FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK - LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE. PRIZE-MONEY IS ONLY ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

By John Schreck | Wednesday, April 13, 2016

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Shreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

The unusually high stake money attached to the Championships means different things to different people.

In general, New South Wales are doing pretty well in terms of the stake money paid overall, but it needs to be hoped that translates into greater interest in the sport across the board ... that is in terms of attendance and betting turnover.

There is more to the sport than huge prize-money. Huge prize-money, in itself, benefits very few and you’ve got to have a growing interest in the sport being shown in a manner that can be measured both in attendance at the track and in turnover.

Prize-money levels can certainly help achieve that but it is only one piece of the puzzle.

I can understand jockeys and trainers and owners and breeders all being enthusiast about huge prize-money but there is still a lot of work to do in terms of achieving those greater goals so you would hope that administrators don’t just focus on prize-money alone.

Very few aspects of racing live in isolation and it is very important that appropriate financial considerations are applied to training facilities, provision for horses when their day is done ... and things like that.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have huge prize-money for particular promotions such as The Championship but that should ideally be done in conjunction with a broader plan which covers other avenues that need necessary attention for the good of the sport.

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Still on The Championships, you don’t build tradition overnight and that is something those evaluating the third running of The Championships need to take into account.

Having said that, the energy used in the seemingly constant chase by Sydney to try and match the Melbourne Carnival is probably better used elsewhere.

I don’t think it is wise to focus on trying to beat somebody else. I think you should just do the very best you can in your own backyard and the rest will look after itself.

The truth of the matter is that Melbourne is going further ahead and if Sydney has got one eye on what Melbourne is doing they’ve taking one eye off the ball in what they are doing themselves which is not the best method of getting ahead.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with competitive rivalry but it only has a particular place in the grand scheme of things, otherwise it can be distracting.

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The results of some of the feature races in Sydney during The Championships yet again shows how important it is to acknowledge the contribution that New Zealand racing has made to the sport in Australia over a long period of time ... both in terms of jockeys and horses.

Over the years New Zealand jockeys have won many, many Premierships in Sydney and hardly a year goes by that horses from over there ... staying horses particularly ... don’t come across and win more times than they lose.

Sofia Rosa (Australian Oaks), Azkadellia (Coolmore Stakes) and Lucia Valentina (Queens Elizabeth Stakes), all winners at Randwick on Saturday, are the latest in a long line of New Zealand bred success stories in Australia ... adding to a list that is quite substantial.

Truth is, they don’t always get the credit they deserve.