Over the past month the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us all. And in unprecedented times, flexibility and resilience on the part of all is essential.
At Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) we have been crystal clear in our communications – your health and wellbeing are our top priority.
From March 13, when Charlton bravely agreed to get on the front foot with us and introduce crowd restrictions for its cup meeting, Victorian harness racing has positioned itself ahead of the curve. This has placed our industry in a unique position to still be racing when many other sports have entered a period of hiatus.
The introduction of region-based racing, limiting attendances to only essential personnel, restricting field and program sizes, closing interstate borders, introducing stringent safety measures on-course, temperature checking and declarations at the gate and changing race-day processes are some of the actions we have taken to protect industry people and give harness racing every chance of continuing through this period.
But we are not out of the woods. This situation continues to evolve and as we enter the colder months, the challenges will remain for some time yet.
I thank all of you for working with us during these times. Without the support of the industry we would not be able to continue racing and the cooperation we have received from all kindred bodies, stakeholder groups and prominent industry people has been appreciated.
We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders and advise of updates across all our channels, so please stay in touch with thetrots.com.au website.
Dayle Brown (HRV CEO)
