I just want to preface this post by saying that I fully understand the benefits offered by this series to both breeders and owners who are often overlooked in Harness Racing when decisions are made regarding the future of the caper so I completely support the principle of the series. The big drawback of the current format is that it does little for punters for a number of reasons and as I am a punter, that is what I will touch upon.
The races are a fair dinkum nightmare to bet on, they are usually run at a farcical pace, there is very little value betting wise and you also have to factor in that the primary objective for the majority of runners is to qualify for the next stage so they tend to get driven more conservatively than usual. There are also a few horses that have been in work a long time and some are in need of a spell but are kept in work purely because of the prizemoney so get some strange results on occasions.
I just captured a quick snapshot of the heats and repechages and the amount of odds on favourites involved was bordering on the ridiculous (and not including the 2 and 3 horse heats in this either). From a total of around 50 heats and repechages here are a list of the odds on favourites and how they performed:
these got beaten
Chariot King $1.80
Sushi Sushi $1.20
Ark De Jeanne $1.40
Artistic Rainbow $1.30
Farmersntradies $1.90
Lanercost $1.30
Stunin Girl $1.40
David Hercules $1.20
Attackamach $1.60
Veracity Red $1.80
Cuttheattitude $1.20
Morgan Abby $1.50
Art Shadow $1.90
these have all won
Sheezallattitude $1.20
Excel Stride $1.20
Aussie Made Lombo $1.04
Beach Melody $1.20
Lively Moth $1.30
Dee Devito $1.50
Royal Verdict $1.10
Revivalist $1.40
Miss Trickin Lombo $1.40
Remember El $1.30
Ninegrandsons $1.70
Tuhimata Glass $1.20
Rostevarren $1.30
General Bronski $1.70
Passions Promise $1.40
Lanercost $1.90
Most punters will agree though that Breeders Crown Finals day is one of the premier meetings on the calendar with plenty of value and some absolute stars invloved so we tolerate it on that front but most will give betting a wide berth until that day. Even semi final day is treachorous to bet on with the objective being to qualify for the rich final the following week.
Overall though, there are a lot more positives than negatives and I honestly cannot think of a better format to program it so definitely not potting the series and I for one can't wait for Grand Final day. Probably the only thing to improve the punting side would be to reduce the number of heats and therefore have stronger, more even fields but that in turn would lessen the return to owners and breeders and the series is primarily set up for them - hence the name, Breeders Crown.
