There’s been plenty of action on and off the track since our last edition, with significant investments by the State Government and Tabcorp into Victorian harness racing, as well as some important rule changes.

Rolling Turnover Trend
After 13 months in a row of strong Year-on-Year (YoY) growth to the end of February 2018, as expected our wagering turnover growth rate slowed in March and settled at a new level (as evident in the chart above).  The challenge for all of us now is to find ways to hold at this new level, or preferably continue to grow in 2018/19.
Races have been programmed through to the end of June with the aim of reaching our targeted $40 million in stakemoney and Vicbred bonuses.  All $5000 races in May and June 2018 have a $1000 winners’ bonus, which altogether means that if we don’t reach the $40 million target, it will only be because we don’t have enough horses nominated and races don’t proceed.

$1 million State Government investment
After receiving a submission from Harness Racing Victoria (HRV), the State Government announced that it had included $1 million in the 2018/19 State Budget for Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) with a focus on breeders, country clubs and marketing of the sport.
As a result, between July 1 2018 and June 30  2019, the registration fee for Victorian-bred foals from a Victorian mare and a Victorian standing stallion will be waived. During this same period, HRV will also reduce registration fees for foals from a Victorian mare by an interstate or overseas stallion.  
The money will also be used to facilitate infrastructure upgrades at country clubs, which play a vital role in our industry.  A portion of the funding support will also be allocated for marketing activity to promote harness racing, including the 2018 Inter Dominion, which returns to Victoria for the first time in 10 years.  
This funding commitment follows the State Government’s announcement last year to increase funding of HRV’s integrity department.
  
Tabcorp wagering sponsorship
Tabcorp has also increased its investment in Victorian harness racing, with a significant multi-year sponsorship agreement that maintains Tabcorp’s position as our exclusive wagering, naming and signage rights partner.
  There are a number of aspects to this but one that we’re particularly excited about is that the agreement allows HRV to live stream all our Victorian trots races on our website, thetrots.com.au. Effective immediately, we have created Trots Vision (TV), which people can access via thetrots.com.au and over time we will build upon the live-vision of races with replays and non-race coverage of Victorian harness racing.
Trots industry participants have often complained about not being able to see live vision of their horses race, particularly if the race is transferred to Sky2. The live streaming of all Victorian harness races on thetrots.com.au will enable almost anyone, anywhere to watch the Victorian trots.

Progress at the national level
A number of important matters have been or continue to be progressed at the national level.
  In 2017, HRV proposed deletion of the Change of Tactics (COT) rule, however at the time not enough other states supported it, so HRV altered local rules to focus attention on rule 149 to maintain integrity of races.  Pleasingly, Harness Racing Australia (HRA) members agreed to remove the COT rule in May this year, which will be warmly welcomed by HRV stewards and most, if not all, participants.
HRA members also recently changed the definition of a ‘bonus’ associated with stakemoney.  On its own, this would have significantly limited the ability to apply bonuses to $3500 races.  As a result, HRV proposed an amendment to the Australian Handicapping Rules Definition 2.12 to increase the stakemoney limit for a Graduation race from $3500 to $4500.  This was accepted by all HRA members. HRA will also meet shortly to consider the formal reinstatement of the Trotters Inter Dominion, which HRV requested in partnership with NSW and NZ.  HRA is also progressing work on the proposal for a National Handicapping System, which HRV views as a priority for our industry.

HRV CEO Annual Roadshow 2018
Over the last three months we have held a series of public forums to maintain transparency of our industry’s situation and progress on our strategy to turn things around.  Whilst attendance numbers have been down on last year, there has been considerable discussion and debate, with plenty of questions and answers.
One topic that attracted a lot of attention is that of standing starts for pacers. The unfortunate reality is that whilst there are exceptions, on average punters wager approximately 30% less on standing start races compared to mobiles. That’s true in Victoria as well as places like Western Australia, which recently advised its wagering gap for standing starts to mobiles was 28.4%.  
That means if we ran approximately 10% to 20% of all pacing races as standing starts (in order to return to standing start country cups) the impact of reduced turnover to the industry would be significant.  That’s not something we can afford right now and would result in the industry going back into making losses, which in turn would put the pressure on to reduce funding to stakemoney or country clubs, neither of which anyone wants.
Amongst other topics, there has been considerable discussion about development of the excess land at Melton and the potential for increased on-track stabling at a number of tracks across Victoria.  This is a particularly important part of our vision to retain existing participants and ensure the next generation can enter our sport.
As you can see from this update, there are some big investments and important changes occurring in our industry, all at a time when the turnaround in performance for Victorian trots is already under way.  As we frequently acknowledge, these outcomes reflect the hard work of many industry participants and HRV personnel.  We have aimed to repay that trust wherever we can via earlier release of stakemoney, establishment of the Industry Assistance Program (IAP), and imminent improvements to the sulky fund.  With our own improved performance and this external investment, we will be able to do more.
Whilst we still have a lot more work ahead of us to truly improve the livelihood of industry participants, with all of us working together we will continue to achieve more than if we are divided.

Kind Regards,
David Martin