Race Dates 2012-2013 Letter To HRNSW

27^th., February, 2012.                         

Mr, Sam Nati,

Chief Executive Officer

HRNSW,

P.O. Box, 1034,

Bankstown, NSW 1885.

Dear Sam.

Re:                                           Draft Dates 2012-2013

My Board acknowledges the difficult times for the industry in both monetary and confidence terms and is extremely appreciative of the allocation of 23 meetings to the club.

Whilst the number is well below what is required to take the industry to the next level in this area, we realize that the cake is only so big and we need to tread water until such time as the industry is established on a sound footing.
 

Having said that, it is trusted that the Board of HRNSW accepts Tamworth’s position of being isolated in harness racing terms and formulate a strategy to ensure that the number of race  meetings, are increased in the future.   As we have alluded to in numerous submissions, we are 4 hours away from Newcastle and Dubbo, whilst the majority of harness racing venues have a myriad of racing within 2 to 3 hours from their home base.

Local Trainers and Owners have complained bitterly for a number of years of the inadequacies of owning and paying up for a horse to be trained in the Tamworth area, the lack of race meetings and irregular racing, make it difficult to attract new participants or professionals to the area.

Not only are Tamworth Owners and Trainers limited by the amount of racing in the area, prizemoney is also at the lower end of the equation.   In the Riverina area, Wagga and Young have 280 Career penalty races and 112 Graduation races compared to 62 Career penalty and 122 Graduation at Tamworth.   Dubbo and Parkes are also handicapped in this regard with 60 Career Penalty races and 126 Graduation races.   Why is it that Career Penalty races are heavily weighted to the Riverina area?

Should the Industry follow down the track of strengthening already strong harness areas at the expense of the weaker and fragile areas, then ultimately we will finish up with an industry representing only half of the State .   It is my Board’s belief that the Board of HRNSW should address this issue as soon as possible.

In regard to the number of Career penalty and Graduation races allocated to each meeting, my Board believes that this should not be set in concrete and that depending on nominations and demand, that clubs should be able to determine the mix, provided that they do not exceed the numbers as per the allocation.   Some meetings may have 3 Career and 5 Graduations, others 8 graduations and so on   In other words, let the Owners and Trainers determine the future and allocate races as required provided that the overall framework is not exceeded.   The system needs to be flexible so that Owners and Trainers can plot the best path for their horse.   If Clubs run more graduations than allocated, then the money saved from the Career penalty races could go into the pool to be used for additional prizemoney or additional meetings – a win/win for all.

Yours faithfully,

Charles McCarthy,

Chairman,

Tamworth Harness Racing Club.