By Chris Roots
The battle between the traditionalists and the progressives is going to be played out over early morning trackwork times, after premier trainer Chris Waller this week asked why it had to take place before the sun had come up.
The changes to 457 visas has prompted a debate about how racing will survive without overseas labour and talk has quickly moved back to work times, with Waller writing an open letter on the subject.
Daylight start: Chris Waller believes trackwork should start later for safety reasons.Credit: Vince Caligiuri
"Our staff get paid good money but no one wants to get up at 3am anymore to work," Waller wrote. "As Gerry Harvey came out and said 'Australians are lazy' and this is partly right but who would blame them if they have a choice of starting later if they could. So why work in racing if you can get paid the same or even less and still have a life.
"How do you expect a strapper to get seven or eight hours sleep when they have to get up at 3am? Occupational health and safety is going to be the next challenge and it's only a matter of time before they walk in and put the red tape up saying all of our training tracks will be closed until daylight.
"This will mean starting times will be 7am in winter, which is the case in many European countries. Surely we aren't that far behind the times that we need to be told this without seeing it for ourselves."
Racetracks have always opened early and closed by the time most people are off to work. It is a part of the fabric of Australian racing.
Waller wants tracks to open later to help his workforce. He could, of course, do this himself by starting later in the morning as Godolphin does with a 5am start at Warwick Farm and its private centre at Osbourne Park.
"We have found that our staff are happier and it works better starting later," Godolphin Australia's managing director Henry Plumptre said. "There have been efficiencies in the later start.
"We are lucky to have Osbourne Park in that we are not competing with anyone else on a track. But the importance of staff being happier can't be underestimated. It helps everything run smoothly."
The problem that faces most stables when it comes to starting later is that horses will have to work on inferior ground because others have worked on it already. It gives up an advantage.
Waller wants the industry as a whole to move, but other stables are happy to stick with what works.
Perhaps a solution will be keeping tracks open longer and having grass gallops after the sun is up. It would spread the load and keep both sides of the argument happy.
"We are open to change but we have to be guided by the majority of our trainers and everyone has a different view," ATC racing manager James Heddo said. "Some want to start earlier because they believe it is the best way for their horses and to get the stable work done. But we might look to keeping the tracks open for longer for a trial period."
The visa issue will take care of itself with the government stating industries in which staff are needed to supplement Australian workers will still have access to overseas labour. Racing depends on overseas labour for the majority of its track riders and stable staff.
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