b4breeding

I’m not interested in harness racing surviving the current downward trends in stakes, horse numbers, attendances, and betting figures.

I’m interested in it reinventing itself to become an exciting industry to be involved in for the future.

Merely surviving becomes a goal in its own right. And that is when the bell starts tolling.

We can’t afford to hunker down and wait for “things to change” or more money to miraculously appear. We need to be actively pursuing ideas that will position us well for that moment, or indeed help make that moment happen and then capitalise on it.

We hear it said loud and clear: There is no money.

But when ideas start to flow in a positive way, when we really get brainstorming with an open mind, we can create opportunities and energy. That’s what can attract any money that is around.

So here are 4 radical solutions to re-energise the NZ breeding pool (I will look at each one in more detail over the next month of blogging, including how they might be funded.)

1. Allow breeders to breed 2 foals from an individual mare (no more than 2) per breeding season.
2. Create meaningful breeders bonuses related to first win or all wins of all NZ-bred horse.
3. Place a limit of 100 on all NZ available stallions for the next 3 years.
4. Attach winners’ credits to breeders of fillies (transferable only to current owners)

First up I’ll look at why I have changed my mind about embryonic transfers – and how this idea could grow our pool of broodmares as well as our number of foals.

And if you haven’t read it previously, check out my ideas for making our racing product more interesting and attractive. I rated heat racing and rewards for times as two possibilities – and look what happens, HRV gives the new Great Southern Star series a format that culminates in two heats and a final on the same night, plus rewards fastest placed heat times with additional berths in the final. Yes, it can be done. Many of our current race meetings (even at the highest level) lack the structure of an exciting event, and this is one way to attract punters and attendances. We were all shocked at the demise of the Interdom Trotting Series. The nay-sayers were out in full force as the alternative format came to light. BUT the new format has really added value – congratulations Harness Racing Victoria!