt by an owner for having their horse race and being at the track.

SKY CHANNEL SCHEDULING

The balance of racing product available on Sky needs to be better managed. There needs to be a better balance of lead in time for all codes. Its a common and easily defined result that more lead in time converts to more wagering revenue on that event.

There never should be a situation of a race being shifted to Sky 2. If it is bumped, it means there is too much content. The fact that race meetings are being scheduled with 35 plus minutes between races and then get reassigned to an alternate channel is unacceptable.

Should Sky be allowed to be the sole schedulers of the racing of all codes considered their ownership/affiliation with Tabcorp?

Why can’t there be a better scheduling of product where lead-in time is afforded, where there is not greater than 25 minutes gap between races? Fixing this issue won’t come easy and will take negotiation and consultation. However there is no reason that a better outcome cannot be achieved.

Under current operations, Sky use their power and will veto requests of PRA’s and clubs to suit what they see as best scenario for their own commercial endeavours.

A 10 race card with 30 minute gaps equates to the meeting being stretched over a 4.5 hour period or 270 minutes. Those same 10 races provide approximately 20 minutes of actual racing product- what you are primarily getting people to the track for.

Condense this same 10 race card to 20 minute gaps it is 3 hours or 180 minutes. Use the condensed racing card to engage those on track or at home into more of the racing product. It then allows a 1.5 hour program of entertainment after the racing is completed if the club so desires. There will be more chance of people staying at a venue after the racing is completed if they haven’t already had their day/night dragged out through a race meeting with 35-40 minute gaps between races.

If dedicated time slots were made available for the product, would we achieve better wagering turnover collectively? If the following model were followed, with no overlap of codes what would the results, positives/negatives be?

9.00am-1.30pm- Matinee Greyhound meetings and overseas content
1.30pm- 4.30pm- Afternoon Thoroughbreds
4.30pm- 7.30pm- Twighlight Harness
7.30pm-10.30pm- Night Greyhounds, harness overflow, night gallops.

NATIONAL TOTE POOLS

To strengthen the overall wagering landscape, the mingling of national tote pools needs to take place. If co-mingling with the Hong Kong tote can take place, why cannot there be enough collaboration and agreement to co-mingle the 3 Australian totes.

Surely the strength that the resultant pools would then generate would only result in positive growth of all the wagering pools. Larger punters would then have more confidence betting into the pool, without restriction knowing they are much more likely to receive a better return.

Achieving this would call more corporate bookmakers into account, and would this possibly lead them to standing a client for more?

If take-out rates match where the investment is placed geographically/organisationally, surely this is only beneficial to all involved.

RECOGNITION OF PARTICIPANTS

Top Performers
There needs to be better recognition of our top performers, not just from within but to also get the message out to those who may not be au fait with this great sport. How many ‘non-racing people’ would know of Black Caviar. How many of these same people would know of Blacks A Fake. It is a problem that may not ever be overcome, however it needs to be given dedicated resources to lift the knowledge and awareness of our sport.

Recognising the top performers could also be used as a promotional tool if a Race To Glory or Australian Pacing Champion series were initiated.

A Brownlow Medal or Dally M medal style award should also be implemented on a National basis. Some states currently have a similar style award, but how much more recognition could be achieved if it is undertaken on a national basis. It could even be a peer elected award, like a players-player style. At the end of the year, votes counted and the winner decided to start the Race To Glory week.

Drivers Colours  
Always seems to generate heated debate for whatever reasons.

Look at any other sport- who or how are the heroes recognised? By the colour of the team that they play for. Sure there are many trainer/drivers that have easily recognised colours and wear those colours consistently.

If there is a desire to reach a new audience, strengthen the current audience base and help recognise our top performers/heroes, then driver colours need to be instituted. It will make the promotion and recognition easier to undertake.

The wearing of greyhound colour saddle cloths receives positive feedback in identifying a runner in the field. However do we want to be our own sport? Driver colours will achieve the same result, if not greater benefit then wearing a coloured saddlecloth.

This is the first part. There are other topics that I will cover in an upcoming piece once I find the time.