Racing Victoria are set to meet key stakeholders as pressure mounts for the administrator to help as fuel costs impact participants and threaten field sizes at country tracks.
There are fears that the more remote tracks around Australia may now struggle to attract competitive field sizes because of the cost of fuel to get horses to the races.
Given the cost of fuel, stables have told Betsy they now struggle to make money unless their runners win.
One said despite having two runners that ran well at a recent meeting, they struggled to simply break even for the day given the extra cost of fuel. There are also fears the price of feed will rise too, adding further strain on trainers and likely owners.
There has also been reports that participants travelling to country tracks are starting to factor in the price of fuel when accepting given the significant distances some need to travel.
Betsy revealed this week how some Victorian trainers were being forced to pass on a levy up to 20% to owners.
It comes Racing NSW last week announced $3.1 million worth of assistance for fuel help and to support low-earning participants.
As part of the Racing NSW initiative announced last week, $100 per race starter payment for all horses travelling less than 150km each way to a race meeting and $200 per race starter payment for all horses travelling more than 150km each way to a race meeting
According to the Racing NSW statement, there will be a jockey travel allowance increase to the ‘’travel component of the minimum ride fee raised to $100 per meeting.
Racing Victoria are yet to announce any measures, but Betsy is told a number of meetings are due within the coming days.
“We are aware that the rising costs of fuel is making it more challenging for those who participate in Victorian racing and we are seeing that directly in our administration of the sport,” a spokesman said.
“We are in active dialogue with the ATA, VJA, TROA, Government and other agencies to best understand the current impacts and future outlook, and are developing options to support those participating in our industry.”
