Brad Steele to leave New Zealand Harness Racing

New Zealand Harness Racing CEO Brad Steele announced yesterday that he is leaving his role and returning to Australia.

“It’s been brewing for a little while. I had a senior leadership meeting with Entain last Friday in Cambridge and I knew it was going to be the last time,” Steele said.

The decision to resign centres around him being away from his wife who has remained in Brisbane since he moved to New Zealand to take up the role nearly two years ago.

“My wife hasn’t moved over from Brisbane, so we’ve tried to manage the marriage by distance. It has been working but I couldn’t commit to another two years, so I thought the right thing to do was to head back to Brisbane.”

Steele says the HRNZ Board completely understands his decision to resign.

“I’d had conversations with them over the last six months. They said they’d be flexible if I needed to go back to Brisbane, work there for a week then come back.”

Steele’s last day with HRNZ is next Friday. Then he goes on gardening leave before he officially leaves the organisation on the 8^th May.

“That the way it normally works. You transition out of the role, hand your stuff over then you go on gardening leave for a while.”

Steele is disappointed that he’s not completing his contract period but family has to come first.

“When I look at what still needs to be done it would probably take another couple of years and I just couldn’t commit to it and wouldn’t want to pull out halfway through.”

One of the projects Steele was keen to progress further was the establishment of harness racing training centres in different regions.

“Some of that will definitely play out once Project Stamina is released. That was one thing I was keen to get some momentum on since the day I got here. We’ve made some small steps but through Project Stamina the larger steps will start to be taken.”

Looking back on his tenure, Steele highlights the increased numbers of mares being bred to in the New Zealand breeding industry, and successful running of the World Drivers Championships.

“I was fascinated on how breeding in New Zealand had dropped over a large period of time and what was driving it. To see the largest increase in mares bred to in the last sixteen years I was incredibly proud of that. That was something I set out to achieve and it was a whole industry thing. Also hosting the World Drivers Championship for the first time solely in New Zealand. We knocked it out of the park. If I was to pick out one more I think it’s the relationship we’ve developed with Government, Entain, the TAB and stake holders. There are a host of others like Harness 5000, Paddock to Podium and Next Gen.”

The aim of the Next Gen project is to encourage young people into ownership.

“We really didn’t know where those numbers were going to settle. I’ve always liked to get high results. I think we got 146 new owners to the industry who were under forty. We should start to see that pyramid up as some of the financial upside of that scheme starts to pay out. I know a number of younger trainers were recipients of horses that they may not have gotten. The other thing it did was it got Kiwis talking, through getting together and forming syndicates but there’s certainly room for improvement.”

On the flip side his position as CEO has also had it’s challenges.

“We can never be everything to everybody. There was a very small number of people that were what I would describe as running interference which wasn’t overly helpful but despite that we still got a lot achieved. One thing we got passed at the AGM which has helped protect the industry is taking our code of conduct from a policy to a rule. I think that definitely helped reduce the amount of on-line abuse on Facebook that our industry was getting.”

Steele is also proud of his role in broadening the relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

“I felt it had become quite distant and neither of us are large enough to operate in a silo. I was keen to get the Aussies and the Kiwis together and I think you’ve seen a large number of Australian horses participating here in New Zealand.”

Steele says the New Zealand Racing landscape will change significantly in the next twelve months once the details of Project Stamina are released. The combined project outsourced to a consultancy firm, is looking at venue utilisation for both thoroughbred and harness racing in the future.

“It’s probably a mixture of sugar and vinegar. What we’re looking at here is to determine what the future racing footprint for New Zealand Racing is for the next thirty years not the past thirty years. Some people are going to be disappointed but that will all be played out in the next few months. The consultancy firm will make its recommendation. There is going to be consultation but ultimately the Boards make the final decisions.”

Asked if he’s proud of the positioning of harness racing in New Zealand, Steele said,

“Absolutely. When you look around jurisdictions around the world from a breeding standpoint there may potentially be one or two that have delivered positive breeding growth. For me that’s an incredible outcome for New Zealand.”

Wagering and horse utilisation is another positive take away from Steele’s time in the role.

“Our wagering is not up as much as it was last year but what we’re seeing is growth on growth and that’s incredibly hard to achieve. The other thing I’m pleased about is that we’re seeing our horses race more often. The average number of starts for a horse in New Zealand eighteen months ago was about 9.3. Last year it crept up to 10.4 and by the time we finish this year it’s going to start with an 11. I think the utilisation strategy we have put in place is working. I think from those perspectives we’re in a pretty good spot when you look around the world.”

He says New Zealand harness racing has diversity in its favour.

“I love the diversity of racing in this country. The grass tracks versus the grit tracks. I like how the industry is divided into three parts. You’ve got Southland, Canterbury and the North Island. I’ll miss all of that because it’s not like that in Australia.”

Replacing Steele is going to be difficult.

“Other codes when looking for talent have found the bench strength is a bit light on it. It is a problem for all codes so there needs to be a bit of work put into a succession plan. I did mention to the Board that I was willing to help.”

Steele is not taking up another role.

“As I said to my wife, what is not sustainable is me being at home for a long period of time doing housework, mowing the lawn and cooking. That’s not sustainable. I really don’t need a holiday but I’ll probably have a couple of weeks off and see what comes up. I’m really passionate about harness racing so anything to do with harness racing sport I’d be interested in having a look at. I’ve got a bias towards growing the industry and trying to tackle some of its bigger problems. I’ve still got plenty of fuel in the tank and I still have plenty of value I can add.”

And if a suitable role comes up in New Zealand down the track? Brad Steele is open to returning here.

“Things will change in the New Zealand landscape in the next twelve months and opportunities may present themselves so I wouldn’t rule out a role in New Zealand.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink