Going to the races in the middle of winter can be a struggle. It is cold, often wet, and the sport is just ticking along until the glory of spring.
Summer has never been like that, but it is becoming a season of soulless racing.
There was no zest to the Christmas fare served up at ATC meetings in the past couple of weeks, and the public won't pay unless that returns. The holiday crowds will never return to the levels of last century but the policy in Sydney seems to have been to give up on attracting them.
Newcastle promotes its Boxing Day meeting and draws its biggest crowd of the year, as does Gosford on New Year's Eve. Brisbane has a summer carnival, which is drawing horses from Sydney because of its structure and prizemoney.
Racing once was part of the festive season fabric in Sydney, but visiting the track in the break has moved down people's lists and eventually off it.
Gai Waterhouse pointed out this week on her blog that flagship races such as the Villiers Stakes and Summer Cup had been reduced in prizemoney and did not compare with the riches on offer from sales companies for two- and three-year-olds.
''Now how ridiculous is this?'' she wrote. ''The Summer Cup is worth a paltry $125,000 yet the Thursday prior at Wyong, the restricted Magic Millions races for the two- and three-year-olds were worth $300,000 in total.
''The Carrington Stakes run on the second of January along with the Tatt's Cup [are] worth $100,000 each, yet on the 21st January the Inglis Classic for two-year-olds is worth $250,000!''
Society is moving faster than ever, and the lure of a quick buck has taken over in racing.
The problem is that in a year's time there will be few of these two-year-olds left for the punters to identify with. Remember when At Sea won the Carrington from 1985 to '87, he returned to run second and third in the following years and everyone knew he was around.
There is no longer the reward for being patient and planning a summer preparation with a promising horse that has been slow to mature and is finding its best as a four-year-old. Trainers are better off waiting until the big carnivals and trying to pick off the right race worth $100,000 or more.
''Something seems to be terribly wrong. Why can't the listed and open-class races be worth more?'' Waterhouse wrote about this time of year in particular. ''It's the restricted races that should be worth $100,000 apiece. Everything just seems upside down.
''If the Summer Cup was worth $300,000 or $400,000, I'm sure owners and trainers from all around Australia would congregate. People love staying races, but the prizemoney outside of the majors in Melbourne during the spring is poor.'' Sydney has a fantastic program for stayers in December and January, and a series with a bonus for trainers and jockeys would create more interest. It is something that has been used to great effect by Moonee Valley with its night racing.
Add a middle-distance program concluding with the Villiers, including the Goulburn Cup and Festive Stakes, and you might have another winner. It could lead into the series for stayers.
The other thing Sydney racing fails to do is program towards the biggest target of the summer, Magic Millions day. The ATC needs to have the right sort of races for two- and three-year-olds and take advantage of the trainers wanting to prepare for that rich day.
Waterhouse argued that rewards from sales races were too big.
''Why should a restricted race be worth so much money?'' she wrote. ''The two-year-olds will still run in them even if they were worth half the amount.
''The Golden Slipper is open to all, but prizemoney from the restricted races doesn't count towards the majors.
''So if I win the Magic Millions or Inglis Classic, that will not go towards qualifying for the Blue Diamond or Golden Slipper.''
That's why Magic Millions favourites Amorino and Driefontein stayed away from a $200,000 race at Wyong, the thinking being to get the money in the bank for the Golden Slipper, so there is less work to do in the autumn.
Waterhouse said ''sales companies are not looking at racing as a whole, and I find these restricted races could be detrimental to the betterment of the sport''.
But they serve a purpose and aren't going away. Racing has to adjust and move with the times. It only needs to look at its past to find the right formula to make the summer about more than cricket.
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