Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) announces that Chief Executive Dayle Brown has informed the Board of his decision to step away from the role in September to pursue other opportunities.
HRV Chairman Dale Monteith said the Board was saddened to lose Brown and thanked him for his exceptional leadership during a challenging period.
“Dayle has worked alongside the HRV Board in delivering its vision for harness racing in Victoria and built a strong foundation for future growth aligned to our strategic plan,” Monteith said.
“He has delivered confidence to the industry through collaboration with stakeholders, especially during the advent and peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dayle brought the industry together, turning a significant challenge into a major opportunity for reset and growth.
“The move to a regional racing model to protect our industry from the COVID outbreak, ensuring participants continued to earn a living was a great example of the innovative thinking employed by the team at that time under Dayle’s leadership.”
Brown led the industry through a collaborative build of the TROTS24 strategic plan, which provides a blueprint for harness racing in Victoria to grow revenue and secure financial sustainability and returns through an unwavering commitment to high performance and innovation.
A significant overhaul to the feature racing calendar saw wagering turnover records broken in 2021 with over $1 billion wagered on Victorian harness racing for the first time. This helped to deliver sustainable stakemoney increases.
The development of TrotsVision and HRV’s digital platforms will provide the industry with a critical asset for future broadcast rights discussions and help harness racing reach new audiences.
“Having the opportunity to return to harness racing and to work with the Board, staff and industry to develop a blueprint for the future of the sport has been a privilege,” Brown said.
“Importantly HRV will continue to deliver on its objectives and work with the industry during this period of transition.
“HRV is on a journey, we’ve come a long way in three years, and this is part of a longer-term approach. The foundations are in place for harness racing in Victoria to continue to prosper into the future.”