Kiwi-born Martial Arts legend John Danaher has a theory that mastery of any physical pursuit and all manner of personal reinvention can be achieved within five years. 

But how long does it take to reinvent an entire industry? 

Roughly 10 years ago, Harness Racing Victoria resolved to revolutionise southern hemisphere squaregaiting stock as a matter of urgency. 

And for those who don’t know, squaregaiting is trotting, and trotting is different to pacing. 

One important reason for recognizing this distinction is that our European compatriots deal solely in trotting rather than pacing. 

It’s a religion over there in countries like Sweden and France. 

Another reason is that squaregaiting advocates will have your guts for garters if you dismiss the glaring disparities between the two gaits. 

Trotting zealots, you see, make most radical religious extremists appear apathetic about their cause. 

And the most powerful of those zealots, mean like Duncan McPherson, Pat Driscoll and Michael Taranto to name but a few, have driven the revolution referenced above. 

Early in the piece, ground was made gradually, our trotters improved but the chasm separating the elite and the peloton remained vast. 

Lately however, the fruits of that initial labour, have ripened at rapid, ravenous speed. 

Overall, our top-level squaregaiters are faster and more evenly matched than ever before, but the starkest evidence of this trotting transformation can be found in the juveniles and also the mares. 

Tonight, at Bendigo, the strongest female-only trotting feature in Australian history will be staged at Group Three level. 

That certainly sounds manufactured and hyperbolic, but it isn’t. 

And if you need proof of that fact, Red Hot Tooth, a four-time Group 1 winner, isn’t part of the winning conversation despite being engaged. 

That conversation is dominated by Im Ready Jet (pictured above), Aldebaran Tess and Keayang Livana, all of whom could potentially hold their own against European rivals once thought well beyond our scope. 

So, how long does it take to re-invent an industry? 

A decade if you work very hard.

Much has been made of the path our fast class pacers traverse toward the Group 1 Victoria Cup on October 9. 

There’s another contest on that same card, however, which also offers massive prizemoney and enormous prestige; the Group 1 Victoria Derby. 

Many of the combatants targeting that classic have yet to return from lengthy sabbaticals but those who have will flaunt their wares in this evening’s Victoria Sires Classic at Lords Raceway, Bendigo. 

And it promises to be a battle between established heroes and rising stars. 

Representing the known topliners are Patsbeachstorm (pictured above) and Bondi Lockdown; while the rising stars are headlined by One Two Many, Go Dancing and Jilliby Fernando. 

What happens here won’t decide the Derby, but it will shape the way we rate these three-year-old's as that race approaches.

 

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.