UNSPURPRISINGLY, William Shakespeare likely said it best.
In one of his poems, the Bard opined that youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short: youth is nimble, age is lame; youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold; youth is wild, and age is tame.
Given the era in which he existed, it’s very unlikely that Shakespeare directly influenced the thoughts of southern hemisphere harness racing administrators with this somewhat turgid stanza.
Though he may as well have.
Perspectives and opinions are naturally divided about prizemoney and prestige distribution in the Australasian trots.
Some, understandably, yearn for years gone by when young standardbreds spent their formative days away from the racetrack, where education trumped native talent and preciousness was tamed.
Here’s the thing, however.
As with most aspects of life, we may wish for something to be true but we’re equally obliged to accept reality as it renders itself.
And the realities are thus, owners relish early returns on their investments, age-restricted racing is far more lucrative than Grand Circuit patience and trainers are duty bound to find, and then promote prodigies at their earliest convenience.
Last Friday night at Melton, semi-finals of the Vicbred Super Series – once known affectionately by punters and participants as ‘The Sires’ – were staged.
Those semis came hot on the heels of the Breeders Crown, which in turn came hard on the hooves of October’s Victoria Oaks and Victoria Derby Finals.
Throw in the Breeders Challenge in New South Wales, the QBred series in Brisbane, the Australian Pacing Gold riches and the newly inaugurated Nutrien series and you quickly get the picture.
Early talent is profitable talent.
And, critically, the extraordinary evolution of training techniques, calendar amendments, and standardbreds generally, has all but ensured that juvenile and three-year-old racing won’t affect the chances of star pacers and trotters also going on.
More than ever before, young gun babies are developing into open class heroes.
But which excitement machines from this year’s Vicbred Super Series will help to prove that point?
Catch A Wave obviously stands out, but there will be others.
And it’s our privilege to watch on in wonder and follow their careers.
PEOPLE will always have their own attitudes about the sacrosanct nature of ‘religious’ holidays when it comes to racing, but one thing virtually cannot be argued.
Even if it’s largely tokenistic, trainers – and drivers – need a break.
For the first time in some years, there were no Victorian harness meetings staged over the weekend.
Does that mean trainers won’t work, feed and manage their horses?
Of course not.
Is there merit in removing the spectre of travelling to race said horses?
Absolutely.
As things stand, the heroes that underpin harness racing already work far too hard.
It's terrific they were allowed to spend a few quiet hours with their families and loved ones.
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.