The Australian Standardbred Breeders Association (ASBA) has thrown its support behind an idea floated by the Western Australian Standardbred Breeders Association (WASBA) to return the iconic Inter Dominion Championship back to its old format of rotating between the states.
The sticking point for most states has been funding and the cost of hosting the annual series.
The main push behind the proposal is that it will afford at least 30 local horses an opportunity to compete in the biggest race series in the Southern Hemisphere when they normally wouldn’t have a chance to race in feature events such as A. G. Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile.
“We (ASBA) firmly believe this would also encourage breeding. We see lots of race series for younger horses, but older horses deserve the chance to race for the glory that the Inter Dominion once bought,” ASBA secretary Gary Newton said.
“WASBA has come up with a couple of ideas on how to make the series affordable for all states.”
The funding model proposed by WASBA offers the following options:
- $100 per starter per season (this would raise approximately $950,000)
- $100 per race taken from stakemoney prior to stake distribution ($1.4million)
- $10 per starter ($1.27million)
“A substantial amount of funding would be raised by the above ideas without state controlling bodies having to try to balance the books,” Newton said.
ASBA is encouraging feedback from industry participants on its proposal for Inter Dominion funding via the website harnessbreeders.com.au
In other initiatives from its bi-monthly meeting, ASBA will be attending the Breed To Succeed Expo to be conducted by Harness Breeders Victoria at Shepparton on August 20, and is supporting the use of Altenogest in racemares in every state. It believes the controlled use of Altenogest is essential for safety reasons and it helps to keep our mares racing.
The Jess Tubbs-trained filly The Huntress, the winner of six of her 13 starts including the Vicbred 2YO Silver, was among the consignment that left Sydney on Tuesday for America.
The three-year-old High Above, a runaway winner in a stunning 1:53 at Bendigo, and Star Celebrity, who won in 1:53.8 at Melton one night earlier, both belong to the same family.
Both descendants of the prized matron Larrakeyah Lady were bred and are part-owned by Maryborough enthusiast Peter Gleeson.
A total of $197,600 in Vicbred Breeder Bonuses for two, three and four-year-olds has been paid out to breeders by Harness Racing Victoria this year.
The figure includes $68,700 in May. Vicbred First Win Bonuses paid to connections in May reached a staggering $434,000, comprising $336,000 for pacers and $98,000 for trotters.
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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.