I truly believe that this is an issue that Harness Racing in all states need to address. With the exception of the Mildura Cup carnival who market their event extremely well, I cannot think of another successful carnival held anywhere in Australia and with all due respects to Mildura it shouldn't be leading the way on this front.
People need a reason to go to events nowadays, may sound a bit pathetic but its a fact. Even the Inter Dominion with no Wednesday night heat anymore means people tend to just go to the Grand Final as opposed to the full fortnight in years gone by.
I always thought the Hunter Cup was the perfect opportunity to do something when it was being run on a Sunday afternoon in that you could have a Metro class meeting on the Friday night, a standard country assessed meeting on the Saturday night and the big day on the Sunday afternoon. It is probably the one meeting all year that provides the greatest calibre of horse flesh all round as there is the Hunter Cup itself, the blue riband Victoria Derby and a Group 1 trotters race so punters get to see the best open class pacers and trotters plus the best 3 year olds from both sides of the Tasman. As a punter, I would jump at the opportunity to attend a meeting in this format and spend 3-4 days mixing with other Harness Racing folk and I am sure other people would flock from around the country to attend. The Hunter Cup has recently reverted back to a Saturday night and whilst it certainly is a great night's racing, that is all it is - a great night.
The gallops as usual get it right and I am not just talking about the obvious ones such as Cup week or the Sydney Easter carnival, I am more alluding to the success they have at places like Warrnambool, Magic Millions, Wagga and Albury who encourage people not only to attend on their big day but to travel and make a week of it. As a Harness Racing enthusiast, I am always envious that my galloping friends get the opportunity to attend these events.
I also believe that it would work well in places like the Gold Coast or Tasmania where people like to go for holidays so if you give them an excuse they will come but you cannot take people for idiots so you have to provide a decent product if you are to get people coming back in subsequent years.
The opportunity is there for the taking, it only needs a proactive club to take a risk that may result in huge long term benefits. Most Harness Racing committees however are comprised of people who were involved in the caper during the halcyon days of the 1960s and struggle to comprehend that we need to change with the times. The needs and wants of people have evolved over time, yet we still conduct harness meetings in exactly the same manner as we did half a century ago. The format needs to be addressed.
To use the words of Shoeless Joe Jackson from Field Of Dreams "If you build it, they will come".
