Australian harness racing official’s have to face up to the fact that the decline in foal numbers is having a serious effect on field sizes and hence wagering revenues will ultimately be affected
This was predicted many years ago but nothing that has been done has reversed the downward trend
There are many reasons for the decline including the waning interest in the sport from the public at large and the drop off of smaller breeders and studs that simply can’t afford to compete
Industry participants are totally reliant upon administrators to bring the crowds back to harness racing and apart from questioning/replacing the people at the helm have little influence on fixing this problem
However they may be able to help to some degree improve the perilous situation that will soon confront the industry – insufficient numbers of horses
Most people agree that one huge problem is that unless you breed or buy a yearling from one of the top North American stallions your chances of a worthwhile return on investment (money and time) are not that great
In addition a hefty percentage of the stallion fees heads back to North America which does not benefit our industry in the way Australian owned stallions ((Home bred or imported) would
So the question becomes would our industry be better off if we changed our breeding season similar to that of the North American Breeding season
This would mean
Harness Racing season runs from Jan 1st – December 31st each year
Breeding Season runs from February 1st – May 31st
Foals born January – thru April
Turn 2 y o between January thru April
Please discuss with your harness friends and feedback views (positive or negative) and any additional ideas you might have to Harness Bred
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
