Trots action at Tabcorp Park Melton.
Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) introduced a fourth tier of country stakemoney on September 1.
HRV Chairman Dale Monteith said the revised program, which included an additional $5000 tier of racing, was finalised after the HRV Board listened to the key industry groups that provided valuable feedback to the Harness Racing Advisory Council.
Participants’ most common want was to ensure $3500 and $5000 prizemoney races were programmed to limit the likelihood of well-performed horses dominating them.
Since its implementation, HRV has monitored all aspects of the revamped program and heard from participants regarding clauses attached to $3500 and $5000 races.
HRV has determined to make the following alterations from January 1, 2017.
The clause ‘and which have had at least 2 Australian race starts’ will be removed from maiden front races (C0, 3C0, 2C0, T0, 3T0 and 2T0) with stakemoney of $5000.
This will allow trainers to debut horses in lower tiered $5000 races without having to have had two starts in $7000 races.
The clause will be retained in C1 or faster and T1 or faster front races to prevent New Zealand imports with low field selection points potentially dominating such races in their first two Australian race starts.
The clause will also be retained on all races with stakemoney of $3500.
A minor alteration will also be made to the following clauses:
- Restricted to horses who have not won a race in their last six starts
- Restricted to horses who have not won more than one race in their last six starts.
A horse’s automatic field selection points are calculated on the best four of its past five starts, and so it was determined the above additional clauses should only refer to a horse’s past five starts.
HRV will also modify the following clauses applicable to $5000 races:
- Restricted to horses who have not won a race in their last five starts
- Restricted to horses who have not won more than one race in their last five starts
Those clauses will now carry the caveat, except in ‘Graduation Penalty Races’.
The amendment of this clause will allow a horse to win a $3500 race without being prevented from contesting a future $5000 race.
It is too early to determine any definite trends after only 11 weeks of tiered racing, but HRV is mindful of the racing population when assessing tiered racing.
Mr Monteith said the system would be reviewed with industry participants after six months.
“This review will determine if the Board, with the HRAC’s advice, needs to take further action in the interests of the industry,” he said. “On behalf of the Board I would like to acknowledge and thank all parties for their co-operation and valuable input. This must continue into the future in the interests of putting the industry first.”
Media enquiries:
Cody Winnell (HRV Media/Communications Manager)
t: 03 8378 0288 | e: cwinnell@hrv.org.au | tw: @codywinnell
