The two heats for the two-year-old feature race are being run at Lin Gordon Paceway in Leeton on Friday night.

Unfortunately for this newspaper and our readers, the heats are being held after our print deadline of 10.30pm.

Admittedly, a lot of this piece can be credited to the frustration of not having the ability to cover the series like years gone by, but to schedule two of the most anticipated races of the code in the Riverina at 10.45pm and 11.05pm is a baffling decision by the powers at be.

The timeslot is treating the series - without doubt Riverina's most prestigious harness racing event - with disdain.

At a time when competition within the racing codes has never been tougher, and not only attracting but maintaining fans is high priority, this decision makes little sense.

The crowds that turned out for the heats and final of the Breeders Plate in years gone by were the envy of many other sporting codes. I couldn't imagine there will be too many spectators on course by the time the heats are run and won.

As a harness racing fan, personally, it's the local race I look forward to most for the year and I'm sure I'm not alone there.

The 'unknown' of what is about to unfold with a bunch of lightly-raced two-year-olds combined with the possibility that a future star is about to be unearthed makes it much more exciting than the average C0, or should I say NR50 these days, that are scheduled earlier in Friday night's program.

Throw in the prestige, the race is 66 years old, the final is a group three race and it deserves better than the late night timeslot.

Harness Racing NSW, to be fair, have their reasons.

Firstly, the entire Leeton card has been moved to a later start due to the extreme temperatures forecast for Friday. The temperature soared past 40 degrees on Friday afternoon.

The second is turnover. Turnover is king.

Two fields of six two-year-olds, all unraced, is not going to generate much betting turnover and that is what funds the sport.

Many also believe it is too early to get a two-year-old to the races but for others that is part of the appeal with the skill involved to educate and get a young one up and running.

As Harness Racing NSW put it this week, at times there are considerable balances. And many factors go into these decisions.

But I'm not convinced pushing the Plate past 11pm is the answer.

The series is never going to be the same after the shift away from the traditional Boxing Day night and New Year's night format.

But the series still has a place on the map and will always draw a significant amount of interest.

Who could forget the wins of Paddy Osullivan, Lettucerocku and Bettermatch. Or the carnage involved heading into that fateful first bend. And that's just in the last 20 years.

Long live the Breeders Plate.

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