2023 Australian feature race calendar released

Harness Racing Australia (HRA) has released the 2023 Feature Race Calendar (FRC) through to 31 July 2023.

The HRA Feature Race Committee agreed to release the calendar through to the end of July in order to provide the State Controlling Bodies with sufficient time to finalise the scheduling of races in the latter months of 2023.

The splitting of the release of the calendar also provides the opportunity for states to review the timing of races in the end of 2022 against their key performance indicators to ensure that feature races are scheduled in their optimum timeslots in late 2023.

The FRC for 2023 incorporates the new Group Racing Guidelines which were updated in December 2021.

The new guidelines are governed by the Group Racing Panel (GRP) who earlier this year reviewed the group racing applications as provided by each State Controlling Body and assessed each race on its merits based on the guidelines.

A major change to the Group Racing Guidelines was a change to the minimum dollar thresholds for group races as follows:

• The minimum prizemoney for Group 1 races to be $150,000 for Pacers (from $100,000) and $75,000 for Trotters (from $50,000);
• The minimum prizemoney for Group 2 races to be $75,000 for Pacers (from $50,000) and $50,000 for Trotters (from $30,000);
• The minimum prizemoney for Group 3 races to be $50,000 for Pacers (from $30,000) and $30,000 for Trotters (from $20,000).

Inclusion in the Feature Race Calendar was not automatic based on prizemoney, with the GRP also considering the strength of the race, eligibility criteria and the group racing pyramid. Only races with an open eligibility were afforded group status, with restricted races only allowed listed status.

The full Group Racing Guidelines may be found here.

The 2023 Feature Race Calendar through to 31 July is found on the Racing tab of harness.org.au and is split into:

• All Group and Listed Pacing Races by Date;
• Two Year Old Pacing Group and Listed Races;
• Three Year Old Pacing Group and Listed Races;
• Pacing Mares Group and Listed Races;
• All Trotting Group and Listed Races by Date; and
• All Trotting Races Group and Listed Races by Age.

The 2023 Calendar is found here.

The data presented in the calendar is correct as at 6 October 2022 however remains subject to change, with amendments required to be approved by the HRA Executive.

Should the calendar be updated, a notice to industry will be published on the national website. This listing includes only Group and Listed races, therefore participants should refer to the respective State Controlling Bodies for a full list of feature races in their respective state.

For any queries, contact HRA Head of Finance & Strategy, Cameron Brown by email to cbrown@hra.com.au.

From Harness Racing Australia