Tuesday had the potential to be a historic day in New Zealand racing with the delivery of Australian John Messara's report to Parliament.
But it will not see daylight for several weeks as Racing Minister Winston Peters takes time to consider its recommendations.
I have my own theories about what may happen next and will be having plenty of conversations about them soon, I am sure.
I think the first thing that will happen is that the Racing Act will effectively be thrown on the scrap heap.
A new Act would abolish the arbitrary need for the racing board to have its hand in anything that happens in racing. That would hand the codes more freedom to run their industries.
Messara could go as far as recommending the racing board tender out the running of its betting operations to an independent - and likely international - operator.
If that were to happen it would mean the structure of the racing board would need to change drastically.
That would be great news to the many who have voiced their concerns about the cost of running the board.
There have been plenty of critics who have fired shots at the organisation for the way it pays its employees.
Peters has already changed tax rules for bloodstock and I expect more to come in that area.
I expect Messara will recommend changes to the taxation of gambling dollars, the sort of change that could underpin the future sustainability of the industry.
To me, the potential for Messara to recommend change to the distribution of funds to the codes is the only worrying aspect.
The current set-up - section 16 of the Racing Act - dishes out money pretty fairly.
The reality is the distribution is a balancing act between concessions each code makes for the greater good. That is why dogs race on a Monday afternoon, trots are lumped with Thursday nights and gallops have the big share of prime-time Saturday.
Given his report is thoroughbred-focused, it seems likely that Messara could recommend the a bigger slice of revenue to that code.
Or he may make recommendations that effectively punish the harness and dog codes.
It also looks likely Messara will recommend the closure of some tracks,
especially when you consider there will be three new all-weather ones built.
I can't see him shutting up clubs at those tracks, though.
It will simply be a case of what we have in Otago at the moment, where the Beaumont club races at Wingatui and Tuapeka races at Forbury Park.
Messara is sure to pull a few surprises.
Let's hope he does and that they are even better than anyone in the industry could imagine.
Happy trails.
