Check out proposal to help industry

THIS week we have another proposal designed to cure the ills which beset harness racing, not only in Queensland, but seemingly, Australia wide.

THIS week we have another proposal designed to cure the ills which beset harness racing, not only in Queensland, but seemingly, Australia wide.

A call was made for submissions from interested, and in some cases, concerned parties.

Every proposal and comment received was debated as a part of a National Handicapping meeting in Melbourne last month. It was evaluated against commonly agreed programming philosophies and measurements to provide:

• Competitive racing;
• Attractive wagering propositions;
• Racing opportunities for all ages, classes, abilities and gaits;
• Full, balanced fields;
• Prizemoney returns/spread for as many owners as possible; and
• Encourage racetrack longevity.

Following robust debate, HRA was tasked with the design and testing of a prizemoney-based Points Ratings system, in conjunction to considering and analysing the continued development of RWWA's proposed Win Only Conditioned System on a national scale.

Subsequently, HRA have developed a Ratings Based Handicapping System (RBHS) which assigns points to a horses lifetime performances according to prizemoney bands and its finishing position.

Having read the foregoing statement, I recommend you examine the full document on the Australian Harness Racing site, under "Industry News".

Share your views at austrot_1943@hotmail

Join Marburg fun

A REMINDER to share in today's Marburg trot meeting fun and excitement.

There's $1100 is the "pick the card" jackpot and the "funny money'' man is back in action with a big ticket item for the auction after the last race.

Trials start at 11am, with the first race at 12.15pm.

Welcome support

GOLD Coast Mayor Tom Tate came out on the side of greyhounds and harness last week when he called for a dual code facility, "Parklands 2", to be built in the northern area of the Coast.

He is smack on the money.

To clone what was by a long way the best complex in Australia, and the only "trust" in Queensland to run consistently in profit, is to take a giant leap in the forward direction for the minor codes in Queensland.

Tate has written to Racing Queensland on the matter.

The rest of us are waiting for a positive response. We will be horrified and disgusted if it is not forthcoming.

Key questions

VICKI Leonard works on a thoroughbred stud in NSW. She has been studying part-time.

In the course of the study program, a discussion was held on the subject of the students' full-time jobs.

The following questions arose: What do you do with the slow horses? How long do you think until thoroughbred horse racing is banned like greyhound racing? How many horses die racing each year?

Their questions stemmed from genuine perplexity about why one would work in such a "controversial, antiquated industry".

"My classmates, comprised of a well-educated, gender and culturally diverse mix of under-35's, simply had little to no knowledge of horse racing,'' she said.

"When pressed on their reasons why, it was because they had limited interaction with the sport. It rarely hit their radar.''

Vicki's first stop was iSentia, a media monitoring company who have detailed access to traditional and social media content.

iSentia completed an analysis to determine the attitude of young Australians toward horse racing, during the 2016 Spring Carnival when maximum attention was on the sport.

iSentia found that Australia's horse racing industry is in perception crisis and its future is under threat.

We're losing our audience.

Our supporter base is getting older every year and the number of Australians who perceive racing negatively is increasing.

Young Australians - up to 35 years old - either have no opinion about the sport, or if they do, it's more likely to be negative than positive. A lot of their concerns relate to animal welfare.

Despite being the biggest Facebook users, 18 to 34 year olds were the least engaged least on horse racing topics.

Forty-seven and a half per cent of horse racing social media content during the period was unfavourable, while 28.7% was favourable and 23.8% neutral.

In total there were 248,000 mentions of horse racing in association with animal cruelty.

Users aged 18-24 had the highest proportion of interactions on negative posts about animal cruelty.

Handy tips

SELECTIONS for Albion Park tonight.

R1: Box trifecta 1-11-12: Exceptional Mach (T. Dixon)-Bettabe Perfect (P. McMullen)-Watch Pulp Fiction (D. Dunn).

R2: E/w 1: Drive The Dream (D. Graham).

R3: E/w 3: Jackaroo Bromac (S. Graham).

R4: E/w 3: Real Social (D. Dunn).

R5: Quinella 2-8: Our Millwood Maizie (M. Neilson) and Joys A Babe (T. Dixon).

R6: Box trifecta 1-6-9: Lenny The Shark (D. Aiken)-Hectorjayjay (J. Aiken)-Spare Me Days (B. Hewitt).

R7: Box trifecta 1-4-5: Shartin (L. McCarthy)- Delightful Memphis (M. Jones)-Party On (N. Rasmussen).

R8: Quinella 2-4: Fire And Ice (G. Whitaker) and Watllebank Flyer (P. McMullen).

R9: Quinella 4-8: Bumper (M. Neilson) and The More The Better (N. Rasmussen).

R10: Box trifecta 3-8-9: Kowhai Monarch (M. Jones)- Mr Mayfly (G. Whitaker)- Melpark Royal Son (J. Cremin).

R11: Quinella 1-5: Arts Treasure (J. Rattray) and Sammari (D. Weeks).

Marburg picks: R1: 3-2-7.

R2: 4-3-7. R3: 2-1-7.

R4: 4-1-3. R5: 8-3-5.

R6: 1-4-2.

Honour board

Terrific competition for top spots on the leader board this week with Narissa McMullen logging five wins on the drivers' sheet to nose out Nathan Dawson and Gary Whitaker on four apiece. Lower numbers but hard fought among the trainers with Chantal Turpin, Greg Elkins and John McMullen, finishing tied at two winners each. Most pleasing was Taleah McMullen landing Stonebridge Royal a winner for Ryan Veivers.

Albion Park, June 30: Tygar (Nathan Dawson for Joe Taafe); None Bettor (Nathan Dawson for Donny Smith); Lansbury (Clint Sneddon for Frank Bennett); Its Bettor Me (Narissa McMullen for Steven Cini); Sicilian Slumber (Pete McMullen for Chantal Turpin); Wicked Time (Adam Sanderson for Vicki Rasmussen); Crowning Glory (Matt Elkins for Greg Elkins).

Albion Park, July 1: Drive The Dream (Darrell Graham); The Shady One (Trevor Lambourn).

Albion Park, July 4: Northern Muscle (Denis Smith); Franco Salisbury (Narissa McMullen for Christina Monte); Feel the Reign (Pete McMullen for Chantal Turpin).

Redcliffe, July 5: Royal Taz (Narissa McMullen for John McMullen); Stayintowntonight (Gary Whitaker for Bill Crosby); Karloo Mac (Pete McMullen for Josh Moore); Cryptic Chance (Justin Elkins for Greg Elkins); Celtic Cruza (Gary whitaker for Donny Smith).

Redcliffe, July 6: Likes To Rock (Gary Whitaker for Vic Frost); Comekissmequick (Matt Elkins for Kevin Joiner); Sophies Pride (Nathan Dawson for Errol O'Shea); Stonebridge Regal (Taleah McMullen for Ryan Veivers); Jimmy Nga (Gary Whitaker for Lacey Hinze); Black Belt (Narissa McMullen for Ron Sallis); We Can Only Hope (Nathan Dawson for Warren Hinze); Flashing Good Time (Narissa McMullen for John McMullen).

Originally published as Check out proposal to help industry