What Harness Racing Really Needs……
Rob Courtney
One man’s opinion…..
For some time now this writer has been very concerned about the falling numbers of harness broodmares being bred but after talking to various people involved at the ‘heart’ of the industry and acknowledging its current challenges, I might have to change my thinking.
Could it be that we do have enough horses out there but not enough people (owners) to race them! ?
This is very topical considering that the ‘governing body’ right now is preparing a document/submission paper directly related to present day Horse Utilization within the code.
Is it also possible that many of our horses remain untried or unraced simply because the owner(s) of that horse (s) cannot afford to keep that horse in work ?
A well-known Canterbury trainer shared with this writer last week that he had been offered 3 yearlings (already broken in), by a successful sire, for an amount that would cover only one of the services fees currently.
Another Canterbury trainer has so many horses in work but only 30% of those horses have paying owners.
That means that the trainer is either owning the horse him/herself or there is some ‘deal’ going on behind the scenes
So who can afford to race a horse with training fees somewhere between $50 & $100 dollars a day leading to monthly invoices of between $2 – $3500.?
Yes and there is an awareness that trainer’s costs have gone up as well.
We bemoan the lack of young people coming into the sport but lets eliminate those potential owners under 40 (age) straight away who have a young family and probably a home mortgage. Under the current economic climate, they are not likely to have ‘spare funds’ to allocate to racing a horse. Times are tough and people are having to ‘tighten their belts’.
Those aged between 40 – 60 are possibilities but again money is tight. If they own a retail business, they are less likely to be able to own a horse as many businesses are closing their doors due to a ‘downturn’ in their sector. Many people now do their shopping on line and the ‘shops’ out on the street are doing it tough.
So that leaves those who are 60+ who have possibly retired, who have done alright for themselves, by whatever they turned their hand at, and now in a life stage of ‘comfort’ have some savings tucked away that they can outlay on a horse if this indeed fits in with their recreational pursuits.
But they don’t want all the horse!
A small percentage seems to be the norm and if one glances over a racebook these days, several horses are owned by a number of owners including a number of syndicates.
The yearlings that go to the sales (the top end of our commercial product) that get sold for (eg.) $100k are in many cases syndicated to groups of investors who take a portion of the horse.
The yearlings that don’t go to the sales and often are the property of the owner/breeder, have to get broken in and this cost generally falls back on to the owner/breeder themselves.
So why are they still breeding horses, one might ask if they can’t afford to have the horse in work.
Well, simply put, they are not! This is the group (owner/breeder) who have left the game in significant numbers in recent years.
One successful owner/breeder shared – ‘Its just too hard!”
That horse (after the break in) is still not a viable racing option for potential owners because they most likely want a positive trainer’s report on a ‘going along/running along’ type before ‘unloading’ their hard earned fortune and that could be another 18 months in coming.
Can the horse run? Does it have a future?
And we want our trainers to have integrity and to be honest.
It has been circulating recently that a very large percentage of those horses that qualify to race, do not in fact grace our racetracks. The ‘honest trainer’ has possibly told connections that the horse is not good enough! or it needs more time to mature !
In context, that ‘not good enough’ relates directly to the current handicapping & programming protocols in place, does it not ?.
The introduction of another level for our ‘lesser’ racehorses might offer connections another chance in the limelight.
After all, those who are lucky enough to win a race, will tell you any race is a great thrill if you end up in the winners circle.
The attitude of ‘breeding to sell’ tends to restrict/narrow the pedigree choices of both broodmare & stallion and those ‘commercial’ breeders are choosing to match up what they believe the buying bench is looking for.
Recent observations will suggest that this buying bench is decreasing in size.
The attitude of ‘breeding to race’ historically has widened those choices considerably for breeders but in the present climate, the latter ‘attitude’ has possibly created a pool of horses that nobody wants nor are prepared to speculate on their prospective futures.
The end result has those breeders giving up !
The remedy to this situation lies in the ability to make racing a horse both more attractive & affordable to the masses.
Increasing the stake money on offer for our premier races does not necessarily impact on ‘The Masses’.
How the ‘power brokers’ go about that challenge will determine if harness racing can remain amongst the people or if it indeed becomes quite elitist, only being accessible by those who have bucket loads of money.
Now, the latter looks a clear favourite. I’m hoping it is not so!
PUBLISHERS NOTE // The Final Report of the URG will be published
Friday 6 September 2024 on the HRNZ website.