Redemption for Broken Hill trots after St Pat’s blow

The Outback New South Wales harness racing club at Broken Hill has salvaged a consolation victory from the devastating abandonment of its annual showcase, the St Patricks Day Cup meeting scheduled for Friday night (Mar 14).

The club, which races on Australia’s smallest track, at 602 metres, has battled a frustrating season, with nominations at its scheduled meetings falling short of the minimum requirements of TAB and Harness Racing New South Wales.

However, a flood of nominations for its marquee St Pats meeting appeared to have the club in good shape for the huge community event to go ahead.

“But we were one horse short. Under the TAB rules, you must have six races with a minimum of eight horses – we had five races with eight horses, and one with seven.  And that meant we couldn’t go ahead,” devastated BHHRC president Michael Honson said.

“It was just terrible news.  The committee was gutted. We did absolutely everything we could to find the extra horse, and we were devastated that we just couldn’t get it over the line,” he said.

But a straight-talking meeting with HRNSW CEO Peter Buckman early yesterday managed to find middle ground, with the club now full steam ahead for a replacement race date on May 25.

“It was a very lengthy discussion and one I wouldn’t like to repeat, but we have managed to secure another TAB race date, which will be on a Sunday,” Honson said.

“We wanted a Sunday so people can travel here and home in a day at a time of year when the weather will be cooler,” he said.

“The other progress we made is on next season.  We have repeatedly told HRNSW that we can’t keep racing in the summer months – the heat is just too much. We have barely had a Saturday this season that hasn’t been near 40 degrees, and you can’t expect trainers to travel their horses to Broken Hill in that.  There’s just no integrity in that for the horse.

“So they’re going to have a look now at shifting the start of our season back.  We had a lot of scratchings last season, but that was because of the weather.  And it’s been a factor in our meetings not holding up this year. The rules are there and if it’s too hot you don’t have to start your horses – you can’t blame the trainers for trying to look after them.”

Honson said the shelving of the St Pat’s Day meeting would cost the club around $15,000.

“We’ve had to reimburse all of our sponsors their sponsorship money, but they have all been just so good.  We are so lucky here with the great sponsorship support we get in Broken Hill, and I am pretty sure most of them will come on board again in May,” he said.

“The Broken Hill City Council has also been marvellous in supporting us to get the Rocky Baker Memorial Paceway ready to race. They’ve replaced globes in the light towers and even today (when the meeting has been cancelled) there are still cranes over there fixing the lights. They’ve been behind us all the way and we can’t have enough gratitude for the council,” he said.

Honson said despite the disappointment, a “very very robust discussion” had brought some positive outcomes.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen, if he (Peter Buckman) was going to keep talking to me or not – but in the end we both came around and started talking sensibly to each other and tried to help each other in a sense.

“Yesterday I was totally gutted and I think the whole committee was about ready to throw it in.  But I feel a lot better now because I think they have realised today that hey we’re not going away – they’ve got to work with us because we are not going lie down.

“This event is a huge thing for Broken Hill – the club makes virtually nothing from it, apart from admission and bar sales.  Everything else is a fundraiser for so many different organisations and causes.

“Trots and Broken Hill are like salt and pepper – they go together. I know Harness Racing NSW is a business, but it shouldn’t all be about money. This is about community spirit too.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink