Houston we have a problem ...

The recently conducted Heats of the NSW Breeders Challenge 3-yo 'Major Series' serve to underscore the existential problems facing Harness Racing in NSW.  

In what is essentially the showcase series for Statebred 3-year-olds, just 66 colts and geldings, and 77 fillies faced the starter across the 22 Heats.  In other words, from an original pool of 974 foals that were theoretically eligible for this Series, only 143 (or just 14.7% of the total) actually lined up to face the starter!

As a consequence, the average field size across all these 3 yo Heats was an extremely disappointing 8.3 ... 7.8 for the colts and geldings, and 8.8 for the fillies.  And seven (7) heats (or nearly 32% of the total) were conducted with seven (7) or fewer starters!  Clearly disastrous from a wagering perspective, given that this is one of the premier Futurity Series on the NSW calendar.   And what's more, all of these small fields (with 7 or fewer starters) were in fact staged at our 'major centres' - see below:

• Menangle Park (Metro Region) =  3  ( 2 C&G + 1 F )

• Bathurst (Western Districts)     =  2  ( both C&Gs )

• Wagga Wagga (Riverina)          =  1  ( a Fillies Heat )

• Newcastle (Hunter Region)      =  1  ( a G&G Heat )

... the very places that are supposed to deliver the maximum betting pools.

I would contend that this indicates that there is a fundamental problem with the structure of the Breeders Challenge Race Series as it currently stands, and HRNSW definitely needs to move towards a more broad-based BC-Series going forward.  Jamming all these BC Heats into a tight five-week time-frame (7th September to 15th October) obviously impacts negatively on the availability of horses, and thus field sizes.

Consider also that, of the forty (40) horses that were given the 'luxury' of being able to contest two heats (20 each Colts & Geldings, and Fillies), 42% in fact qualified through to the Semi-Finals (10 Colts & Geldings, or 50% of the resultant fields, and 7 Filles = 35%).  This clearly demonstrates that the ability to have more 'bites of the cherry' is a critical factor in helping to offset a poor barrier draw, luck in running etc., all of which would be better balanced out if the series were to be conducted over several months, and not just one.

What do you think?  Did you have BC-eligible 3 yo's that were forced to by-pass this series, for whatever reason, but would happily have contested races earlier in the year - if the Breeders Challenge was in fact a points-based series, staged over several months of the year (season) - say March to October?