The inaugural International All Star Series featuring Australasia’s best and the top drivers from the United States came to a conclusion on Saturday night. It was a fantastic week for Victorian harness racing.
Congratulations to individual winner Kerryn Manning who added yet another accolade to a trailblazing career. Also to Team Victoria, well done on defeating the Internationals 719 points to 712.
But the Series was more than just about winning. The camaraderie, the learning, the experiences among the drivers was outstanding.
Social media was engaged in the #TrotsAllStars like no other event I have witnessed. The quality of the YouTube clips was first class. If you would like to look at some, click here.
The complimentary comments that the US drivers will feed back to their colleagues about the quality of Victorian harness racing will bode well for relationships between the two countries.
There were many people involved but thanks to Vaughn Lynch for managing the week, Michael Taranto for driving the bus, Mediatec's John and Michael for their work producing the video coverage online and Michael Howard for overseeing HRV's social and traditional media coverage of the series.
Women's Cancer Foundation
Incredible effort by all concerned for the industry to raise in excess of $200,000 for the Women's Cancer Foundation – Ovarian Cancer Institute. Congratulations to Kerri Coghlan, Duncan McPherson and the WCF team on their efforts to raise the bar this year.
The teal pants initiative which ended on Saturday raised over $75,000 in a joint HRV, HRNSW and Tabcorp promotion. The female drivers did everyone proud by winning 182 races across the two States and the ACT.
Breeders Crown enhancements
Some important changes were recently announced for the Breeders Crown for this year and beyond. They include:
- Prizemoney levels have been guaranteed in each age group up to 2019. In 2019 Finals for 2yo pacers will run for $300,000, 3yo pacers $200,000, 2yo trotters $100,000 and 3yo trotters $80,000. A full breakdown of this year and following year’s guaranteed stakes is in the media release.
- Commencing in the 2019 series, no heats will be run outside Victoria. Foals bred this season will be the last crop eligible to race in heats outside Victoria.
- From the 2016 series, repechages and consolations will be discontinued and replaced by a “silver” series. This will condense the series by a week.
We also understand that late August is not the ideal time to be running such an important feature event and we are exploring alternative dates. We are however mindful of not interfering with other major juvenile carnivals.
Vicbred enhancements
Further enhancements have also been made to the Vicbred:
- For the first time, the very popular first win bonus will apply to Vicbred eligible horses who win their first race as a 5yo or older. From 1 September this year a $3,500 bonus will be paid.
- As for the Breeders Crown, Vicbred Final increases will apply through to 2019, by which time pacing finals will be worth $130,000 and trotting finals $100,000.
We are continually looking at ways to incentivise breeders and owners through the Vicbred program, across all classes of horse. In recent times the first win bonus for 2yo, 3yo and 4yo has increased from $5,000 to $7,000 and the lucrative Vicbred Platinum program has injected $800,000 into the scheme across all classes.
New whip rules
As from May 1 this year new Whip Rules will come into effect across Australia.
A collaborative venture between HRA and the States has led to further modifications to the Rules relating to whip use. Primarily, drivers are required to hold a rein in each hand.
I encourage you to click here to view a short video focusing on animal welfare issues relating to whip use. Particularly poignant comments come from Greg Sugars.
Summer of Glory
Summer of Glory seems a long time ago, but it was another successful carnival, headlined by Lennytheshark in the Victoria Cup and Smolda in the Hunter Cup.
For a 90 second look back at some of the action during the Summer of Glory, clickhere.
Racing Integrity Commissioner Roadshows
Following his reappointment for a further three years, the Racing Integrity Commissioner will be conducting a state-wide roadshow during May.
One dedicated harness track has been selected as a venue (Shepparton), however there are eight locations available in regional centres where a harness track is present.
A full list of the roadshow venues can be sourced by clicking here. I encourage as many harness participants as possible to attend.
Website statistics
Activity on the National Website managed by HRV continues to grow.
For January 2016 there were 182,000 Unique Users who conducted 1.1m sessions. That is up from the previous January (171,000 Users and 1m sessions). Individual users are averaging 6 sessions per month on the site.
Most frequently accessed is Fields (96,000 Users) Results (46,000) News (37,000) and Form (25,000)
Over half the sessions on the website are now from mobile devices.
Most popular tweet from the @HRVNews feed during January was shortly after Lennytheshark’s win in the Victoria Cup, which gained 12,800 impressions.
Jess Tubbs
Jess has had a number of roles within HRV over more than a decade. She will be leaving us on March 24, following the completion of her most recent project, the successful Australasian Premier Trotting Sales.
She will not be entirely lost to the industry as she pursues her passion as hobby breeder and supporting new husband Greg.
Get well
Two industry people not in good health at the moment:
- Chris Svanosio remains in hospital following delicate neurosurgery. Despite being in pain Chris has been buoyed by the number of well-wishers from the harness industry. We all wish Chris a comfortable recuperation once he leaves hospital.
- Gordon Lockman had a fall at home and unfortunately broke his arm in three places above the elbow. Gordon remains in hospital and he also faces a lengthy recovery.
Vale
- Very sad to learn of the passing of Arthur Spiller from Ararat. Arthur was a long serving worker and curator for the Ararat Club. Those who dealt with him at HRV knew him as being passionate about his curator work and about the club in general. He was known as a thorough gentleman.
- Some industry participants may remember Murray Bartels who raced a few nice horses back in the 90’s. Sadly Murray passed away on Sunday at age 43 after a short illness. The best of Murray’s horses was Barts Gamble which had 99 starts for 20 wins and 35 placings. Condolences to Murray’s family including father Ken, who retains a B Grade trainer licence.
- HRV has also been notified of the passing of Peter Lewis, a former licensed trainer of a number of horses in the 80’s and 90’s. Condolences to his wife Daphne.
Did you know?
Something not widely understood by the industry is that HRV owns 107 hectares of land at Melton for future development.
Tabcorp Park occupies just over 20 hectares of HRV’s land however the surrounding land will eventually be developed for the long-term benefit of the industry.
An Introduction from CEO John Anderson
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