Juniors lacking in opportunities: Jones

CANTERBURY trainerdriver Mark Jones is calling for action as opportunities for junior drivers drop to a fiveyear low.

The 201617 season’s class of junior harness racing drivers was employed to drive 1300 fewer horses than junior drivers did in the 201516 racing season.

Fiftyone junior drivers drove a total of 4310 times last season.

Despite their numbers remaining steady, it is the first time in five years that they have taken to the track fewer than 5000 times.

According to Jones, a lack of incentives to engage young drivers is pushing their driving opportunities down.

A lack of junior driver races and fewer races in which claiming junior drivers can be engaged to effectively drop a horse in grade are two of the main causes.

Without those incentives, it is more difficult to persuade owners to use a young driver ahead of a vastly experienced one.

‘‘You can say to the owners we can drop back a grade if we put a claiming driver on and they can cop that, but if you can’t drop back and you put a junior on and leave [experienced reinsman] Blair Orange sitting in the stand they are not going to cop that too well.’’

Jones said claiming opportunities should be programmed into more race meetings, and suggested scaling the rating penalties of some race wins, depending on the number of wins the junior drivers would have.

He pointed to both Australian harness racing and the New Zealand thoroughbred code as better in providing opportunities.

Claiming junior drivers were engaged much more extensively over the Ditch as they could use their claim to drop a class for their horses in many races.

The young drivers could also hold on to their claiming tag while having won up to 250 races in some states.

New Zealand’s claiming apprentice jockeys, who can take the weight off the backs of horses in most thoroughbred races, also got a much better opportunity to establish their career than their harness racing counterparts, Jones said.