IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer, TERRY BUTTS, reveals how the re-opening of the new Cluden track has been delayed to a Super Saturday in late September when the Cup will be run.
Butts reports on last weekend’s Cairns Cup carnival and the proposed quarter horse racing project which is still a ‘work in progress’ and questions whether a likeable bloke in the racing industry in the north is being ‘sorted out for special attention’.
Here is his column:
RE-OPENING DELAY LEADS TO SUPER SATURDAY FOR TOWNSVILLE CUP
THE decision last week to delay the opening of the new Cluden track until September 19 wasn’t unexpected. It is not the end of the world, however, and the club is in the process of launching a super Saturday of racing on Townsville Cup day, September 25.
Apart from staging the Cup and Cleveland Bay, it is expected that the Parry NQ Classic (for three-year-olds this year) will also be run, providing three $100,000 races on the one card.
There had been speculation that the Parry NQ, normally run in May and then scheduled for September 5 before the postponement of that meeting, might be staged as part of the Townsville Amateurs program in October. But it seems Townsville Cup day is now the preferred option.
The time-honoured Heatley Lightning, also scheduled for the September 5, is now likely to be run on opening day, September 19. The Lightning is a right-of-entry race into the Cleveland Bay, which for the first time this year will carry the same prizemoney as the Cup.
A list of VIPs to celebrate the opening has yet to be finalised but one late scratching is last year’s carnival star Glen Boss who has commitments that day in Melbourne where three Group 1 races will be run.
On the short-list however are the prominent Melbourne trainer Robbie Griffiths and Chris Munce who, as a jockey, was no stranger to the old Cluden Park.
ONE THING’S FOR CERTAIN – CLUDEN WON’T RE-OPEN UNLESS IT IS READY
THERE is still much to be done at Cluden and the usual band of doubters is vocal that the track won’t open in September. We will see.
One thing is certain – it won’t open unless it is ready.
What must happen, however, is the fine tweaking of the traffic signal system that governs traffic to and from the track onto the new highway. It is at present absolutely hopeless, and potentially dangerous for early morning traffic – mainly horse floats – leaving the racecourse and attempting to turn right onto the Bruce Highway. There are two sets of lights – totally out of sync – and, of course, also out of the control of the Townsville Turf Club.
On race day all horse floats, trucks and trailers, will be diverted off the Stuart Highway into Dommet Street and will access the racecourse through a yet-to-be-constructed entrance. The big problem then will be after the races when the floats will attempt to cross Stuart Highway. A point duty policeman or traffic controller will have to be stationed to prevent certain chaos, particularly after the last race.
Of course all this would be overcome if the club had on-course stabling. It is seriously a matter that RQ must address and the TTC is not asking for a grant to complete the work – just a bridging loan or Government guarantee until the Turf Club’s valuable land that fronts the highway can be sold. It is really that simple.
SEAFIGHT LANDS CAIRNS CUP FOR DUO BUT PUNTERS WERE ALREADY ROASTED
IT WAS a case of all’s well that ends well for the Janel Ryan and Robert Thompson combination at Cairns on Sunday when the old war horse Seafight landed the Cup.
It was a welcomed change of luck for the usually dominant duo after the defeat of three hot favourites from the stable earlier in the day.
The rot started with Assertive Love which was backed off the map in the third and then came the defeat of the hot pots Shekou and Green Anchor in successive races.
But Seafight, the old marvel, at the juicy odds of $11 more than compensated, assuring a busy and boisterous table at Barnacle Bill’s on Sunday night. Good on ’em.
IT’S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE POOR OLD GEORGE IS BEING SINGLED OUT
POOR old George Ashford, a sometimes excitable but harmless enough bloke, who just loves his racing and helping out his daughter Leanne at her Innisfail stables, has had a tough trot lately with officialdom.
Ashford was fined after an altercation with a stableland at Cairns last month and, through his high profile lawyer Barry Taylor, was able to get the charge reduced markedly on appeal.
Just weeks after George and Leanne took a couple of horses to Mt Garnet races where he was apparently confronted at the gate and requested to pay admittance. He didn’t like the idea and let the gatekeeper know in language that years ago just might have offended the Salvos. Before the advent of TV and M rated movies, that is.
So the stewards fined him a whopping $2,000. Now there is no suggestion that George pulled a gun, or even threatened to pull a gun – so it’s back to the Appeals Board again – with you guessed it, B G Taylor on the front foot.
TOP NORTHERN JOCKEYS READY FOR COMEBACK FROM INJURIES
THE north’s riding ranks will be boosted in the coming weeks with the return of senior jockeys Graham Kliese and Shane Pawsey who have been off the scene with injury over the past few months.
Kliese escaped death by millimetres when he came off a horse at Home Hill early in the year and at a recently concluded stewards’ onquiry he blamed the track and the presence of holes that he said couldn’t be seen because of the long grass.
He was – and still is – most critical of the track condition which was the centre of considerable comment on social media for some time after the incident. Suffice to say Home Hill lost its TAB status after the incident.
Kliese will return at Innisfail this week.
Meanwhile, top Cairns rider Shane Pawsey, who came off second best in a tangle with a wallaby during trackwork two months ago, hopes to be back for the Cairns Amateurs next month.
Pawsey suffered severe back injuries and his hopes of returning for the Cairns Cup carnival were dashed when he failed to get a doctor’s clearance. However, he is back riding plenty of work and says will strip ‘fitter and keener’ at the Amateurs.
Their return to the racetrack couldn’t be better timed. Horses had to scratched from the recent Mareeba meeting because of a lack of riders and this week will see the likelihood of another shortage with meetings planned for Julia Creek, Prairie, Emerald and Innisfail.
Why wouldn’t one of those meetings revert to Sunday?
PROPOSED QUARTER HORSE RACING PROJECT ‘STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS’
ON a totally different subject, little has been heard of the proposed quarter horse racing set up that was to go ahead in the Mary River region.
Government announced it with much fanfare a couple of years ago but there has been almost silence in recent months from all parties.
However, the president of the Australian-American company behind the project, Alan Murnane, said it was still a work in progress. He is still negotiating with the Department of Racing and says his company is also negotiating with an established race club in the south east to use their track until their own special purpose straight course with lights is constructed. He declined to name the club.
Mr Murnane reiterated that an international corporate bookmaker was preparing to work on the races that will be beamed to South East Asia.
“It’s all happening,” he said, which might offer some hope to those licensees who foresee a doubtful future for Queensland thoroughbred racing in view of recent revelations of its current financial state and the expressed fears for future funding.
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..
