Victorian breeders will be tested but remain optimistic of overcoming present challenges, Nick Hooper told today’s edition of Talking Trots on Track.

The Harness Breeders Victoria president told SENTrack hosts Jason Bonnington and Blake Redden restrictions resulting from the pandemic were unlikely to greatly impact breeders in the short-term.

“We got through last spring’s breeding season, we got through the vast majority of the yearling sales,” Hooper said.

“We probably go into a little bit of winter recess to a degree before we come out next spring. I think the big question we have all got in our minds are how long is this going to last and what impact is it going to have in the months leading into spring?

“Other things we have to think about are stallion movements, shuttling stallions from the Northern Hemisphere coming down here. There’s a bit of work being done by the studmasters. There’s a lot of work being done to make sure the breeding season is as normal as possible.”

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Hooper said breeding was often a long-term game and so present plans would hopefully be unaffected.

“Those mares that are bred this year, their foals are not going to hit the ground for 12 months and their foals are not going to hit the race track for another two years,” Hooper said.

“So you are really breeding for three years away, and if you are breeding to sell you are breeding for two years away or two and a half years at the yearling sales. I don’t think anyone is saying impacts are going to be lasting into those timeframes.

“Whilst there will be a fiscal impact hitting people’s back pockets and their abilities to afford to breed this coming season, you are breeding for a long time into the future when things should have settled down.”

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