CEO's Desk: April-May 2018

What a fantastic Summer of Glory! It was great to see our sport being profiled so prominently in mainstream media such as the Herald Sun and SEN, with a particular highlight being the live RSN broadcast from Tabcorp Park, involving Michael Felgate in a dual-seater sulky alongside Anthony Butt behind retired champion Smoken Up. Thank you to all the trainers and drivers who made themselves available for this important marketing initiative. For those fortunate enough to be at either the Pryde’s EasiFeed Great Southern Star or the Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup night, there was a fantastic feeling on track, particularly on the lawn, and it was great to see so many people in attendance.

12 Months of Growth

Looking at the multi-year trend as at January 2017, no one would have predicted we were about to commence 12 months of Year-on-Year (YoY) growth. As we all now know, that’s exactly what has happened. A number of changes were trialled in the first three months (Feb-Apr 2017) before the strategy was refined and implemented over the following nine months (May 2017-Jan 2018). This is best illustrated in the chart to the right which shows YoY growth for each month. As evident, nearly every month from October 2015 to January 2017 was a decline from the same month in the prior year, then the last 12 months all achieved growth.

Barring any major unforeseen negative event, that growth means that after posting a $1.7m loss last year, HRV will achieve a profit in 2017/18. That profit will be achieved in a year when we will pay out more stakemoney than last year (noting that at the end of January we have paid out $735,000 more prizemoney than at the same time last year).

It is a truly amazing turnaround and reflects the hard work of many industry participants and HRV personnel. Without everyone working together, we wouldn’t have achieved these results. Whilst we still have a lot more work ahead of us to truly improve the livelihood of industry participants, this outcome will help.

Inter Dominion (ID18)

As recently announced, Cranbourne and Ballarat will host the non-Melton Inter Dominion (ID18) heats in 2018. Seven non-Melton clubs responded to the Expression of Interest (EOI) to host heats, with submissions evaluated and ranked against the selection criteria outlined in the EOI document. On the basis of that evaluation process, a recommendation was made. That recommendation was accepted by the HRV Board.

The HRV Board thanked all seven clubs for their ID18 submissions, and noted the Board’s intent for other clubs to host heats for the Inter Dominion in 2021. The HRV Board also announced its intention to host a trotting ID18 series in conjunction with the pacers’ series, and will consult with HRA’s Inter Dominion Executive Committee before any further details are provided.

Stakemoney payments

As recently announced, following consultation with the industry, stakes payments for races with prizemoney of $10,000 and below will be paid prior to obtaining swab results, as part of each fortnightly stake payment run.  We also intend to transition more people across to use of email for stakes’ notifications, which has the potential to save the industry approximately $50,000 each year and enable greater funding to other priorities. 

We appreciate your feedback prior to and after this announcement and hope that this outcome helps to convey our willingness to listen and take action. We will continue to look for opportunities to improve the lives of our owners and participants through actions such as this.

2018/19 Racing Calendar

All clubs were invited to make submissions for the 2018/19 racing calendar and further consultation is occurring prior to locking in the plan. Pleasingly, there will be a small increase in the total number of race meetings, with a focus on regions where horse numbers and nominations will support that.

Integrity Matters

Earlier this year, ‘Integrity Matters’ was introduced as a new communication tool for the industry. That publication included contact details for participants wishing to ask stewards questions (askthestewards@hrv.org.au) and also provided ways to communicate confidential reports to the integrity department (integrity@hrv.org.au and by phone 03 9214 0651). Participants also have the option to make contact with any of the Chairman of Stewards Nick Murray, HRV’s GM of Integrity Brent Fisher, myself or the Racing Integrity Commissioner.

At times, owners, participants and HRV personnel engage in dialogue on social media about a wide range of trots topics. We are keen to encourage that as a positive way to engage with each other and non-trots people who may want to become involved in the industry.   

As I am sure everyone understands, open forum discussions questioning stewards’ decisions or more broadly the integrity of HRV personnel are not appropriate and will only serve to put doubt into the minds of anyone considering joining the industry. Worse still is the small minority whose comments extend to name and potentially defame industry participants and HRV personnel.

We all share a determination to detect and appropriately punish those that seek to gain an unfair advantage. We welcome your views and input to help achieve that by using the contact details provided above.

HRV CEO Annual Roadshow 2018

From March to May 2017, we ran a series of public forums to be transparent about the industry’s situation and the proposed strategy to turn things around. They were well attended with plenty of questions and answers.

As provided below, we have established dates for the 2018 public forums, titled HRV CEO Annual Roadshow 2018. We will be providing a quick review of where we were in early 2017, how we’ve performed since, and then consulting with the industry about priorities for 2019 and beyond. I am really looking forward to hearing your views so we can continue working with you to improve the industry.

Premier Trotting Sale

It was wonderful to see so many people at the 2018 Pryde’s EasiFeed Australasian Premier Trotting Sale at Tabcorp Park on March 11. It was even more pleasing to see such competitive bidding and the results achieved, which broke previous records for this sale.

All up, $1,074,500 in total sales were achieved through the ring on the day – overall turnover up more than $400,000 compared to last year’s sale. The clearance rate was also strong at 83 per cent (up from 75 per cent last year), while the sale average increased 41.6 per cent from $15,167 to $21.490.

This year 21 out of 50 lots sold fetched $20,000 or more. Last year those numbers were 12 from 41, so there is confidence to invest in the trotting gait here in Victoria.

Congratulations to all the buyers and the sellers and all the very best to our new trotting owners!  Also thank you to everyone who helped put the sale together. This success could not have been achieved without you. And a big thank you to our sale sponsor, Pryde’s EasiFeed, for their continued support.

Kind Regards,

David Martin