We have all been guilty. We have all been a prisoner of the moment.

And some of us are in that boat right now - after a Summer of Glory to remember, one which has presented harness racing with so many positives and so many ways to build the sport moving forward.

The free-to-air coverage was immense for the sport.

TrotsVision has been building and building, with that coverage now worthy of a night on the couch, streaming the uninterrupted online content. But we saw things go to a new level for the free-to-air broadcast.

Speed maps, statistics, analysis, interviews, the detail was on a new level here.

And the extended Sky Racing Active coverage across both SOG22 nights three and four was fantastic. So many options for hungry harness fans.

On the track, we saw something that is becoming increasingly obvious and continuous.

Such is the speed of today’s standardbred, horses on the speed (leading or outside leader) won seven of the 10 races at Tabcorp Park Melton on Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup night.

Focusing intently on the main race, we’ve seen a seemingly large chorus of chants for the return of the standing start in the great Victorian staying race.

Believe me, I have nothing to add to that argument. I’ll leave that to-and-fro to those who know more than I.

What I will say, though, is we often become a prisoner of the moment in these types of circumstances. In the 2022 version, the random barrier draw (RBD) randomly favoured the favourites.

When King of Swing drew to lead cosily and Lochinvar Art was always going to be in the breeze and Amazing Dream was always going to be behind King - there was little else to figure out and little else the rest of the field could do to upend the speed map.

What did we want to happen? Someone to sacrifice their horse to enforce speed upon the leaders? Horses who can crush anyone who tries to dictate terms.

Suggesting our sport lost anything because King of Swing led, dictated and sprinted home in 25.8 seconds is short-sighted.

There will be races when the status quo gets tossed out of the cot - a la the PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup - but there will also be many races where things go exactly to plan. Neither of those are reasons to shout grievances from the rooftop (or Twitter keyboard).

Believe me, my old profession taught me not to be too concerned with a few tweets because the platform is largely problem-focused, instead of solution-based.

What I am sure of is that harness racing took many steps forward on Saturday evening.

With a large crowd on course, multiple brilliant Group 1-winning performances and more eyes on than ever before, we should celebrate the positivity of the industry and the march we are on towards continued sustainability and success.

Our sport deserves it.

So keep some perspective in mind before pressing send on that next tweet!


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.