I generally try to be positive as there are too many "trots bashers" out there already but a couple of observations stand out to me like the proverbial dogs .... and thought I would air my thoughts
There is a distinct lack of professionalism in Harness Racing, predominately by trainers in who drives their horses but surely the governing bodies should introduce a mandate that all drivers at Metro grade meetings must adhere to a certain qualification criteria. If we look at the fields for this Friday night at Melton which has a Group 1 and 3 other group races on the program then the following all stand out to me - Joanne Taylor, Clinton McSwain, Stephen Cleave, Kerry Clarke, Geoffrey Allen, Mal Whiteford, Alex Douglas, Paul Paton, Kevin Ford, Juanita Breen and Paul Davies. Could probably even add Graeme Lang to that list as rarely drives nowadays but I could imagine the commotion that would cause which in itself is half the problem in that people will point to things he did 30 years ago instead of making the hard (and correct) decision based on what needs to be done today!!!
The list named there simply do not drive in enough races to be in receipt of a Metro licence in my opinion and yet it happens week in, week out and you can bet your bottom dollar that one of them will ruin a race this week. To further magnify the issue this week, a couple are listed to drive in Group races!!!
Punters need to have confidence in the product and when you are presenting your marquee meeting with novice drivers aplenty it does little to inspire any confidence at all. The fix is simple and all it requires is for somebody in control to make a decision that isn't going to please everybody. Maybe that is the issue, somebody needs to grow a set.
The caper still hasn't evolved from a 1950s mindset in this matter and whilst there are some admirable traits in the majority of industry participants the simple fact is a lot of them just cannot drive a horse under race pressure. Imagine if the VFL in the 1980s had been so set in their ways that they didn't make a few hard decisions to set in place the AFL we see now - they would be in the same boat as Harness Racing with a rapidly declining interest amongst the public. They need to make a few hard decisions and fast.
The driver one seems a no brainer to me, don't make it impossible to get a metro licence but set a few guidelines such as minimum 200 drives and 20 winners a year which is after all only 4 drives a week and less than 2 winners a month on average (do you really want them at Metro meetings if they cannot meet that standard) and obviously have a wildcard system for situations such as a top driver having a serious fall and not driving for a while. Reckon thoroughbred stewards would laugh at a jockey who applied to ride at Flemington without meeting those standards and that criteria would still give a minimum 30-40 drivers who qualify (Greg Sugars and Nathan Jack have driven 30 winners between them over the past 10 days). Trainers who don't want to let a better driver sit behind their horse still have the option of driving it themselves - at a bloody country meeting for 1/3 the prizemoney instead of ruining the marquee meetings and giving people with the "red hots" mentality further ammunition to belittle the industry.
I simply cannot think of another multi million dollar industry that showcases its product with amateurs.
Have a few other issues to discuss such as running RO races at our premier venues, remember we are in the horse racing industry and not purely a gambling industry plus a few others so stay tuned
