The move back to predominantly Friday night meetings at Newcastle Paceway from July 1 has divided opinions among experienced Hunter trainer-drivers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Harness Racing NSW chief John Dumesny told the Newcastle Herald last week that the track would revert to mostly Friday night programs to ensure more exposure on the Sky 1 channel and likely lift betting turnover, which largely funds the industry.
Since 2016-17, Newcastle has raced mostly alongside Menangle Park on Saturday nights, where it is bumped to Sky 2 coverage.
The change will make it easier for participants to race at both tracks each week.
Ellalong trainer-driver Michael Formosa welcomed the change, saying Newcastle needed to improve its betting turnover to protect its prizemoney levels in the event of cuts. He said the switch to Saturday nights in the hope of big crowds had been "a flop".
"Us competing with Menangle, our betting turnover would be terrible on Sky 2 on a Saturday night, so this is probably the best decision for the industry," Formosa said.
"I'd rather race Fridays. You get more of a life outside of racing on weekends. And before when I had the best horse I ever had, Ultimate Art, I had to send him to Queensland because it was either that or race him at Menangle on Saturday night and race nothing at Newcastle, and lose my owners. Now if you have a horse good enough to race at Menangle, you can go there as well."
Louth Park trainer Darren Elder, though, was "not a fan" of Friday nights at Newcastle.
"If you've got Menangle horses, it's a good thing. If you don't, it's bad," Elder said.
He said Sydney trainers will "have a field day" at Newcastle on Friday nights and many locals struggle to make the meetings.
"It's a lot harder for the owners to knock off work and get there," he said. "There's only one or two professional trainers in this area, and everyone else has to rush after work."
As for turnover, Elder said: "If the industry does better punting-wise, it doesn't matter where the meeting is at. People will still bet, so I don't think they have done any justice really to the Hunter Valley people. And they did it with no consultation with the locals."
Formosa agreed Hunter trainers with city class horses will benefit "but that's what we're all trying to do, to get better horses".
"Sydney horses are going to come up regardless of what days they race because the big stables just send their workers," he said.
Elder and Morisset trainer Mark Callaghan believed Newcastle should provide locals-only races to help offset the change.
"It doesn't worry me too much personally, but it's just a matter of everyone in this region surviving," Callaghan said. "If the Sydney boys are going to come up every Friday night and dominate, it's not going to be beneficial to our region."
Elder believed HRNSW should give the Hunter "more meetings in general, especially on smaller tracks like Maitland for the weaker horses".
He had made suggestions to authorities about the programming of Friday night races at Newcastle to help Hunter participants. They included locals-only races, preferential field selections and events with restrictions based on recent city wins and prizemoney gained.
