Chief Stipe Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 A raging success. What a fantastic success the recently completed teal campaign was. The harness racing industry should be proud it contributed thousands of dollars towards ovarian cancer research. Though the money is obviously the whole point of the campaign, if you put it aside for a second you can marvel at the driver for its success. The way industry participants pulled together for the cause was incredible to watch. A seal of tea washed over meetings across the country and clubs, trainers and drivers and other officials banded together to make the teal campaign a success. I think the challenge for harness racing officials is to capture this kind of drive and cooperation and replicate it in many other projects. Imagine reproducing the kind of incredible support the teal campaign enjoyed in another project. So, I say, do not let the ball stop rolling. The possibilities are endless. Ban the stand? Lets put standing starts back on the agenda. Standing starts were an ugly talking point during the build up to the New Zealand Cup. Little has changed since then and there is little to suggest they will not be a problem again this spring. Bad stands are so regular they seem to have been accepted as part of everyday harness racing. Its nothing new to point out faults, instances of horses being unfairly treated and general debacles. My question is, when did the industry just start accepting these horror shows? When did the industry roll over and say ‘oh well, it is just part of the game’. I would like to see a full and rigorous enquiry into standing start procedures and the place of the stand in the harness racing industry. A whinging chorus of old timers clinging to traditions is not enough of a reason to keep them around. We need data and analysis suggesting – with particular note of betting trends – when to use them and how often, as well as how they should be executed. Most accept standing starts are necessary. So, if we are going to have them lets make them workable for the punter. The number one function of the standing start right now seems to be scaring bettors away. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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