Following a fruitful year for the Victorian Harness Racing Club (VHRC) in which its membership base grew by over 157 per cent, the expanding club has bold plans for 2022 and beyond.
Central to those plans is the establishment of an owners’ room for use on race nights at Tabcorp Park Melton, a project driven by Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) in collaboration with VHRC.
An agreement is being negotiated between HRV and VHRC to formalise plans for the owners’ room, collaboration in relation to ownership promotions and a commitment to work cooperatively into the future.
“The HRV Board is pleased to see HRV and VHRC working so collaboratively to promote ownership in Victorian harness racing,” HRV Chairman Dale Monteith said.
“The VHRC has long been an important harness racing institution, focused on providing additional value for members through events and enhanced member experience at race meetings.
“We’re pleased this will go to another level with the establishment of a specific new space for owners at our home of metropolitan harness racing, Tabcorp Park Melton.”
VHRC General Manager Rob Auber echoed Monteith’s sentiments.
“The new owners’ room at Tabcorp Park Melton has long been a vision for the VHRC and we’re thrilled HRV is aligned with our objective to deliver owners a better experience whilst attending Victorian harness racing,” he said.
“We’re proud of the growing collaboration between VHRC and HRV and we’re looking forward to another successful year and hope to further build our membership base, after a year which saw it grow from about 700 members to over 1800 members in 2021.”
While providing more enjoyment to members is a driving factor for VHRC, the club is also proud of its Super Bonus race series, which saw over $500,000 in cash and bonuses delivered to winning owner and trainer members in that series last year.
“We’ll certainly be partnering with HRV and APG to continue to look for opportunities to expand that program,” Auber said.
“If they haven’t done so already, we encourage owners to join their horses up as members of VHRC and trainers to join as trainer members prior to June 30, 2022, to avoid missing out on the fabulous bonuses on offer throughout the year. We also have our social membership available all year round and we’re hoping to plan some exciting social events for our members to enjoy this year.”
To find out more about the VHRC, or to join the club, please click here or contact 0408 570 197.
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