BHRC NOTICES

 

COVER PHOTOS

December Issue

The excellent photograph on the cover on the December Calendar was taken by Bob Dougal from Scotland (bob.dougal@btinternet.com). Apologies for the credit being deleted during printing.

CURRENT ISSUE

Main photograph shows Huw Thomas driving Sammy The Bull at Amman Valley and is courtesy of Ontrac.

Also shown are Gordon Gilvear and Dillys Decision. Photograph courtesy of Bob Dougal, bob.dougal@btinternet.com.

NAME CHANGES

FROM 1^st JANUARY 2006 HORSES WILL BE REGISTERED

WITH A LIFE TIME NAME

NO MORE NAME CHANGES WILL BE PERMITTED

QUALIFYING DATES

YORK

Qualifying days will be held at York Raceway on Sunday 9^th and Sunday 16^th April at 12 noon.

 

CORBIEWOOD

Qualifying is held on Monday evenings from the start of the season. If anyone wants to qualify before the start of the season, please call Caroline Cullen on 01786 814547, by Friday of the previous week.

2005 Record Book

The BHRC Record Book for 2005 will be available towards the end of February.

To order your copy send a cheque for £14.50 made payable to BHRC (Price includes P&P).

Deputy Regional Stewards

The BHRC have decided to appoint two Deputy Regional Stewards to lighten the workload of the existing Regional Stewards, and to assist at the busier meetings. Mr Roland Pugh has already been appointed in the Wales & West area by the BHRC Committee.

Anyone interested in this position in Northern area should send their application to the BHRC office, enclosing their C.V. and any other relevant details (see Application form in this Calendar).  A mileage allowance will be paid.

POST

It is recommended that important or time specific documents (e.g. Passports, Classic & Major Race Fees) are sent by Recorded or Guaranteed Postage. The BHRC are NOT responsible for lost post.

Also, when mail is received in the office with insufficient postage on, the BHRC has no alternative but to charge the underpaid amount plus the royal mail charge, and an administration fee of £2.00.  Please check the weight of your mail to avoid unnecessary charges. Note: - one passport costs 35p by second class mail.

Brightwells Standardbred Sale

The Official Sale Of Standardbred Horses will be held at Builth Wells on Monday 23^rd October 2006.

Welcome New Licence Holders

CONGRATULATIONS to WILLIAM JAMES LAWRENCE M.B.E.

All who know him, know him as Jim or within Harness Racing circles as Mr Allensmore. Jim was awarded his M.B.E. in the New Year’s Honours list for Services to Agriculture and the Community. Over the last 50 or so years he has been involved in Young Farmers Clubs, Parish Council, Village Hall, Allensmore Church etc etc. In Harness Racing he is the owner of the Allensmore Track, a founder member of Hereford and Borders Harness Racing Club, a regular Judge in Wales and West and a horse owner. Most of all Jim is a very personable man and a good friend to all who know him well.

 

Thank You and Well Done Jim

FAREWELL TO DILLYS DECISION

Dillys Decision was born in the spring of 1991, a bay son of Fleet Decision and out of the dam Sweet Lee Sota. He was given to John and Gregor Menzies to break in and get going, but proved to be quite a handful from day one. With a lot of patience and great horsemanship, they got the better of his spooky nature and fiery spirit and began to train him down. He looked so special we kept him under wraps until Musselburgh. He made his debut on the Tuesday night at Musselburgh 1994, where he made a break just before the start and lost a distance. Gregor Menzies, who drove him that day, managed to get him back into the race although he was unable to gun down the leader. He ran on to finish a brave second. That was his first race and one of the best he ever ran. He then went on to win two in a row at Corbiewood and finished the season with a trip to Wolverhampton.

In June 1995 he started racing at Errol where he won three in a row, winning his first handicap final in track record time. Then it was back to Musselburgh where he won a heat of the Tuesday night and finished a brave second in the final to Precious Fella, a horse who had already won the Wednesday final a few years before.

In 1996 he was kept all year for the Wednesday Musselburgh where he again won a heat, holding off Fosters Way, a great battle in a time of 2.50.3. He then finished fourth in the final which was won by Double M. Rab Wilson drove him to both his Musselburgh wins as we then started training him ourselves.

In 1997 he won races at Perth and Lanark but Musselburgh was unlucky again for him that year, finishing unplaced behind Churchill Prince, the eventual winner.

I won my first race on him later that year in a Corbiewood final and went on to drive him for the rest of his career.

In 1998 he won three races at Corbiewood, two of which were handicap finals.

In 1999 he won three races again, including a brilliant performance winning the first ever final at Hamish Muirhead's new venue, Haughfield in Bannockburn, just a stones throw away from Corbiewood.

In 2000 he won two Corbiewood Free For Alls. This was the first time he had raced in one. The first being on festival week where he beat great horses such as Stoneriggs Quality, Big Ash, Dillys Springtime and Denton John Joe. That was a great win and one I will never forget.

In 2001 he won six races, one at Corbiewood in a time of 2.4.8, trailing 40yards, well nearly 40yards.

In 2002 he won seven races, one of which was The Wee Cracker Trophy, a race which he would win three years in a row.

In 2003 he won a total of eight races, four Corbiewood FFA's, making that six Corbiewood FFA's in total.

In 2004 he won another five races, all at Corbiewood, and on 19th May 2005 he won his last ever race, running down the great mare Today I Say and Willie Greenhorn on the track he loved the most, Corbiewood.

He retired in August 2005 with earnings just short of £18,000 and according to BHRC records he never won a race over the value of £500, that will probably never be equalled. He won 47 races all in with 10 handicap finals. Thirty-nine of his 47 wins came at his home track of Corbiewood, where he also won six FFA's. 

On Christmas morning 2005, Dillys Decision sadly passed away from natural causes. A true giant in the sport who will be sadly missed by all our family and all his supporters at Corbiewood, where he was the people’s champion. People would come to me after one of his great wins and say “It’s worth the admission fee just to see that horse run”. That's a great thing.

I know we will never get another that races at such a high level for as long as he did but that's alright with me, half as good will do me.

 

Yours in sport

Gordon Gilvear.

Photo courtesy of Bob Dougal:   bob.dougal@btinternet.com

BHRC CLASSICS 2006

		Track	Heats (if sufficient)	Final	BHRC prize money	Track Added
EUROPEAN PACING CLASSIC		YORK		SAT 22nd JULY	£1000	£750
NATIONAL PACING DERBY		TIR PRINCE	TUES 25th JULY	MON 31st JULY (televised)	£1000	£1525
ROOSEVELT CUP ROOSEVELT BOWL ROOSEVELT SHIELD		YORK		SUN 20th AUGUST	£500	£1750
PRAKAS CHAMPIONSHIP PRAKAS DERBY		TIR PRINCE		TUES 12th SEPT	(Prakas Fund)	£150
BHRC SIRE STAKES		YORK	SUN 3rd SEPT	SUN 10th SEPT (televised)	£1000	Sire Stakes Fund
NATIONAL PACING FUTURITY		YORK	SUN 24th SEPT	SUN 1st OCT*	£500	£500
			*(If no heats, race will be run on 24th Sept)

BREEDING NOTES

Pacing Pedigree Notes

Where Scoot Around Gets ‘IT’ From.

In the October 05 Calendar Gordon Garnett asked the question “Where does he, (Scoot Around) get it from?” My idea of an answer to that question would be that he gets ‘IT’ from a long time ago...

In 1907 in Louisville, Kentucky a filly foal was born to the mare Morning Bells. This was the first foal bred by Morning Bells owner David M Look. However the arrival of this first foal was overshadowed by news of the death of David's father, Samuel J. It was Samuel J who had suggested the mating of Morning Bells to the famous stallion Bow Bells a son of Electioneer by Hambletonian. He never lived to see Emily Ellen, as she was to be called, become the bedrock of one of the most successful Standardbred breeding farms of all time, the Castleton Stud of Kentucky.

24 years previous to the birth of Emily Ellen another filly foal was born. Bred by a Mr Thornton Moore of Lexington in 1883. The foal was daughter of the then unregistered mare Lady Sentinel who was by Sentinel, a son of Hambletonian. This foal was named Maggie H, and was the full sister to the Lelah H, born in 1880, who had been timed at 2.24.5 (an impressive time for its day). Maggie H was sired by Homer, who was a son of Mambrino Patchen out of the highly regarded mare Sally Chorister. Sally Chorister was the first mare to produce two 2:20 trotters. Maggie H was a very well bred and much sort after mare and she was to pass through the hands of many breeders and horse dealers.

These two mares, Emily Ellen and Maggie H were to become two of the most important foundation mares of the Standardbred breed. 

The Female Influence

With our increasing knowledge of genetics it is now clear that we need to take much greater notice, than previously we did, of the female input into pedigrees.

My October 05 article covered Norman Halls theory of 'Pedigree Matching' which places great emphasis on the ‘distaff’ (or dams) side of pedigrees. Hall describes the distaff side of a stallions pedigree as “its Primary side" and more or less ignores the sires male line. But why? 

We all pay attention to “This stallion is the son of whoever, the winner of heaps of money, who went like the wind” in adverts, but now here we are being told, “Well, it’s not ‘son of such-a-stallion’ that’s important. What matters is ‘son of such-a-mare’ and even more importantly ‘daughter of such-a-dam’.

So, just what is the scientific justification for all this? To understand why the mare is so important we need a basic understanding of genetics (Don't worry its only very basic!)

A Crash Course in Genetics

All of the thousands of our genes are contained on chromosomes. Each human cell contains 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). In the domestic horse each cell contains 64 chromosomes (32 pairs). In equines each parent contributes 32 chromosomes via sperm or egg. So a foal inherits 32 chromosomes from its mother and 32 from its father. 

One of these 32 pairs are called the sex chromosomes, because genes located on them are involved with determining an offspring's sex. These chromosomes are of two types, known as either the X chromosome or the Y chromosome. Mares have two X chromosomes (XX) and stallions have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY). 

Since mares only have X chromosomes (XX), they will always pass an X chromosome to their foal. On the other hand, stallions can pass an X or a Y chromosome to the foal. If the stallion passes the X chromosome the foal will be female. If a Y chromosome is passed on, the foal will be male. 

The Y chromosomes are much smaller than X chromosomes and the genes on the Y chromosome are concerned almost entirely with sex determination. Their presence ensures a male, their absence a female. The Y chromosome therefore has little more than “Hello son, you are male,” written on it!

In contrast the X chromosome contains genes vital to the general development and function of the horse. The key to the importance of the mare in the genetic make up of a foal  is that, while some genes on the X chromosome are responsible for sexual function and fertility, there are also other genes located on this chromosome that have nothing to do with sex. It is these genes which are causing all the interest and controversy. The genes which occur only on the X chromosome are referred to as the X-Linked genes.

The stallion does provide his son with full genetic ‘info’ on the other 31 chromosomes he inherits (covering such things as size and colour for example) but on one chromosome pair, the XY pair, he provides practically no genetic material. 

Studies have shown that there are a surprisingly large number of genes on the equine X Chromosome. Approximately 139 genes, it is believed, whilst the Y Chromosome only has about 6 genes. 139 is a significantly high number when compared to 37 X-linked genes in cattle and 30 odd in sheep. 

All the wealth of genetic material contained in a stallions X chromosome can only be passed on to his daughters. It can not pass to his sons. So next time you fancy paying out a pot of money to send your mare to a flashy stallion, remember that if the resultant foal is a colt you will have got nothing more than, “Hello son, you are male,” on one of the chromosomes and a whole heap of very useful genes will have gone missing!

Scoot Around and his historic female lines

So, where does all this leave Scoot? Well the two great matriarchs Maggie H and Emily Ellen have played a extremely significant part in his genetic make up. Scoot Around's direct female line descent (and his X-linked chromosomes, remember those!) trace back to Miss C (1956). In the Oct 05 Calendar Gordon Garnett did her a disservice in describing her breeding as “blue collar”. If you look at the stallion sin her pedigree maybe she is, but look at the mares and its a different story. She was very much bred in the 'purple' as she was a granddaughter of Lucky Brooke (1938) who was in turn a great great granddaughter of Maggie H.

Maggie H, as befits one of the Standardbred breeds great foundation broodmares, represented a widely drawn mixture of bloodlines. On her sires side we find Mambrino Chief and Mambrino Patchen (grandson of the Thoroughbred Denmark).  While her dam, Lady Sentinel, was a daughter of Sentinel (by Hambletonian oo Lady Patriot by Young Patriot). Sentinel was a full brother to Volunteer (who got 1880 world record holder St Julien; 2.11.2) and also sire of Grand Sentinel the sire of the dam of Peter the Great. In her 4Gen pedigree the name ‘Hambletonian’ appears but once.

Not only do we have this great mare on Scoots direct ‘tail line descent’ we also have her AND Emily Ellen on the dams side of Scoots sire, Master Scoot.

Master Scoots great-grand dam is Primway. Primway is out of the mare Precise who is in turn great granddaughter of Emily Ellen. The Emily Ellen genes of Precise are further added to by the fact that Precise is a 3x3 cross to Emily Ellen, as Precise's grand sire Lee Tide is a son of Emily Ellen.

			Lee Axworthy
		Lee Tide
			Emily Ellen
	Spencer
		Petrex
Precise
		Peter Volo
	Prudy
			Guy Axworthy
		Trudy
			Emily Ellen

(And the Grand dam of Lee Axworthy? Maggie H)

Emily Ellen's place in the Standardbred breeding hall of fame is secure beyond doubt through a whole string of top class descendants who carried all before them in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Among them are such superstars as Spencer Scott 1937 (1.57) and Noble Victory 1962 (1.55.3) who both have Emily Ellen on their ‘bottom line’. Spencer Scott, also bred by David M Look and Noble Victory, also foaled on the same Castleton Stud farm as Emily Ellen all those years previously.

So top and bottom and in all the right places Scoot Around has the genes of great mares driving him forward to a place in UK harness racing history. It is a privilege to see such history in motion.

Emily Ellen and the Glory connection.

One of the most impressive two year olds of last season was Ayr Glory (2 p2.01.7), winner of the Junior Welsh Dragon. A strong powerful individual possessing extreme speed he is one to watch in 2006. 

Ayr Glory is out of the mare Jazzercise who's great grand-dam is Always Ready, a great granddaughter of Emily Ellen. 

Always Ready's grand dam, Aileen, is by Spencer a son of Lee Tide out of Emily Ellen. Aileen is a 2x3 cross to Emily Ellen.

So Ayr Glory has strong genetic links to Scoot Around and he may well posses some of the X-linked chromosome ‘specials’ that Emily Ellen possessed as he is of direct female line descendant from the great mare.

The direct female line descent of Ayr Glory's sire Matts Scooter also throws up a real rich history...but that's another story for another day.

 

AJ Kay

(Thanks to Don Daniels in the USA for his generous assistance with historical information in this article)

Breeding Notes II

Courtesy of our regular correspondent Mr Kay, this month we are going all scientific; Genes, chromosomes and all that stuff.

All life forms have a genetic blue print - the Genome - and when fully identified, scientists can tell you which gene (from the Greek - Gen - to give) gives you whatever characteristics you can inherit. A horse has 32 pairs of chromosomes, a human has 23 pairs, whilst apes and monkeys have 24 pairs (which means that whatever we are led to believe we cannot directly descend from apes).

So far as I am aware the equine genome is not yet fully identified, but some important discoveries have been made. Heart size is inherited, in all animals on the X (female) chromosome. Athletes, whether human, equine, canine or avian all benefit from a big heart - it facilitates continued performance at high speed. A lot of horses can do the half at York in a minute, some can go to the ¾s in 1.30 and then spit the bit going round the last bend. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going - and they have big hearts. Big hearted horses include Mill Reef, Secretariat and Eclipse in the Thoroughbred world, Niatross, Direct Scooter and Continental Victory in the Standardbreds.

Because big hearts are inheritable you can plan matings around them. You can’t go out and measure a horse’s heart easily - the average horse’s heart weighs 8lb - Niatross’ heart weighed 16lbs! But what you can do is identify the lines that consistently throw tough horses - ones that win races and win money.

A stallion can pass a big heart - on the X chromosome - to his daughter only, a mare to her daughter and son. The easiest way to identify a big heart line - or the X Factor as it fashionably called - is to find good race mares and good broodmare sires in a horses pedigree, along the X chromosome lines of inheritance.

If you were to ask anyone who the top pacing broodmare sires of the last 40 years are, the answer would probably go:

            Abercrombie, Albatross, Niatross, Tar Heel, Bret Hanover, Adios, Good Time, Billy Direct

All of these horses were very tough race horses, not just “Fancy Dans” who stepped a fast mile, but War Horses, game to the core.

If we examine the X Factor line of this issues featured advert horse Village Connection, we see the first dam being by Abercrombie - a great sire, outstanding broodmare sire and one of the toughest horses to ever look through a bridle.

The second dam, Armbro Sheena, was by Albatross, leading sire, leading racehorse of his day and greatest ever broodmare sire.

The third dam, Armbro Jodie, won $184,000 when that really meant something and she was by another tough horse, Capetown.

The fourth dam, Blitzie Hanover, went in 1.58 in the 1960’s, was by the Immortal Adios and was an own sister to World Champion Bullet Hanover, her mother was by World Champion Billy Direct and paced in 2.00 just after World War II.

All I can say is that horses don’t get any better X Factor lines than Village Connection. This line is dominated by tough large hearted horses, who pass this trait on. But what about the Y line? Mr Kay is somewhat dismissive about this and it is true that it is a smaller vehicle than the X. But, it is important. The Y chromosome goes on a long time. Nottingham University has done a lot of research on this, especially on men who may descend from Vikings. Arthur Slack’s surname is of Norwegian origin and the Norse original is Slakki. If his Y chromosome line is pure Viking, Nottingham University might be able to tell him which village in Norway his ancestors came from about 1200 years ago!

Many experienced horse breeders believe that gait and that important but undeterminable feature - character, guts, gameness, class - call it what you will, comes down the male line.

The great granddad of Village Connection, Meadow Skipper, was a tough, tough horse. Most Happy Fella, Triple Crown winner and champion sire was noted for his toughness and the toughness of his offspring.

Cam Fella, the pacing machine beat more horses with his iron determination than sheer speed. It was said about him that any horse he ever “looked in the eye” never raced well again. A bit like Mick Welling - he has broke a lot of hearts, but perhaps in a different theatre of war.

The Cam Fella line is the main source of pre potent pacing progenitors and we in Britain are blessed with some great horses at stud from this line, such as Nianimble, PlayWithAFullDeck, Bear Dance, Daylon Alert, Hopping High, Sure Cam, Prince Lee Dancer and Mystic Howard.

However, none of these won as much as Village Connection, who along with Presidential Ball, Cambest, Camluck, Cams Card Shark and Armbro Operative, is an elite member of the Cam Fella tribe. Cam Fella said a lot more to Village Connection than ‘Hello Son’. He also said “Go win some money” - I think the boy done good.

 

‘RASUS’ SCHEDULE  2006
on S4C Television
(CROCK OF GOLD Heats at venues shown in bold)
TRANSMISSION			RECORDING
TX1	Mon 3rd July	YORK	Sun 2nd July
TX2	Mon 10th July	ABERYSTWYTH	Sun 9th July
TX3	Mon 17th July	TAIRGWAITH (Amman Valley)	Sat 15th July
TX4	Mon 24th July	ST MORITZ, SWITZERLAND
TX5	Mon 31st July	TIR PRINCE -- DERBY	Live
	Mon 7th August	(No transmission)
TX6	Mon 14th August	MUSSELBURGH	Wed 9th August
TX7	Mon 21st August	ALLENSMORE	Sun 20th August
TX Dig	Fri 25th-Sat 26th August	TREGARON DIGITAL	Live
TX8	Mon 28th August	TREGARON	Fri-Sat 25th-26th August
TX9	Mon 4th September	BOUGHROOD	Sun 3rd September
TX10	Mon 11th September	SIRE STAKES FINALS - YORK	Sun 10th September
TX11	Mon 18th September	TIR PRINCE - CROCK OF GOLD FINAL	Live

LETTERS

from Brian Reynolds:

Most people I know within Harness Racing are not desperately worried about the politics of BHRC whether it is at local or national level, all they want to do is get on and race their horse and have an enjoyable time within their sport. I enjoy the racing, the social aspect of a race day and the politics of the sport as well.

I have represented Wales & West HRA for about the last 10 years at BHRC Committee meetings and now, with more time on my hands I would like to join the BHRC Council. To this end I am putting my name forward to stand for the position of a BHRC Steward at the 2006 A.G.M.

As one of the people who encouraged Gordon Garnett to stand for the Chairman’s position in 2005, I feel he needs and deserves more support. This has been adequately demonstrated at the Committee Meetings since the 2005 A.G.M. This does not mean that everything he puts forward must be agreed – I am not a ‘Yes’ man – but if it is good go for it, if not dump it. I happen to believe that in Gordon we have the possibility of having the best Chairman for many years. He is a very capable and clever person with enthusiasm and the commitment to do the job. He must be allowed to do it. Also, quite importantly, he is of a more modern age (and young in years) and like political parties at present, where evolution is the in thing, any organisation has to move on. Standing still is not an option.

We now have a Chairman who is able to look forward and we also have a President who is making a difference with his knowledge and contacts. I would like to be a part of this and I would like to state the following:

• I am NOT standing AGAINST anyone. I am standing because I think I can do some good.
• Secondly, BHRC Committee and Council should consist of people pulling together, not as it is at times in the last 12 months. The regime change at the last A.G.M. obviously caused some great distress to some, they should accept change and get on with the job. The people who lose out when there is friction at the top are the Licence holders. Let’s all pull in the same direction.
• Lastly, I can compromise on detail but not on principles. My principles are not up for grabs. Honesty within the sport, upholding the Constitution and abiding by the Rules are what we should all aim for. If it is not right, then get it changed, don’t try to bend it or get around it.

      Do it properly.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If anyone wishes to contact me, please telephone

01981 570327, or if you are a member of an Association (ideally everyone should be) then ask your Rep’s opinion on  my views – I’m sure he will give you an opinion.

Regards,

Brian Reynolds

ASK THE EXPERT

NEW FEATURE STARTING IN THE APRIL CALENDAR

A panel of leading Trainers and Drivers have agreed to try and help solve your problems (the equine variety!)

The victims who have volunteered are:

Alan Haythornthwaite         on Conditioning and Driving

John Gill                                on Breaking In and Training

Ian Pimlott                             on Training, especially the Trotter

Michael Lord                        on Care and Training of Young Ladies

So please send, fax, or email your questions, queries or problems to the BHRC office and we will forward them for you. The answers will be printed in the April Calendar.

OBITUARIES

 

WILLIAM ‘BILL’ MOORE

1931 – 2006

It is with great sadness we report the death of Bill Moore from Settle North Yorkshire.

Many of you will have known Bill as the BHRC regional steward for the northern counties racetracks. In this capacity he was resolute, and a man of principal who upheld the rules and regulations of the BHRC full stop and comma. Bill was also a founder member and active committeeman of the Harness Horseman’s Association. Up to his retirement from work he had been a quarry manager in the northern limestone quarries around Settle and Lothersdale.

I have personally known Bill since the early 1960’s when he trained horses with the late Hird Brothers from Colne Lancashire, particularly driving ‘Julus’ their German bred trotter, and ‘Kim Direct’ a British bred pacer. He also trained and owned pacers from the famous ‘Monkroyd’ line, by far the best being Monkroyd Way, an attractive nearly black horse by Had My Way (USA) out of Gay Girl.

Our sincere and deepest sympathy to his wife Eileen and family, our thoughts are with you at this time.

Colin J Dalby and his many friends and acquaintances.

STANLEY SMART

My friend Stan Smart, who has recently died at the age of 87, was exactly the same age as me. He was "in his day " a great horseman, fully the equal of the likes of Jim Pickard, Clem Dodd, Jim Althorp and David Douglas. We were all "lads together".

His first winner was under saddle at 10 years old on a pacing pony called Teddys Wee Sister, probably by Setaba out of an Iceland mare. He later went on to great success with Merry Widow, Spiretown and Over The Hill. After World War II he started going to Germany and brought back Haddy, with which he won the Final at Appleby. His best trotter was the German star Las Becker (bred and formerly owned by the Becks Beer Company). He also brought over the good stallion Croupier.

He, together with his lovely wife Mavis, started the whole registration process and published the first stud book.

A kind and knowledgeable man, he would always help anyone and was from the famous Derbyshire Smart family which included brother Ben, and cousins Charlie and Les. All good horsemen, his sort are seldom seen again.

G.Garnett Snr. 

STOP PRESS

   AMENDMENTS TO HANDICAP SYSTEM FROM COMMITTEE MEETING ON 12/2/06:

   1)   0 (Gate) and 10yd horses (to £749) can only race for a maximum of £1,000 per handicap race; themaximum penalty for these horses in handicap races in any one day is £1,000.

The maximum handicap penalty for 20yd+ (£750+) horses in any one day is raised to £2,000.

 End of season lifts for 2005/06 are the same as last year i.e.

      Horses that raced a minimum of 6 times in open races in 2005 without winning any races, = 1 Grade lift (10yds)

 

      Horses that raced a minimum of 12 times in open races in 2005 only winning ONE race of £300 or less, = 1 Grade lift (10yds)

NOTICE OF MOTION - 1

Special Resolution

‘That Tregaron Trotting Club be invited  to be a voting member of the BHRC’

                                      to be voted on at he the BHRC Annual General Meeting on 2/4/2006.

NOTICE OF MOTION - 2

Special Resolution

The Articles of Association be amended at 22, Votes Of Members:

(after ‘one vote’). Promotional and/or Organisational bodies promoting and/or organising between 8 and 15 meetings in a Calendar year shall have one vote; Promotional and/or Organisational bodies

promoting and/or organising 16 or more race meetings shall have two votes.

                                        to be voted on at he the BHRC Annual General Meeting on 2/4/2006.

NOTICES OF MOTION - 3

 

BHRC Rule Changes

H7[b] – Add after ‘suitable accommodation’ ‘i.e. a caravan, trailer or tent,’    to read:

‘The Racecourse Executive shall provide suitable accommodation i.e. a caravan, trailer or tent, for the conduct of Steward’s Enquiries……’

M13 – Delete ‘Except with the Special permission of the Stewards’     to read:

‘The order of priority set out below shall apply in relation to an owner or trainer who has more than one horse engaged in a race and desires to drive in such race.’

N5 – Add ‘and a microchip number is recorded in the passport.’

Q1 – change to Q1 [ii]

Add - Q1 [i] To enter any racetrack on racedays, every horse must have at least their first two primary flu vaccinations and be microchipped. These must be recorded in the horse’s passport by a vet.’

 Add Q12 [d] -‘Imported horses re-registered in Britain must qualify before racing. ‘

R9 – Add  ‘and complete as per the manufacturers specification.’

W12 – Delete ‘The first named member’ and replace with ‘All members’  

Add ‘partnership or syndicate’, change ‘must be a licence holder of the BHRC’   to ‘must have a current BHRC owners licence’         to read:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – BILL MOORE

Eileen and family would like to say a big thank you to the BHRC, YHRC and everyone in the trotting fraternity for your floral tributes, kind words and beautiful cards of sympathy, to those who attended the funeral service and for the generous donations to Manorlands Hospice, received upon the sad loss of my husband Bill.

EDITORIAL

Madonna’s recent number 1 started with the line: “Time goes by, so slowly….”

Well she might be an international rock star and sex symbol but Madge baby, things would go a bit quicker if you had been in the BHRC.

A year ago, I was getting ready for the A.G.M. and possible election to Chairman. I must now decide whether I offer myself as Chairman again. Any decision by me or those that vote must be made on what I have achieved, what I have not done, and what can be achieved if I were to get elected again.

Harness racing has had a good year, some great horses, some great racing and I think an emerging positive attitude that has been absent for many years. Memorable moments include that purple patch in August/September when Scoot Around was unbeatable. Outstanding record breaking performances by Neil Dragon, and Mick Welling’s Rhyds Hallstar, victory in defeat for our leading money winning horse Direct Dream, second in the famous Musselburgh Pace and cutting the mile all the way just to get nipped in a new British record at York by Scoot Around.

The year has been tinged with sadness: firstly the death in Spring of Elisabeth Blazak, then Clem Dodd, and in the last few weeks Stan Smart, as well as the much loved Bill Moore. We will miss them all.

If I have achieved anything within the BHRC, it is that over the last year I have managed, without trying, to upset everyone at least once. To those that did not need upsetting, I apologise. Barry Gray wrote on a Christmas card – “Well done, you are a breath of fresh air – if Force 10 at times”

I will take that as a compliment! My sincere thanks to Barry for his Annual Report (with this Calendar) and also to Maggie Hyland for her work on the printing.

What I have done:

Set up a Seminar on Heath & Safety, chaired by a national expert, which explored this contentious subject in depth, leading to positive action by the BHRC.

With the assistance of the Office and other people, altered the Calendar from a “Notice Board” to hopefully something you enjoy reading – and there is more improvement to come.

Initiated improved working practices within the office, put in place contracts of employment for the staff and ensured they have statutory holiday entitlement.

Opened up discussions with a major betting firm to try and get Harness Racing into Betting Shops. Held discussions on the viability and possibility of having our own Totalisator systems.

Visited sites in Scotland:place>:country-region> and spoken to various bodies to try and find an alternative venue to Corbiewood.

Visited the proposed racecourse site at Ffos Las, taken legal advice on the BHRC position, and discussed the proposals with their representatives so that we can help the project happen, but not be put at risk financially.

Met with various Welsh Politicians and VIPs regarding wider promotion and knowledge of the sport,  and support re obtaining grants, also written to Prince Charles to sow the seed of driving a Standardbred again.

Initiated the opportunity for Licence Holders to have a formal avenue by which they can suggest BHRC Rule changes.

Met and spoken with a number of colleagues in other countries, who to a person have been generous with advice, help and suggestions.

Spearheaded the promotion of the sport with TV, Newspapers, Magazines and the Internet.

However I hope my most important achievement has been meeting and talking to a large number of licence holders, listening to you and trying to resolve issues. I don’t walk on water, and not everyone has gone away happy, but I hope I come over as someone who cares, and someone who will “roll his sleeves up” and have a go.

What I have not done:

STAGBI. Largely as a result of my pushing, a substantial amount of work has been done on the Stud Book by Maureen Lloyd, the BHRC and also a lot of hard work by Percy Simpson. However, the working systems and especially financial arrangement between BHRC & STAGBI has not yet been resolved. After being elected on 3/4/2005:date> I drove to Clyro in Wales:place>:country-region> to meet Mrs Lloyd, the STAGBI president on 14/4/2005:date>. Despite numerous requests for a meeting to resolve outstanding issues, one has not been forthcoming.  The situation is simple; if BHRC does not get a reasonable share of registrations income, Licence fees             will have to be increased. I want a mutually acceptable solution – I do not want to have to put fees up.

Stewarding. Following discussions with Lord Lipsey on Stewarding and the Greyhound racing industry, as well as Rod Pollack/Rob Marshall in Australia:place>:country-region>, I am convinced we need an Independent Chief Steward who does not have an interest in Harness Racing. I seem to only have one stalwart supporter on this and that is Ray Davies – and he does speak from a position of some authority. I would have liked to have had one in place, but alas it hasn’t happened, yet.

What would I like to achieve?

Harness Racing has two issues – only:

Gambling – We are not an attractive betting opportunity. Because of this, little money comes into the sport and new punters are discouraged. We need more “in house” Totalisator betting facilities and we need off track betting. As said earlier, I have done a lot of work on this, but there is more to be done.

Image – We are generally not known about and when we are, we can be seen as something allied to road racing or a sport suffering from integrity problems.

On the first count, I have put a number of initiatives in place to promote the sport. The EVHRA has done a lot of good work with the Northern Horse magazine, York:place>:City> has Tina Readman getting excellent results, so that when we get the things in place I want to develop, we will get known about. Stella Havard constantly and consistently does everything she can to promote the sport and Club Trotian Tregaron leaves no stone unturned in getting their product noticed. Hopefully, in 2006, Prince Charles will be at Tregaron.

David Senior of Tir Prince has recently tried to get some funding from the Horse Race Betting Levy Board. Numerous equine bodies get money, even though they are not in racing. This has been tried many times before, without success, but none of my predecessors has, as far as I am aware, had the curt almost defamatory reply David got. It speaks volumes about David, in the diplomatic way he answered this, but it hurts when without evidence or example, the HBLB refer to us as having integrity problems.

I think we are as clean as anyone else in racing, but we need to be seen to be clean. Establishing a Senior Steward is part of the process I think we need. We need to be friends with the Thoroughbred Lobby not seen as some “scruffy oicks” racing on the track on Saturday and the road on Sunday.

So, if I have all these things to do, I’d better “roll up my sleeves and get stuck in”!

Best of Racing Luck

Gordon Garnett