Insensate at Harness Racing Australia

The word Insensate has two meanings according to the Oxford dictionary:

1. Lacking physical sensation       or
2. Completely lacking sense or reason.

Well maybe the second option aptly describes the Harness Racing Australia proposal to assist the funding of a $2million slots race by hitting the pockets of the breeding industry in Australia.

An announcement to launch this new race, believed to be titled ‘The Eureka’, was scheduled for Monday March 7 – aboard a boat on Sydney Harbour, however the storms and floods that had descended upon the Harbour City at that time scuttled that announcement.

So with the initial slots race in New Zealand to be conducted in a few days [Thursday 14th April] it would be expected some sort of press release will eminate from the offices of Epsom Rd, Flemington , Victoria [HRA’s Head Office] in the very near future.

The Kiwi’s have acted quickly and sensibly and simply in establishing their slots race – to be known simply as The Race.

Slot races are not everyone’s cup of tea but if our Industry must embrace them then the New Zealander’s seem to have the right formula – 10 Slots at $75,000 each and the conducting Club throwing in $150,000.

At least the participants of harness racing in the Shaky Isles are not being robbed of their hard earned dollars, apart from the 10 owners or partnerships that have purchased a slot of their own choice.

Harness Racing Australia seem to have more grandiose plans with this $2million figure implanted in their heads.

So who are these people who make up the Executive of HRA and make such decisions?

Their website shows them to be:

Graeme Campbell   –   Independent Chairman [from NSW]

Ken Brown   –   Chairman of HRNSW

Dale Montieth   –   Chairman of HRV

Jodie Jones –   Representing Racing Queensland

Neil Grose – Representing Tasracing Pty Ltd

Emma Grigson – Chairperson of HRSA

Bob Fowler   –   Board Member of Racing and Wagering WA

The idea to raise an extra $2million in Australia for prizemoney by introducing a Levy or Tax on the Stallion Service Fees was introduced by HRA on April 16 last year.

This Proposal was met with condemnation from every breeding body in Australia and also from the stud farms representing the stallion owners, who the Tax was proposed to hit.

It was clear to everyone involved in the breeding industry in Australia that if the Tax had been implemented last season it would have been the broodmare owners who would have been paying it in one form or another.

So on June 9 the Chairman of HRA, Mr Graeme Campbell, issued a statement that the Stallion Levy wouldn’t go ahead for the 2021 breeding season. However he also added in that press release the following:

“Through coordinated Forums across the remainder of 2021, ALL STAKEHOLDERS including studs will have an important role to play in identifying opportunities, which may include a Stallion Levy proposal for the 2022 Breeding Season.”

So HRA, what happened to those coordinated Forums that ALL STAKEHOLDERS had an opportunity to participate in?

The message is LOUD AND CLEAR from the various breeders associations, representing thousands of broodmare owners in Australia –  WE DO NOT WANT TO FUND A RACE that will have no positive impact on our decisions to continue as a participant in the industry.

The President of Harness Breeders Victoria, Nick Hooper, has this to add:

“Harness Breeders Victoria have been opposed to the proposed HRA Stallion Levy since it was first mooted. We are of the view that it will be paid for ultimately by the breeders and is a cost that will have a negative impact on the breeding decisions of our members. We have seen no evidence that a Levy, if introduced, will be spent on anything that will have a positive impact on breeding in Australia.”

The President of the WA Standardbred Breeders Association, Jeanine Diederich recently communicated these sentiments, representing breeders in WA:

“We are not opposed to the slots race or those who wish to participate but we are opposed to the funding mechanism.  If HRA wants such a race, they should do what New Zealand or the Thoroughbreds have done . . . and very successfully. HRA had the same opportunity as New Zealand to run such a race with the support of the industry and they have once more demonstrated that they don’t want to listen or work collaboratively to produce an outcome supported by the vast majority.”

Breeders of Australia  –  brace yourselves for another decision from HRA that almost certainly wont excite you.  You have the names of your state representatives on the HRA Executive so don’t let them hide behind the HRA banner.

Previous stories and letters on the topic:

• Another stallion TAX victim
• Stallion TAX casualty
• Andrew Kelly, HRA – stop TAXING us to death
• Stallion Tax letter to HRA on behalf of breeders

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