When Harness Racing Victoria vowed to own late spring and early summer following the sport's pandemic-inspired calendar recalibration, most trotting zealots celebrated the concept.
Nevertheless, even its most ardent advocates could scarcely have predicted how that plan has reshaped the game.
Initially, the limited but painfully vociferous cynics wondered whether the trots could sustain its relevance and reputation through a long, chilly winter without top class competition.
It wasn't long ago, remember, that the Vicbred Super Series, and more importantly, the Breeders Crown, were scheduled through those wet, windy months at Melton's Tabcorp Park.
As we've discovered, however, bridging features - moderate as they are - will more than make do during this period.
And, crucially, by clearing space and stratifying the calendar, Queensland's winter carnival can properly thrive.
This, in itself, has been integral to southern hemisphere harness racing's new world order.
With the Sunshine State free to bathe in its own mid-year glory, racing fans yearning for their stars are serviced without Victoria or New South Wales ever lifting a finger.
Then, once the winter carnival concludes, the world gets wild.
Now, more from necessity than design, the Victoria Cup has found its 53rd home in October, but smart scheduling has supplemented that Grand Circuit feature by including the Vic Derby and Oaks on the very same card.
Just as the dust settles on what has become a mega-meeting of the highest order, there's barely time to breathe before everything elevates again.
This week, the Breeders Crown begins, then on Tuesday Addington hosts the uber-prestigious New Zealand Cup.
And that's just the start.
Once the NZ Cup king is crowned, we continue the Breeders Crown, then begin the SENTrack Inter Dominion and Vicbred Super Series before heading into our richest and most revered country cups.
Those country cups, by the way, are merely a pre-cursor to HRV's Summer of Glory, headlined by the AG Hunter Cup; and just when you're sumptuously sated, New South Wales hits top gear with its major carnival. A carnival which includes the Miracle Mile.
Right now, we're waiting for our appetisers. But by late March, the harness racing buffet will have all and sundry full to the absolute brim.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.