HRV release three-year strategic plan

We are pleased to provide the Victorian harness racing industry with a summary of TROTS24, a three-year strategic plan.

The plan is the product of extensive collaboration across the Victorian harness racing industry and sets out to position us globally as the home of harness racing in Australia by 2024.

The initial three-year plan forms part of our new longer-term vision to deliver revenue growth, financial sustainability and returns to the industry through an unwavering commitment to high performance and innovation.

Our TROTS24 strategic framework is underpinned by three streams delivering on 11 specific outcomes. Within those outcomes sit several strategic priorities, including:

• Increasing stakemoney
• Increasing wagering turnover on Victorian harness racing
• Growing the number of owners involved in Victorian harness racing and improving the ownership experience
• Increasing Victorian harness racing’s international footprint and media coverage
• Positioning Victoria as the desired location for trainers and owners to race their horses
• Growing confidence through a world-class approach to integrity
• Driving world-class welfare initiatives and re-homing more retired racehorses through the HRV HERO program
• Bolstering the breeding industry
• Building regional training hubs
• Providing clear, professional development pathways for all in the industry
• Developing club infrastructure
• Developing TrotsVision as the go-to destination for harness racing content
• Growing raceday attendances

TROTS24 places a clear focus on achieving growth across all industry sectors. Growth will ensure that we sustain financial viability, expand our sport and achieve broader reach, stronger commercial outcomes, better returns for industry and more investment.

Expansion of the HRV HERO program aligned to TROTS24 is well under way. We recently announced the number of re-trainers had grown to 12 aligned to the program to significantly shorten the waiting time for standardbreds to be re-homed at the completion of their racing career. This is a critically important outcome for the industry.

The TROTS24 strategic work is undertaken with the strong support of the Victorian State Government, which has demonstrated its confidence in the harness racing industry with a significant $24 million announcement in 2020 to help guide industry through the height of COVID-19, and then a further $4.1 million investment in the 2020-21 budget to support the work of this transformation plan.

We understand a plan is only as good as its execution. We are committed to TROTS24 and believe our industry in coming years will forge a new cohesive era built on high performance, accountability and, most importantly, genuine collaboration.

The delivery of our strategic priorities will be achieved by working together in line with our values, which underpin TROTS24.

Shortly, once we are able to, we will be commencing a series of visits to regional areas to talk through TROTS24 directly and answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, we value your input and encourage feedback, comments and questions relating to TROTS24 by email to trots24@hrv.org.au

We look to the future with great optimism and a steadfast commitment to seeing harness racing in Victoria flourish for all involved and look forward to working together on that journey.

Click here to view the TROTS24 strategic plan