“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision“

Helen Keller is probably one of the most famous blind people to have graced this earth. She was both blind and deaf for all but the first 19 months of her 88 years living in USA.

She was a brilliant author, educator and academic in the early and mid part of the 20^th Century.

One of her most eloquent quotes is;

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Well Harness Racing Australia wasn’t in business when Helen uttered that pearl of wisdom but many participants in the harness racing industry today would agree those words certainly apply to the Controlling Body in Australia.

They have bathed themselves in glory with the launching of a $2.13 million slot race called The Eureka but haven’t told the participants of harness racing yet how they intend to fund their $1 million contribution to the race.

Admittedly TAB appear to have come on board as a sponsor [and will take up one of the ten slots] but you can bet London to a Brick on that their contribution will be way, way short of the extra $1.13 million required.

So for all those involved in the breeding industry who aren’t aware as yet how the funding will work – get ready for a good kick in the solar plexus.

No one including HRA like the word “TAX“ so they have come up with another plan to slug the breeders of Australia.

Their new stallion registration structure will include a 15% levy on the advertised service fee of frozen semen for pacing stallions and an 8% levy on the service fee of shuttle pacing stallions.

Of course the stallion owners have made it crystal clear over the past 12 months that any levy or tax introduced on stallion service fees will be passed on in one way or another to broodmare owners.

These quite excessive fees will now help fund a race that will be of NO benefit to about 99.9% of breeders in Australia.

This deranged decision has been implemented despite widespread condemnation by breeding bodies and studs of the proposal some 12 months ago.

The blame sits firmly on the heads of the Executive Committee of HRA – the men and women who vote on such proposals. In fairness to three of the current committee members – namely Jodie Jones [ Qld ] , Neil Grose [ Tas ] and Emma Grigson [ SA ], who have all only taken up seats at the table over the past 4 to 6 months, they probably weren’t partaking in voting when the proposal of funding was first put forward.

So the blame for such a “No Vision“ decision lays without a doubt on the heads of the Members of Executive who have been at the table for some considerable time – they being;

Ken Brown – Chairman of HRNSW;

Dale Montieth – Chairman of HRV;

Bob Fowler   – Board Member of Racing and Wagering WA.

These three gentlemen, along with the previous three representatives from Qld, Tasmania and SA, should be ashamed of yourselves. You are supposed to be supplying leadership to an industry that has been on the slide for many years and yet you don’t consult with Industry participants and don’t seem to be accountable in any manner.

It has been reported that the decision to rob the breeding industry of a significant amount of money to assist funding a $2 million race for ten lucky or wealthy standardbred owners was unanimous.

Come on you men and women who make up the HRA Executive, you all have sight so now show some vision.