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By TAB For Ever · Posted
A few facts from a Survey done among Stakeholders in Harness ,with a Couple of presentations made at different venues in North Island. It was mainly from a North Island perspective......most comparatives done with 2016-2022 [ 6 years ] a few covered 10 years, so Covid a big influence. Held April 2023. 2016 Horse Numbers..South 6815 ,North 2524 2022 Numbers ..South 5351 [-22%] North 1535 [-39%] -42% drop of breeders in North over 10 years ONLY -3% drop in owners in North , Auckland down ,Waikato up ! -15% drop in Licence Holders in North. -25% mares served. -30% North ,-23% South Current race horses ..March 2023 510 North , 1500 South 161 two and 3 yr olds total in North ,335 in South.....in total may not be Current Races held.... -28% in North , similar number in South [no decrease] turnover drop -42% North , -3% South 6 years Gross Betting revenue....-47% North , + 6% South 6 years Gross Betting margin ...... -8% North , + 10% South....Brodie heavily resticted ! Other Info.....450 People answered survey....93% Euro , 72% Male ,68% over 60 years old with 20 years in Harness. Big issues seen as ...Stakes , Handicapping system ,Increased Costs. From this you can kinda see why much of the current focus over next 12 months from Entain will be in the North as drop off has been significant. But where will the horses come from ? You welcome !!!! -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Team Ballydoyle's crack colt City Of Troy (Justify) has 10 peers to overcome in Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in his quest to follow the hoofprints of the wonderhorse with which he has drawn early comparison. With the stable removing all of his understudies including the similarly-unbeaten Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) on Thursday morning, the assembled cast will be the smallest for the time-honoured Rowley Mile Classic since 2017 when Ryan Moore enjoyed his last winning ride on Churchill (Ire). Three of the colts dispatched by Coolmore's TDN Rising Star in testing conditions in the track's signature juvenile contest, the G1 Dewhurst S., are set to re-oppose and they are Shadwell's Alyanaabi (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah's subsequent G3 Craven S. winner Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}) and Teme Valley and Ballylinch Stud's Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Key opponents to City Of Troy include Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), fellow unbeaten but unproven fellow TDN Rising Stars Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Night Raider (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Jeff Smith's G2 Royal Lodge S. scorer Ghostwriter (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Juddmonte's G1 Middle Park S. runner-up Task Force (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is the fourth TDN Rising Star in the select and classy line-up. With such a small field, the draw is rendered less relevant than in the years of bumper runners such as 2002, 2007 and 2019. It was in the latter year that Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) provided Aidan O'Brien with his 10th success before a relative drought for the operation, but as the year of Churchill proved facing only nine rivals with the cutaway rail experiment this is always tactical. To that end, it is in all likelihood a relief to connections that City Of Troy is in stall two next to the similarly forward-going and generous Night Raider, who is on the wing. Both are expected to be ridden forward, while the stables of Ghostwriter and Rosallion will be buoyed by being in three and four respectively for that essential early cover and tow. The Charlie Hills-trained G2 Champagne S. winner Iberian is on the other flank, one out from the Ed Walker-trained seven-furlong course conditions scorer Ten Bob Tony (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) who bids to become the latest of many outsiders to fill the frame in this under Guineas debutante Saffie Osborne. The post City Of Troy Faces Ten In The 2000 Guineas appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
What Hawkesbury Gold Cup Day Where Hawkesbury Race Club – 1 Racecourse Rd, Clarendon NSW 2756 When Saturday, May 4, 2024 First Race 11:20am AEST Visit Dabble Hawkesbury Race Club gets set for its annual Gold Cup Day meeting on Saturday afternoon, with a bumper 10-race program lined up. The rail is in the true position for the entire circuit, and although the surface is rated Good 4 at the time of acceptances, significant rainfall in the lead-up means a likely downgrade into the Soft range. The action is scheduled to get underway at 11:20am AEST. Hawkesbury Gold Cup: Nugget After being beaten by less than a length in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Randwick on April 6, Nugget appears primed to peak in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup. The son of Siyouni was crowded for room when mounting a late challenge in Australia’s greatest handicap, only to get swallowed up in the shadows of the post by a fast-finishing Celestial Legend. With wet conditions unlikely to hinder his blistering turn of foot, Nugget gets the nod in the $250,000 feature. Hawkesbury Gold Cup Race 8 – #4 Nugget (13) 7yo Gelding | T: Ciaron Maher | J: Tyler Schiller (58kg) +400 with Bet365 Hawkesbury Guineas: General Salute General Salute powered through the wire first-up at Rosehill in the Listed Darby Munro Stakes (1200m) on March 23 and impressed with an eye-catching barrier trial heading into the Group 3 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m). The step up to 1400m should be ideal for this Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou-trained gelding who likes to get back and run on. The tempo should be genuine, and although he may be the last one mounting a challenge, General Salute will be flying home at a massive each-way price with the top betting sites. Hawkesbury Guineas Race 7 – #8 General Salute (13) 3yo Gelding | T: Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | J: Joshua Parr (56kg) +1400 with Dabble Hawkesbury Crown: Shadows Of Love In the Group 3 Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) for the fillies and mares, Shadows Of Love will be trying to bounce back after a luckless performance in the Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) at Randwick on April 13. She was cast three wide throughout but showed plenty of tenacity to cling onto a spot in the minor money. Tim Clark will search for the one-one from gate five, and with her best form coming with sting out of the ground, Shadows Of Love can justify the short quote with online bookmakers. Hawkesbury Crown Race 6 – #5 Shadows Of Love (5) 4yo Mare | T: Kim Waugh | J: Tim Clark (56kg) +220 with Picklebet Best Bet at Hawkesbury: Gentileschi Gentileschi is on the brink of a hat-trick heading to metropolitan company for the first time and looks perfectly placed in this Class 2 Highway. She’s been sensational in her back-to-back victories at Scone to kick off the campaign, going on to score by a combined five lengths with relative ease. This is clearly her toughest task to date, but with her ceiling yet to be reached, Gentileschi may just prove too classy for this lot. Best Bet Race 3 – #9 Gentileschi (8) 3yo Filly | T: Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich | J: James McDonald (56kg) +130 with PlayUp Next Best at Hawkesbury: Parisal Parisal returns after a 126-day spell and comes through some strong form-lines last preparation. The daughter of Astern peaked on her run late when chasing home Lady Laguna at Doomben on December 30, so the James Cummings barn elected to send her to the paddock. A soft piece of work at Canterbury on April 19 suggests she is ready to go first-up, and with Zac Lloyd set to be positive from stall three, watch for Parisal to make every post a winner. Next Best Race 5 – #4 Parisal (3) 4yo Mare | T: James Cummings | J: Zac Lloyd (55.5kg) +320 with Unibet Best Value at Hawkesbury: Waltham Waltham makes his Australian debut for the Matthew Smith barn having won two of his three starts before being sent down under. The Irish import is a pure stayer, with both his victories coming over 2615m at Leopardstown before failing to make an impression when stepping up to Listed company. His trials have only been fair, but with the wet conditions likely to suit the son of Roaring Lion, this guy is worth a speck at the each-way price available with the best racing bookmakers. Best Value Race 4 – #6 Waltham (4) 4yo Gelding | T: Matthew Smith | J: Zac Lloyd (58kg) +1400 with Neds Saturday Hawkesbury quaddie tips – 4/5/2024 Hawkesbury quadrella selections Saturday, May 4, 2024 1-2-5-7-8-11-16 1-4-6-14 1-2-4-5-12-19 3-8-11-12-13 | Copy this bet straight to your betslip Horse racing tips View the full article -
I agree with what you have said. I never said big money 2 year old races are likely to decrease. I agree connections of 2 year olds should have been beneficiaries in scale similar to all the other sectors as regards the boost in stakes as a result of the entain deal. But,if you want specific examples of a pointless waste of increased funding on 2 year old racing,i refer you to the diamond creek farm 2 year old race at invercargill. Its stake was increased form $60,000 2 years ago to $110,000 this year. So they gave an extra $50,000 to a race to promote the 2 year olds. But what did the extra $50,000 achieve. More starters,higher turnover,more media exposure,increased breeding numbers? No,it got them nothing extra. Did they get even 1 more starter because of the extra $50,000. 2022,2023 and 2024 all had 8 starters. Now if HRNZ had plenty of money to give away then sure,but they don't so they need to be making common sense calls. Then you have the emphasis on the large 2 year old bonuses. It was not a common sense call because where are the benefits to warrant the 1.5 million $ spend over 2 years? At most you were going to get maybe 40 recipients of the bonuses each year. Mostly wealthy people who could afford to breed in the future if they wanted.Those type of people already know they are not in it for the money. i'm not saying they shouldn't be rewarded,but isn't it obvious you should be prioritisng retaining breeders across the board. You can overspend today,but you can guarantee you will pay for it in the not too distant future. Thats going to happen. wheres the realistic future thinking? -
Back in the 70s and 80s the "Cup" races at the likes of Methven, Ashburton. Timaru. Rangiora, Orari etc were class 4, 5 or 6 fronts, and they provided great racing as horses strived to get through to open class. That class of horse hardly seems to exist these days, and anyone can race in so called open class races. I'm not involved enough with harness racing these days to know whether it is a handicapping problem or something else. As a casual observer I do wonder whether the trots might be better served by reverting to a wins based structure so the general public know what's going on. For example, perhaps have 3 win fronts with conditions, so horses can still drop back a bit but the public can still understand it. Obviously the 2yo approach hasn't really worked. The real problem seems to be the lack of depth in the open class ranks. The days of having the likes of Bonnies Chance, Armalight, Locarno, Hands Down, Sapling, Lord Module etc regularly racing against each other are long gone. Ironically they didn't keep going year after year because of massive stakes but more because their owners enjoyed the challenge and the thrill of it. We really do seem to have lost our way. I know I no-longer find harness racing interesting at all, which is sad. The only really "innovative" thing that has happened in harness racing in recent years is the return to grass track racing. Perhaps they need to revert to some of the other "old" ways as well.
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