Plenty to work through, but first let’s celebrate

The key to any successful sporting event is talkability.

When the TAB Eureka was launched a couple of years ago, HRA chief Andrew Kelly’s wish was for the harness racing event to be “talked about 24/7, 365 days a year.”

And that doesn’t mean all chatter should be positive.

Something else Kelly said at the time was: “We’ve started this from scratch and we know it needs to evolve over time to become as good as it can be. We will be reviewing all aspects after each running.”

The strongest feedback after Encipher’s win in last year’s inaugural running was the 2400m starting point of the race.

It was universally considered that the starting point took away much of the vital preferential barrier draw advantage – especially to the three-year-olds drawn gates one and two.

So, the change was made, this year’s race is 2300m and the starting point is much kinder to those drawn inside.

Other feedback was around the prizemoney for fifth place, so another fresh $10,000 was injected into that to provide a better balance.

The race organizers listened, as they promised, just as they must (and I’m sure will) to the myriad of feedback – good, bad and indifferent ahead of Saturday’s second running.

While constructive feedback is crucial, it’s important to find the right balance.

Let’s not always look first for the negatives, but also pause to look at the plethora of positives of the world’s richest race and there are plenty.

The TAB Eureka has reconnected the whole of Australia around one race, like the Inter Dominion did in its prime. We’ve got the first WA-owned runner Never Ending as favourite, the Tasmanian-owned Fighter Command, a pair of Queensland runners (Sure Thing Captain and Free Thinker), three from the host NSW (Captains Knock, Eye Keep Smiling and Don Hugo).

Four of the 10 runners are Victorian-trained (Major Delight, Fighter Command, Bay Of Biscay and High Above).

And what a showcase it is for the great female influence in our sport.

Half the field is trained by females. Stewart has a record three runners, Jess Tubbs trains Fighter Command and Shannon Price puts the polish on Sure Thing Captain.

Kerryn Manning (High Above) and Ashleigh Deloso (Major Delight) will fly the female flag as drivers.

The TAB Eureka was also built to be a launching pad for Aussie stars of the future,

The stunning success of Leap To Fame (now clearly Australasia’s and maybe the world’s best pacer) and Catch A Wave (two Group 1 wins and second in a Victoria Cup) since contesting last year’s TAB Eureka underlines that.

This year’s field may not look as strong on paper, but driver Gary Hall Jr thinks Never Ending could be the sport’s next big thing. And he’s well qualified to make such a call given his success and association with the great Im Themightyquinn.

So, what about a few of those negative talking points?

No doubt the clash between the Vicbred series and TAB Eureka is far from ideal.

Hopefully HRV can find a new timeslot for the Vicbred – as hard as that is in such a cluttered calendar – or could we ditch the Vicbred heats to condense it and make it easier to change.

It’s worth noting HRV did try to address the clash, at least in part last year, by granting the three TAB Eureka runners – Catch A Wave, Encipher and The Lost Storm – an exemption from contesting the Vicbred heats.

Insiders say it was done a deal before one very influential owner put self interest first, leant on a relationship, and had it overturned.

It must be addressed for next year.

The industry can’t afford to have our best drivers split between two major meetings on the same night or stars like Fighter Command, Bay Of Biscay and High Above missing from the Vicbred series.

Some have expressed displeasure with the joint venture between the Team Zav and Aaron Bain & Summit Bloodstock slots. It’s not against the rules, but possibly against the spirit of the slot concept.

It’s one for HRA to weigh-up.

While TAB’s late pivot to use the Racenet Discovery Stakes to choose its slot runner (to replace the sidelined Frankie Ferocious) stirred excitement, the “qualifier” really needs to be two weeks out from the TAB Eureka if it’s to happen again.

No doubt there’s lots more ideas and feedback.

But now we’ve got the field and the race is just days away, let’s bottle those and celebrate what will be a fantastic night for the sport (last year’s on-course experience was epic) and save the negativity for another time.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Victoria