Jones hits out at handicap system

Trainers in Auckland might think they’ve got it bad with the handicapping system, but leading harness horseman Mark Jones believes it is an even bigger problem in Canterbury, with its larger population of horses.

The issue was highlighted in the Waikato Times last Friday week and again in Sunday’s Sunday Star-Times, where high-profile northern horseman Brent Mangos said the flawed system was forcing him to campaign horses overseas.

Jones agreed with Mangos that under the system, which favours the elite, there is no money in racing horses in New Zealand, unless you have a top two-year-old or three-year-old.

And he believes unless Harness Racing New Zealand’s handicapping committee makes some crucial changes at its meeting tomorrow – and they are implemented in the new season – it will be too late, as the impact of fewer horses being bred bites on field sizes.

Jones said horses reached their mark too soon and, unable to earn any money, they were sold overseas.

“I would be one of the biggest sellers in New Zealand, but only because it is the only way I, and my owners, can survive,” Jones said.

“I’ve trained 37 winners this season, but selling is the only way I can turn a profit. I’ve sold 22 racehorses to Australia in the last 12 months and sent another six to race over there.

“These are all horses who should be racing here – some of them were pretty nice horses – but when you look to see what they can earn in Australia, it’s a no-brainer.

“A lot of horses are also being sent over there on 50-50 deals [where the NZ owner gives up half of his share in the horse in exchange for no training fees].

“Something has to be done to keep the horses here.

“At the moment, only the top end are making any money. The system is not looking after the majority of owners and trainers who have nice, but not top horses.”

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“Our grade is the highest in the world. It’s scary how good you have to be to win a maiden, let alone a one-win race.

“The difference between a good maiden and a poor maiden, or a good one-win horse and an average one, is huge.

“All trainers and owners want is for their horses to be in races where they have a good chance to earn most of the time.

“In Canterbury that doesn’t happen, and if they don’t address it, the Purdons, Dalgetys and Dunns will be racing each other and no one else.”

Ironically, Jones said the best-performed horse in his stable, Ohoka Texas, was actually his worst because of the limited opportunities it had, compared with to an up-and-coming classone horse.

“You wait a lifetime to get these horses then have nowhere to race them,” he said.

Ohoka Texas, a 12-race winner, has raced only 13 times this season for one win.

Jones said he had been a long-time supporter of a points rating system, where each horse’s rating went up and down, depending on its performances.

It operated successfully in Hong Kong and could be done by a computer, so there were no arguments with the handicapper.

The bottom 14 horses nominated at a meeting raced each other, then the next 14 and the next 14, a system which ensured horses of equal ability raced each other.

“If we get the right system that sees horses race more often and earn more, then our owners won’t feel compelled to sell them,” Jones said.

Jones has been to several handicapping meetings where changes had been mooted and nothing had happened.

“But we can’t leave this when we know the numbers being bred are dropping,” he said.

“In two years we’re going to need all the horses we can get.”

HRNZ’s handicapping committee will meet tomorrow and will make recommendations to the executive to iron out issues with the system.