December Breeders’ Bulletin

Breeders Bulletin

15 Dec

Written By Harness Breeders Victoria

Our latest newsletter is available now - read below or click HERE to access the version with live links.

Breeder's Bulletin December

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Merry Christmas!

The Harness Breeders Victoria committee would like to wish members and followers a very merry Christmas and all the best for a safe and successful new year with healthy mares, foals, weanlings and yearlings.

Humbletonian Day is on again!

The race program is up on HarnessWeb for our sponsored Monday 23 December Humbletonian race day at Maryborough - DON'T MISS OUT on these incredible opportunities - one of the last chances to secure your First Win Bonus for the year:

* All maiden races

* $250 cash bonus to each winning breeder (foal nominator), thanks to HBV

* All races have a bottom-up ballot - preference for selection and draw given to horses with highest number of lifetime starts

* All Vicbred races with $7,000 First Win Bonus ($3,500 for 5YO+ or previous $3,500 restricted race bonus winners)

Nominations CLOSE - 18 December 2024, 12:00 PM

Acceptances CLOSE - 19 December 2024, 08:30 AM

Fields Available - 19 December 2024, 11:30 AM

Find all the details are HERE.

2025 Yearling Sales

The sales will be a big event again in 2025 and this year Oaklands will host two big catalogues of trotting and pacing yearlings for astute buyers with lots of Vicbred value on offer - click for catalogues:

APG Melbourne - Sunday 2 February

Nutrien Melbourne - Sunday 13 April

Harness Breeders (Vic) Annual General Meeting Notice

10:30AM SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2025
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE AGM OR SAVE THE LINK

The next Harness Breeders Victoria AGM will be held as a virtual conference via Google Meets to enable as many members to take part as possible. This AGM covers our full season year from 1 January to 31 December 2024. Notification has also been sent as part of the 2025 renewal letter by post.

The Agenda can be downloaded below and the Annual Report will be published closer to the event on the HBV website and linked through our various social media channels and emails.

Nominations to join the committee will be due no later than the Thursday before the event (get your form here) - we are always looking for new committee members and there are currently vacancies and executive rolls that need to be filled. 2025 will be a critical time for breeders and for our industry - we need a full and functioning committee to advocate for breeders' interests as best we possibly can. Meetings are generally held online for best accessibility and the current Executive are happy to support members who've never served on a committee before.

Please mark the date in your diaries - good representation from our membership is really important to effect a successful AGM.

Download the Annual General Meeting Agenda HERE

Breed To Succeed 2024

In partnership with Campbell's Comments, HBV have been able to bring breeders a fresh new series of our online education program, Breed To Succeed. The latest episode is a showcase of Victorian studs and you can view a special edition with Dr Hugh Cathels around foal handling, as well as interviews with younger breeders from around Victoria - if you have a topic you'd love to learn more about, let us know via email.

HBV Membership

New season membership for 2025 are now open with renewal notices to be issued to current and recently lapsed members in the last few weeks. Membership in this coming season is more important than ever to ensure the breeders' collective voice is truly being heard - support your very active kindred body in continuing to lobby government, HRA and HRV on behalf of Victorian breeders and commit to representation to the Harness Racing Advisory Council. Membership benefits will remain the same, including a hard copy of the 2025 Australasian Standardbred Stallion Guide delivered straight to your door.

Renew Your Membership For 2025 Here

New Foal Notification Process

Harness Racing Victoria has introduced a new online foal notification option for 2024 through Harness Web. Read more about this new process, where to get more information or the workflow for microchipping HERE.

FoalQuest 2025

We'll be soon on the lookout for a Vicbred foal to grace the cover of next year's edition of the Australasian Standardbred Stallion Guide, so make sure your cameras are at the ready this season - T&Cs are HERE, and be sure to tag us on Facebook & Twitter so we can share the foal love this season! You can also submit your photos to APG for their terrific new gallery HERE.

Plenty of Season Left to Breed A Champion

With millionaires like Stunnin Cullen, Lochinvar Art, Bling It On and Gotta Go Cullen being January or December foals, there's no reason not to keep our wonderful Victorian studs busy all the way through January - take a look at this year's 2024 IRT Australasian Standardbred Stallion Guide for all the details...

Read the 2024 IRT Australasian Standardbred Stallion Guide here

Member Group Results

Congratulations to Group 1 & top line race winning member-breeders in November:

Yabby Dam Farms - Valtino (GR2 Breeders Crown 3YO C&G) Enchauffour (GR2 Breeders Crown 2YO C&G)
Peter Gleeson with Bruce & Craig Cameron - Perfect Class (GR2 Caduceus Classic)
Woodlands Stud - Aardiebytheseaside (GR1 WA Mares Classic), Christopher Dance (GR1 WA Derby), Cantfindabettorman (GR3 4&5YO Championship)
Breckon Farms - Lovemeto (LC Delvin Dancer Classic)

Breed To Succeed - Why We Breed

The latest in an inspiring series of interviews exploring why breeders to what they do with Paul Campbell of Campbell’s Comments.

Harness Breeders Victoria Committee Meetings

The next meeting of the HBV committee is scheduled for Tuesday 21 January and a summary of proceedings will be posted on our website shortly after. We invite members and interested parties to submit papers or correspondence for consideration by the Committee by post or email. Please refer to previously summaries on our website to ensure the issue has not previously been addressed by the Committee. For consideration at the each meeting, members should email papers or correspondence to contact@hbv.org.au.