Racing: Changes to Jewels mooted

Race 9, Tabcorp Park, Saturday15-3-2014 Mittys Youthful Stakes (2YO colts & geldings) Winner: Padrisimo (10) Trainer: Andy Gath; Driver: Kate Gath Race Distance: 1,720 metres

With only one Aussie visitor attracted officials are keen to look at the invitation process

Harness bosses are promising a revamp of the invitation process for the Harness Jewels to ensure a greater Australian presence at next year's glamour day.

Just one of the nine Australians invited to the $1.2 million raceday at Cambridge on Saturday week will be there, 2-year-old Padrisimo coming to take on local star Follow The Stars.

While it was always going to be hard to get young trotters or a 2-year-old pacing filly to come, Harness Racing New Zealand could have expected to secure at least three Australian starters from the 3- and 4-year-old pacing ranks.

Some, like trotter Blitzthemcalder, were out of form; Frith was scared off by Adore Me and Guaranteed pulled out last week as he can race for similar money in Victoria, without the expense or risk of travel.

However, one of the reasons for the smaller-than-hoped-for Australian assault was a deliberately simple invitation process used by HRNZ for the first year.

"We told Harness Racing Australia to invite the best in each age group and if they didn't accept then we wouldn't invite another," said HRNZ boss Edward Rennell.

The Herald understands that system was put in place after some knee-jerk local reaction to the Australian invitations, with saw HRNZ err on the side of caution.

Next season Rennell says HRNZ are likely to compile a short list or even ask for expressions of interest from Australia to increase the likelihood of visitors.

"We will look at those in our debrief," said Rennell.

"But I think you can expect the invite process to be different.

"Still, we have Padrisimo coming, which we are thrilled about, and having Australian horses invited has got us a great exposure in Australia.

"There has been a lot of coverage of it over there and I am certain the awareness of the Jewels is greater in Australia than it would have been."

Jewels Day has seen a large number of official withdrawals this week, maybe from support players who would have had no chance of winning.

That mirrors premier days like New Zealand Cup Day at Addington, which a decade ago was a magnet for the best northern-trained horses but lost some of its appeal as stake increases close to home meant unless you thought you could win at Addington the trip didn't make financial sense.

To get around that, Addington implemented their huge Cup Day stakes increases for support races to lure the northerners back.

The same has happened at the Jewels, with the novelty factor of having a starter now wearing off for bigger stables. It seems a long way for a Southland-trained 3-year-old trotter to come if they can't win, even if the money for all starters means the trip is all but paid for.

Still, for all the withdrawals NZ Derby winner Locharburn is the only major contender who is not injured or still in the country who won't be there on Saturday week at this stage.

One division not hit by withdrawals is the 4-year-old Emerald, which means defending champion Border Control is still two places away from gaining a start, with the final acceptances at noon tomorrow.

There has been little movement in TAB markets this week with any serious punter waiting until after the draws tomorrow afternoon, especially with Cambridge playing into the hooves of those racing on the pace.

But the one factor TAB bookies are sure about is the day will be dominated by South Island-trained horses, with a head-to-head book having the South $1.07 to win more Jewels races than the North at $6.50.