Twilight race meetings have sparked debate across the racing industry, with Sam Freedman raising concerns over the impact on stable staff while Troy Corstens believes the industry must adapt to opportunities to grow turnover and attract new audiences.

Freedman and Corstens joined the Wednesday Agenda on SENTrack & RSN's Giddy Up with Gareth Hall, discussing the benefits and challenges of racing later in the day.

Freedman acknowledged the intentions behind twilight meetings but questioned whether the potential benefits came at too great a cost to the people working behind the scenes.

“I take on board the idea behind it, there is good intentions with it, my view is it's at what cost, the staff that are at the coalface doing the work are getting home so late,” Freedman said.

“There has to be a much better balance than what there currently is.

“For example, Warrnambool finishes at 6.30pm tomorrow and for local trainers that's fine but for the vast majority, it's a challenge.

“We need to look after participants and if I'm being frank I don't think stablehands are getting much of a say at the moment.”

Corstens, however, argued that racing needed to consider its position as an entertainment business and be willing to adjust to opportunities that could increase revenue and exposure.

“At the end of the day we are an entertainment business, if we could do things to increase turnover and put more eyeballs on us,” Corstens said.

“What we have to do is adapt, I know it's tough for staff to be getting home at 10pm and then back up in the morning, but we need to reschedule things for staff like that.

“It's got to be even for everyone.”

Freedman acknowledged the commercial considerations but stressed that the impact on stable staff could be far greater than punters might realise, particularly when meetings finish late and travel is involved.

“What punters don't realise is that if we have a horse in the last at Warrnambool tomorrow, they might not be getting home until 11.30pm,” he said.

“We have tried rostering them off the next morning for staff who have to do this but during the staff shortage at the moment it just puts so much pressure on.

“For the staff, if you put yourself in their shoes, it's no surprise that they might turn around and want to head to NSW for a much better work life balance.”

Freedman also questioned the scheduling of night meetings during the football season, suggesting that racing risked competing for attention with major sporting events.

“Those night meetings that finish at 9.45pm during footy season baffle me, I don't think many people are watching if there's let's say Collingwood versus Melbourne is on at the MCG,” he said.

With twilight and night racing continuing to generate discussion, the contrasting views highlight the challenge facing the industry: finding ways to grow its audience and wagering turnover without placing further pressure on the people responsible for getting horses to the races.