So the answer to the question: what 5 things would improve racing in Australia, rests with the answerer’s perspective.
Is it a punting viewpoint he/she is coming from? Or an owners, or a trainers?
As I’m an owner and a punter, I’m going to address the question from toset perspectives.
Sooo,here we go then – 5 changes that Aussie horse racing needs.
Have Your Say 🗣: How can racing be improved in Australia? – Comment below
1. Weight For Age (WFA) racing at all three levels: country; provincial and city.
Australian racing has an inverted pyramid when it comes to racing. We tend to punish the better horses. That has got to stop and when it does, the percentage level of wastage will diminish too. Quality should be rewarded and if we introduced three WFA – that’s all we need – just three races per every meeting spread over any level from Maiden through to Open races, then owners who have promising racehorses will prosper more. Those horses will race on longer as their wills will not be so quickly broken, and revenue will increase on each race too. That’s always been the case when you look at the wages on each race. when horses look well in, punting revenue increases . So right there, the introduction of 3 x WFA races over any grade on every race card will benefit the industry substantially.
2. Claiming races at country and provincial levels.
The North American system of Claiming races is a good idea. My suggestion is make them $20,000 in the bush and $30,000 at the provincials. What that means is anyone who produces the money, can buy any horse in a Claiming race for either the $20k in the bush or $30k at the provincials. Secret and sealed ballots lodged with race club secretaries before the meeting starts. If 2 or more people bid on same horse, then a lottery draw is conducted. The prizemoney for the races would still be the same and the class of the races should be BM 58 through to BM 80. And these can be either Hcp or WFA events. This too will improve wastage and prolong the life of the racehorse.
3. Maidens and Class 1 Prizemoney Increases.
This is a must. Australian racing is predicated on the fact owners can make money out of the sport but the reality is, of the 22,000 foals born each year here, about 17,000 race and most of them will remain maidens. So, again the inverted pyramid view is what happens here. We need to increase prizemoney in Maiden races and Class 1 races by $15,000 in the bush, $20,000 at the provincials and $25,000 in the city. They are increases on top of the money already allocated. In this way owners can reap rewards and then go back, buy more yearlings and as a result increase the ownership base. It also helps the breeding industry. And while we’re on the subject of Maidens and Class 1s – add more of them to the racing menu each race day.
4. Country Only Trained Maidens and Class 1
This is so obvious and such a simple fix. With increased bush prizemoney over the past 3 years, has come a MASSIVE increase in provincial and city-trained horses racing there. Which is fine, helps revenue. BUT….introduce 2 x races at each country venue for horses trained only by bush trainers, and at the provincials for horses only trained by provincials trainers. This problem is slowly being addressed and I’ve noticed some race clubs actually implementing it already. Bravo to them on every level.
5. Provincial BM ratings
This has to be addressed. If a horse wins at the provincials right now, it gets a much tougher BM rating than if it wins in the bush. That isn’t fair at all. If you win a Bathurst, or Rockhampton or Echuca (just picking 3 random venues) maiden, you shouldn’t get a huge BM relief compared to those winning at the provincials. It’s the main reason, probably the sole reason, why provincial fields are always so small and why maiden fields in the bush are large. Mind you, introducing WFA races would weaken the need to have this rule implemented.
I have many more ideas and will over time introduce them too. But I will be sending these concepts to the governing bodies in each state and welcome, absolutely beg for your input in regards to ideas as well.
We have the best racing on the planet and just a few tweeks here and there will make it even greater.
