IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer TERRY BUTTS heads a call for compensation to be paid to stake-holders who made the long trip to Bowen for Saturday’s race meeting only to discover it had been called off because the track was unsafe.
Feelings are running high in the north among those who were told the meeting was proceeding and made the journey from as far afield as Cairns and Townsville only to learn on arrival it was off.
Here is the Butts’ column:
A 1200km ROUND TRIP FROM CAIRNS TO DISCOVER BOWEN RACES WERE OFF
SPARE a thought for Cairns trainer Trevor Rowe.
He has to be one of the staunchest supporters of country racing and certainly one of most travelled trainers in Queensland.
Rowe left Cairns for the 1200km round trip to Bowen on Friday with five horses. He overnighted in Townsville and with his jockey Jamie Dickinson arrived in Bowen around mid-day on Saturday.
They unloaded the horses, hosed them, settled them in the tie-up stalls, and then he went to the office to sign-in. It was then - half an hour after his arrival - when he was told the meeting had been called off.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I have come all this way and no one said a word until half an hour after we got here.
“It’s just nonsense,” said Trevor.
“Their incompetence cost me well over $1500 in expenses.
“I am really upset the way it was handled.”
APPARENT TRACK INSPECTION ‘INCOMPETENCE’ SHOULD BE QUESTIONED BY RQ
TREVOR Rowe is not a bloke who complains often. But he has every right to feel upset. And so does his jockey Jamie Dickinson who knocked back five rides at Einasleigh.
This whole sorry and to some very expensive saga began when a supposedly responsible Bowen Turf Club official ‘inspected’ the track at 6am and reported to Racing Queensland stewards that it was a slow 6 - after the hammering it had copped from Cyclone Ita the previous weekend.
But when Steward Matt Haigh turned up just before mid-day he deemed it unsafe for racing because of water laying on the track. He really had no option but to cancel the meeting.
The question is: Who had deemed it safe for racing? And why did it take to mid-day to make the decision?
RQ country racing manager Col Truscott didn’t know anything about the cancellation when this column spoke to him early afternoon, around 1pm.
But to his credit he acted quickly and phoned back an hour later to say the meeting would go ahead on Monday.
Needless to say Trevor Rowe was well and truly on his way home and he won’t be back to Bowen in a hurry.
And would you blame him?
He is not the only licensee brassed off with this blatant display of incompetence that must be subject of an inquiry by Racing Queensland.
MACKAY JOCKEY POSTED PHOTO OF TRACK ON FACEBOOK – HOPE SHE DOESN’T GET FINED?
TRINITY Bannon, the Mackay jockey was most upset. She even sent a picture of the track, that was posted on Facebook of the track under water, that had taken earlier in the week.
“Last week there was a proposal to move the meeting to Mackay - even before the noms came out for Bowen,” Trinity said.
“It was turned down and now we are all out of pocket.
“It is just not good enough”.
“We turn up at Bowen on Saturday - after being told it was going ahead - and on arrival we are told it’s off.”
Townsville trainer Olivia Cairns took a truck load. At Home Hill she took the trouble to ring the Bowen Club to ensure the meeting was still going ahead.
“They told me it was definitely on”.
“We get there and we are told it’s off.
“How do you reckon I feel?”
Well frankly - her comments are not printable.
TRAINERS SHOULD BE PAID COMPENSATION FOR THE BOWEN ‘BALLS-UP’
AT the very least there must be compensation paid to those who made it to the track.
And if trainers don’t wish to make the trip back to Monday’s meeting they should not be subject to any acceptance or scratching fee. That’s the very least the Bowen club can do.
It is something that should never have happened.
And dare I say: It wouldn’t have happened during the reign of the Coopers (as stewards running the show in the north).
“When there was any doubt we always inspected the track the day before and usually made a decision,” said a former steward who worked under them in Townsville.
RQ CEO Darren Condon in response to several questions about the debacle said RQ stewards (from where he didn’t know) had inspected the track on Wednesday and Thursday and passed it suitable for racing.
“It must have been the rain that fell on Friday night”, he said.
Acceptance and scratching fees will be waived and the question of compensation, if any, will be discussed, according to Mr Condon.
For instance, Trevor Rowe’s fuel bill was $600, besides his motel accommodation and extra wages for staff required in his absence.
JOHN MESSARA HAD A VICTORY ON TWO FRONTS – BUT NOT EVERYONE IS CHEERING
THE chairman of the Australian Racing Board, John Messara had plenty to celebrate over Easter.
Not only did his recent purchase It’s A Dundeel win the multi-million dollar Queen Elizabeth Stakes but the High Court decided in his favour in the costly Thoroughbred Artificial Insemination case.
There were plenty of punters cheering home It’s A Dundeel – but many – the rank and file of racing - were hoping for a different result in the AI case that must have cost Bruce McHugh much more than the outrageously extravagant QE Stakes prizemoney of $4 million.
Seriously, it would have been the same spectacle and attracted the same crowd had it been a $1 million race and the balance could have been better spent on prisemoney in other NSW centres, where trainers are closing up and walking away from the game.
But that’s another story.
MULTI MILIONAIRE BREEDERS WIN OUT IN CONTROVERSIAL AI DECISION
IT was a long and lengthy AI hearing but the judge gave the nod to the multi-millionaire breeders. A list of course that includes Messara, the Arabs and UK bloodstock conglomerates that already have far too much say in the Australian racing industry. An industry that quite frankly has its back to the wall.
Some might say an industry sadly suffering the effects of elitism - a plague our forefathers would never have tolerated.
The High Court decision again clears the way for the 40-odd star stallions to fly in or out of Australia as they did last year, servicing 4,400 mares.
Another 3,700 mares were flown in or out of the country at mammoth cost. But of course only for those few who could afford it.
That unnecessary extravagance wouldn’t happen, according to the reformists like Bruce McHugh, if artificial insemination was allowed.
High profile vet and principal of world renowned Goulburn Valley Equine Centre, Dr Gus McKinnon, is a strong proponent of AI.
“I’m not boo-hooing natural service, but from a purely veterinary point of view, artificial insemination has a lot of advantages. And it's not just injury of people or horses - it's reducing disease transmission’’, he told an ABC reporter last year.
Another interesting point raised by the reporter, Greg Hoy, in the ABC feature on AI last year, is the fact that while it is perfectly permissible for other horse breeds, AI remains banned for thoroughbreds in this country thereby ‘protecting a lucrative industry’.
“After three years' hard racing, Black Caviar won a total of $5 million in prize money, but last year alone her father, the grand stallion Belle Esprit, earned $7 million for services rendered”, he pointed out.
Stallions typically service between 100 and 150 mares a year.
Hoy also said amongst the fierce opponents of AI are highly prestigious and profitable stallion studs across Australia, including four owned by Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who stands stallions in six nations.
Dr McKinnon said frozen semen is ‘a wonderful tool’.
“If you were to consider the use of frozen semen in artificial insemination, the stallions won't need to be transported between countries - just as it is with harness racing sires and greyhounds.
WORLD WIDE INTEREST IN OUTCOME OF AI COURT CASE IN AUSTRALIA
CHAUNCEY Morris, formerly with Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and who now represents 3500 Australian breeders, said there had been worldwide interest in the High Court case.
Morris said if AI was allowed, Australian bred horses would no longer be eligible to race outside of Australia. So?
Tony Hartnell, former AJC chairman, breeder and former head of ASIC, doesn’t agree.
“Who knows? I don't think that's an effect that would last very long.
“It’ll take some years, two or three, maybe five, but other countries would follow Australia.
“I believe there's very little doubt that if you serve a mare through AI by a vet, you will end up with less disease - or less possibility of disease or infection.’’
But, as the Chinese say: Money talks!
The breeders and their wallets have had a victory this time. But their clover patch is not totally secure. It will take only one of the breeding nations to allow AI and the rest will follow. Australia included.
And why not?
IT’S TIME NOW FOR MESSARA AND HIS MATES TO LOOK AT A NATIONAL TOTE
NOW that the AI issue is over for the time being- maybe- just maybe- Messara and his ARB colleagues might look at gambling. And work on convincing governments of the necessity of a national tote.
What is the common denominator of the four biggest racing nations of the world –Hon Kong, Japan, Singapore and France?
They are all tote. No bookies.
And it’s time Australia woke up before it sinks further into the swamp of mediocrity.
Our racing is under threat of dominance by overseas bookmaking giants that have help make the UK one of the poorest racing countries in the world.
And we are just sitting on hands allowing it to happen.
Just last week Melbourne bookie Alan Eskander predicted that in a few years there will not be an Australian bookie on our racecourses. He says we will be taken over by the overseas conglomerates.
Well simply that shouldn’t be allowed to happen. A four or five per cent turnover tax should wean the corporates out (while helping to refill the coffers of race clubs) and a law prohibiting off shore betting on Australian racing could be enforced, as it is in HK and US.
The answer is a national tote with no interference by the likes of ACCC that got in the way last time the issue was seriously mooted.
It is the only way forward for this industry which is just about set to start licking the boots of international bookmakers that this country doesn’t want and certainly doesn’t need.
It is time to get serious. And it’s time for the ARB to start the ball rolling - to redeem itself after some very ordinary decisions in recent times. It is that simple.
And while on the ARB to-do list we might mention the need for uniformity in the interpretation of Australian Rules of Racing for ALL states. Currently it seems there is separate rule book for EACH state.
It has a lot to do with egos, no doubt.
CAIRNS JOCKEY CLUB CEO APPOINTED ACTING SECRETARY OF MACKAY
CLOSER to home, Racing Queensland has appointed Cairns Jockey Club CEO Graham Thornton as acting secretary of Mackay.
The surprise announcement was made last week.
“It’s only temporary - until a new CEO is appointed,” said RQ’s Darren Condon.
Mackay, once the richest club in country Qeensland, has been in the doldrums in recent times and there are fears it might not survive.
Thornton has been been entrusted to investigate ways to put the club back on track.
And the whisper is there just might be another entirely different investigation as well.
Stay posted.
COLUMN COURTESY OF TERRY BUTTS AND THE NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, one of Australia's leading rural newspapers.
TERRY BUTTS can be contacted by e-mailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
