September is notoriously a hard time for race clubs around Australia. The two year olds are too young to race and there are very few three year olds around with most trainers opting to spell their youngsters at the end of the previous season. It gives the immature three year olds a break before proceeding with a tough campaign which tends to be a long one. Sires, Australian Pacing Gold, Breeders Challenge, Breeders Crown, Derbies and Oaks are all feature events that are available to three year olds so understandably if trainers believe they have a talented horse it is ridiculous to have them in early in the season.

To make matters worse, the three year olds from last season need a rest after such a strenuous season and therefore there are very few four year olds around in September, so basically it is up to the older horses to make up the fields and frankly there just aren't enough.

There are several reasons for this with some owners getting out of the sport because they can no longer afford it while others take the lucrative offers from Western Australia and Queensland with horses that have reached their mark and are no longer viable racing options here in New South Wales.

So what is the answer? It is a very difficult problem to deal with and there are brighter men than me running the sport in New South Wales. The new handicapping rules that came into effect earlier in the year should help. Once a horse has had ten runs without a victory it can drop back one career grade. Lowly graded horses such as C2 and C3's that have ability can now compete in metropolitan racing earlier than they would have previously been able to without the fear of penalty. This is an added bonus for owners too because they can get a quicker return.

More than two years ago I attended a meeting with Harness Racing New South Wales officials, leading trainers and drivers and other members of the media where a change to prizemoney distribution was discussed. What was proposed by several people at the meeting was that the prizemoney split should mirror what they do in North America. The purse is split up like this; 50% for first, 25% for second, 12% for third, 8% for fourth and 5% for fifth. This allows more owners to make money. Under our current set-up winners are well rewarded and get a lion's share of the prize but unfortunately that means the wealth isn't being distributed enough.

I must admit when I was in the meeting I was against the idea. I thought that it was promoting mediocrity and that winners would not be well enough rewarded. However look at the current situation of our industry. Foal numbers are down which flows through to starters being down and keep in mind that the EI foals or lack of them aren't even in the pool yet. It is only going to get worse.

The more I think about our current situation the quicker we need to adopt the prizemoney break-up structure used in America. Get more money flowing down to the beaten horses. Have owners with an average horse getting something in their pocket otherwise it's a case of losing them forever. Sure some owners will say that having a metropolitan horse won't be as good because they aren't receiving as much prizemoney and there are only so many metropolitan wins in each horse before they can't win any more races. However if the administrators allow more opportunities for horses to go back in grade after they fail to perform a number of times it allows the horse another opportunity to win and therefore earn.

Some people will totally disagree with me on this issue but if something isn't done soon then the industry will continue to shrink before being sucked into a black hole forever. If more owners aren't attracted to the sport then fewer horses will be born and as a result there will be a smaller pool of horses to race. I don't want be an alarmist on this issue but the industry is on a precipice and the right decision must be made soon.

Looking at what happened on the track this week and it was great to see Blacks A Fake win his tenth group one event when he took out the Queensland Pacing Championship. He was expected to win after coming up with barrier one but he still fought off all the challengers and his class shone through. After speaking with Natalie Rasmussen on In The Gig on Sunday night I get the feeling that the Miracle Mile would mean more to her than the New Zealand Cup and seeing as it may be her last chance at it, I think she will opt for a Miracle Mile campaign.

Of the beaten brigade no-one could have missed the run of Cant Bluff Me. I have been wrapping this horse for a while now and it didn't surprise me to see him hitting the line so well. His closing sectionals were brilliant and he may be this state's best chance of winning the Miracle Mile. The only chink in his armour and it's a big one is his lack of gate speed. His driver Jim Douglass asked him to leave the gate recently at Harold Park after he drew well and he became unbalanced and paced very roughly throughout the event.

I have no doubt that the more he is asked to fly off the arm at the top level the better he will become at it but in the upcoming feature races he may have to be driven patiently or tough. He can race where he settles and hope the speed is on and it allows him to unleash his devastating finish or he can move and race outside the leader. At the very top level Cant Bluff Me may not be ready for that just yet so Douglass may be forced to be patient on him and hope for luck. He is a very nice horse and will win another group one in his career to go with his Sires Stakes win, I have no doubt about that. Catch you next week.