‘Post draw’ for barriers

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 58

‘Post draw’ for barriers

By JEFF SCOTT The Auckland Trotting Club’s programme committee intend seeking New Zealand Harness Racing Conference approval to run three “postbarrier draw” races at its January 11 meeting. A similar promotion was declined by the Conference executive in September, however the Auckland club is of the opinion this system will stimulate pre-race interest in fields which include an outstanding horse. The Auckland club points out that under normal circumstances when an “outstanding” horse draws an ideal barrier position, betting on the race tends to be stifled. “Post barrier draws” operate on a system whereby the barrier draw for a particular race will be completed by the stipendiary stewards approximately 15 minutes before official start time. “With post barrier draws in operation, punters have a new challenge and a better chance of a good return for their investment, particularly if the likely favourite fares badly in the draw,” said the president of the Auckland club, Terry Quinn. “The Auckland Trotting Club is confident this innovative concept will be successful and will stimulate a great deal of discussion prior to the summer meeting," he added.

The races under consideration for “post-race barrier draws” on January 11 are the two-year-old pace over 1700 m, the C2 mobile pace over 2700 m and the C 5-6 mobile pace over 2700 m. This type of promotion has been used at the Marylands track in North America and more recently at Gloucester Park in Perth, Western Australia. While the idea seems to have merit at an oncourse fixture, and eliminates the chance of a field being depleted by scratchings due to an advertised barrier draw, the club concerned could suffer with T.A.B. betting under this system. The horses engaged in each event will be advertised in newspapers and in T.A.B.S prior to the meeting and their totalisator number taken on alphabetical order. <

But in harness racing the draw plays a crucial part in the outcome of many races and New Zealand punters are not in the habit of betting blind in advance. The question of whether this promotion will open up betting for T.A.B. doubles and trebles on specific races, previously dominated by standouts drawn handily, remains to be seen. The Auckland club are also in the dark as to whether the venture will be a success or failure, but they are prepared to experiment with the idea for better or for worse. CLAIMERS

While on the subject of programming, the Auckland Trotting Club, along with other clubs in the Auckland-Waikato area, will continue to establish claiming races are part of the New Zealand harness racing calendar.

The Auckland and Waikato clubs endeavoured to introduce these races in the winter, but the results were not encouraging. “This was not successful mainly through the decreased number of horses racing, which provided too many racing opportunities in races programmed under the traditional handicapping system,” said Mr Quinn. Claiming races, which enable the trainer or owner to handicap their own horses in penaltyfree races, must improve the financial viability of racing and owning a racehorse, according to Mr Quinn.

The Auckland club, where practical, intends to programme two claiming races on a racenight from the beginning of January. “This will provide flexibility when framing fields to endeavour to generate even-betting races,” he said. It is intended to run two claiming races at Auckland on the following dates: January 11, March 1, May 3 and 31, June 8, 15 and 29, and July 27. One claimer is programmed for January 21, February 14, March 10, April 20, June 23 and July 20. The above dates are provisional, subject to agreement on Claiming prices being reached by the clubs in the Waikato region.