THE WEDNESDAY WHINGE has a new look but won’t be dispensing with the theme and focus on the THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY side of what is happening in racing. The Whinge will continue to provide an opportunity for The Cynics to Have Their Say. Thanks again for your support for the most read column on this website and one of the most read on racing websites in the country. Our popularity continues to grow despite the bagging it cops from some high profile officials, especially in Queensland, who cannot cope with constructive criticism of any kind. We encourage supporters – and critics – to continue to contribute but plan to restrict the Whinge to less than 10 of the best items each week. Our message to those who continually bag us is simple: IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT YOU READ, THEN DON’T REVISIT THE WHINGE.

‘I MUST HAVE BEEN ON ANOTHER PLANET AT THE RACES LAST SATURDAY’

HARRY PETERSON of BRISBANE sent this assessment of Weetwood Day at Toowoomba:

‘I returned to Clifford Park for the Weetwood meeting last Saturday and after reading the glowing report in The Sunday Mail wondered if I was at a different venue.

The ‘spin doctor’ was at his brilliant best pumping up proceedings for his mates at RQ and the TTC. Let me tell you, from an unbiased perspective, it was nothing like the picture painted in his report.

‘Mobbed by well wishers and photograph hunters’ his report began on the first visit to a Toowoomba race meeting by trainer Gai Waterhouse.

Sure there were plenty of race-goers keen to have their pictures taken with the First Lady but if she was ‘mobbed by well wishers’ where is the photographic evidence.

Let me tell you I was talking with a friend when Gai came wandering down this pathway (alone I might mention, somehow she had managed to dispatch with her shadow for the day, the TTC Chairman). ‘Where are my horses,’ she asked and we pointed here in the direction of the stables.

Gai was hardly being ‘mobbed by well wishers’ whenever I saw her. She mingled with locals, including a young lady who was the Race Day Ambassador, and was centre stage with Little King Kev by her side at the Cup presentation.

And, of course, she made herself available for a trackside interview by another of RQ’s favorites on yet another junket since he finished his PR job in the media for his ‘mates at the top’. How much did the TTC pay him for the afternoon when they could have easily used a local – like they do for that silly Breakfast With the Stars that hardly anyone turns up to?

I was never in favor of the club moving the Weetwood from the Show Day and I saw nothing on Saturday to convince me that this was the wrong strategy. They can blame the weather for the pathetic crowd on Saturday but the day was fine.

When you consider they used to get 9,000 to the Weetwood on a Thursday when Neville Stewart was running the show. Regardless of the official figure (if they release one) there wouldn’t have been anywhere near half that number there on Saturday. And to think they didn’t even invite Stewart along – or so I am told.

Mates in the racing media can put all the positive spin they like on the first stand alone Saturday. From my perspective – and that of many long-time locals who turned out for the event – it was a rank failure.’

WERE THEY USING A CUCKOO CLOCK OR WAS THE PREVIOUS STANDARD THAT BAD?

STAN WILSON of IPSWICH poses the question about the times at Clifford Park:

‘WHEN horses start running track records in heavy ground you have to question the quality of those that set the standard or whether they were using a cuckoo clock.

All and sundry wet their pants after the first race on Cup day at Toowoomba last Saturday and the motor-mouth of poor old chairman Cowboy Bob went into over-drive.

I guess it was more an out-pouring of relief after so much pressure had been put on the track that has had more millions spent on it than any other in Queensland racing history courtesy of mates in high places – politically and racing wise.

Have a look at the turnover on the Toowoomba races compared with that on some of the events at Caulfield and Morphettville last Saturday and it will give a true indication of how confident the punters were.

As Nathan Exelby correctly wrote in Monday’s fish and chips wrapper: “Clearly the class of horse was better and that has only been 16 months of racing on the track but ordinarily that should be negated by the 120mm of rain that fell leading up to the meeting.”

What he didn’t say was that the track was so bad before the latest refurbishment (only a few months after a new one was laid by the way) that if the starters had been going any slower they would have been in reverse.

Now that they have the track – which can only improve according to the curator – let’s see how confident the punters are in the product provided. But let’s hope that RQ isn’t encouraged to promote more stand-alone Saturdays than just Cup day – at this stage one is more than enough.

Then again when things change at the top at RQ – as predicted in the next couple of months – Toowoomba might not have the start it has received since Kevin Dixon took over. Then Clifford Park might again assume its mantle as the ‘basket case’ of racing in this State, not that it evaporated on Saturday.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: AS one who has criticized the new Toowoomba track from day one I will be the first to admit I was presently surprised by the way it raced on Saturday. It was a credit to the track manager Chris Nation and once again highlights the resilience of these synthetic surfaces when properly maintained. One would hope it can only get better.

AND on the suggestion that turnover was not up to standard for a carnival feature day, here is a Media Release from RQ yesterday:

RACING Queensland’s revamped Queensland Winter Racing Carnival is paying dividends just two weeks in with boosts in revenue, strong crowd numbers and quality Group 1 nominations.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s BTC Cup/Doomben Cup meeting, which will give Queensland fans their first taste of Group 1 action for the Carnival, CEO Darren Condon said Racing Queensland’s carnival strategy had been hugely supported by participants and racegoers alike.

“I can’t recall a better start to the Queensland Winter Carnival for many years and the feedback from participants and the public has been very positive. More importantly, the figures speak for themselves,” Mr Condon said.

“Wagering revenue on the Gold Coast Prime Minister’s Cup meeting was up 40% on last year’s meeting, largely thanks to the inclusion of the Victory Stakes, and the initial figures from Toowoomba are strong. Crowds were also up on the Gold Coast and we had a ballot in the Hollindale for the first time in years.

“This was backed up by a sensational Weetwood meeting in Toowoomba, headlined by a very classy horse in Pornichet and trainer Gai Waterhouse, as well as a track that raced outstandingly well after the rain it received.

“Then we kick off the Brisbane leg this Saturday with one of the strongest BTC Cup fields we have had in many years and a great battle looming in the Doomben Cup.”

Mr Condon said prizemoney boosts across the Carnival had been a key factor in the strong Group 1 nominations released last week, which had set the stage for some thrilling features.

“Bringing the Brisbane leg of the Carnival back to four meetings and combining the BTC Cup and Doomben Cup as part of our strategy has allowed us to make it more compact and add another dual-Group 1 meeting,” he said.

“Then on Stradbroke Day we’ve got 111 nominations for the Stradbroke, 120 nominations for the Derby and 78 nominations for the J.J. Atkins, which has proved to be a very strong form line into the Spring in recent years.

“We have got the best racing in the country and the best horses, trainers and jockeys in our backyard. This is Queensland’s time of year and there is no better place to be than at the track.”

‘IS RQ AN EXPERT AT PUTTING A POSITIVE SLANT ON A NEGATIVE STORY?’

ADAM PURCELL of BRISBANE writes:

‘IS there no depth that the All Codes Board of Racing Queensland will reach to put a positive slant on a negative story?

No sooner had Peter Cameron revealed in his column in The Sunday Mail that Michael Byrne QC was departing his role at Greyhound Board Chairman to Chair the State’s Royal Commission into organized crime when RQ distributed this Media Release:

THE Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board (QACRIB) has today accepted Mr Michael Byrne QC’s request for leave of absence to allow him to head the State Government’s Royal Commission into organized crime.

QACRIB Chairman Kevin Dixon said Mr Byrne, who is the chairman of the Queensland Greyhound Racing Board, had taken leave for the length of the Commission and would return to his role on the Board once the inquiry was completed.

“Michael is a highly-respected member of his profession and the Board fully supports his decision to take leave during this time,” Mr Dixon said.

“We look forward to him returning to his posts on the Queensland Greyhound Racing Board and the Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board once his duties with the Commission have concluded.”

One would have thought Dixon and the All Codes Board would not be prepared to leave greyhound racing ‘leaderless’ at a time when the ‘live baiting’ scandal has brought that code to its knees in Queensland.

One Board member has already departed and I understand that Mr Byrne was not at the latest All Codes meeting where many more licensees allegedly involved in this disgusting practice were giveN life bans. In fact I am told there was no greyhound representative present, which comes as a major surprise.

Dixon talks of ‘looking forward’ to Mr Byrne returning to his posts on the Greyhound Board and the All Codes Board when the Crime Commission hearing ends in October.

Good luck to him – by then the Dixon Board and the Boards of each of the three codes may well have been replaced by the Racing Minister in the wake of the Greyhound Commission of Inquiry.

One can only live in hope.’    

SOME INTERESTING ISSUES RAISED BY OUR SPY IN THE DEAGON BUNKER

OUR SPY in the DEAGON BUNKER sent this email and posed a few issues for us to follow up or debate:

ARE you aware that a senior official who recently resigned from a leading race club has suggested that that the MacSporran Commission of Inquiry should ask the Auditor-General to have a close look at Racing Queensland with emphasis on how supportive it has been of racing in Toowoomba, especially the financial benefits paid to that club during the LNP reign?

THE joke doing the rounds in the Deagon bunker concerns the suggestion that All Codes chairman Kevin Dixon is apolitical. They say it’s right – neither side of politics want anything to do with him now.

A certain high profile Integrity identity has been celebrating a victory over the person he dislikes most high up in the administrative ranks at RQ. Apparently he has convinced the Chairman where some of the information your website is receiving has been coming from. Pity they got it wrong. As we all know you don’t need him to learn what is happening in the bowels of the bunker when you have people like me.

PLENTY of back-slapping after the Clifford Park track finally repaid some of the millions that have been wasted on it when the big meeting was held there last Saturday. But it wasn’t all about the state of the track. It was more about how the mainstream racing media had been hood-winked into following that story line rather than looking at how bad the turnover was on the day. In fact for a carnival meeting it was nothing short of pathetic – but, as usual, nothing has been said on that issue.

IT seems that some at the top of Racing Queensland are determined to have Robbie Waterhouse field here during the carnival despite the failed exercise in Toowoomba. Many still want to know whether that story about the chartered jet for Robbie and Gai from Sydney to the Downs last Saturday had any legs.

IT SEEMS THAT RQ MAY HAVE UNDER-FUNDED THE GAP PROGRAM

JIM CARLTON of GREENBANK writes:

‘RACING Queensland has published an eight-page glossy brochure on the Greyhound Industry wherein it asks for warm blankets for greyhounds in the GAP’s care. I believe some people would call this begging.

Is this an indication that RQ has underfunded the Gap program? Is this an indication that RQ resembles the Ottoman Empire as ‘the sick man of Europe’?  Scrutiny of past financial statements reveals scant or no mention of monies set aside for the GAP program. 

It is widespread knowledge that RQ is analogous to the ‘Wreck of the Hesperus?’

RQ has stated that $3 million has been set aside for the McSporran investigation but I’d be a monkey’s uncle if the GAP receives anywhere near this.

One would dare RQ to opens it books to refute misconceptions about GAP funding or to allow scuttlebutt to remain ostrich unchallenged. Ignore is a form of ignorance. RQ’s GAP funding record is dismal.’

LETSGOHORSERACING TAKEN TO TASK FOR BEING TOO NEGATIVE ABOUT RQ 

PETER PARSONS takes us to task about being too negative about racing in Queensland:

‘IF there is nothing right with Queensland racing, and you have been championing that message for a long time, what in your experience will improve our stocks?

You say that the articles that are posted are contributed from your readers, but your Editor’s Notes each week justify your negatives and I can’t remember the last time you had a positive response to a Readers’ Contribution about Queensland Racing.

You must surely agree that racing in our great state is better now that prize-money has increased, that the re-jigged QTIS scheme has given a huge boost to Queensland Breeding and racing of Queensland-bred horses.

I understand the frustration regarding Eagle Farm and its renovations, believe me I also understand the frustration regarding the training of horses at Eagle Farm, but I also look to the big picture and see that once finished, Eagle Farm will be a fantastic place to be the headquarters of racing in Queensland.

Doomben is doing a fantastic job of copping the overload of racing, as is Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

You must remember that the previous Queensland Racing Chairman (Mr Bentley) always said that Corbould Park was the best track in Australia, well why do you always say that Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast tracks are not up to the extra racing?

Again, never any positive spin on anything!

Maybe the powers to be should transfer a couple of Metro Saturday meetings up to your mate in Townsville, would that be a positive Mr Editor?
 
Again, I ask and plead with you, what is your fix to our state’s racing? 

Surely it can’t be just sack the existing board and chairman of stewards as you continually state in your editor’s notes, surely every other person in the world can’t be a bumbling buffoon (except for Mr Bentley) and that the only time Queensland Racing blossomed was when he was in charge of Brisbane and his crew ran the rest of the state tracks.

Would we have any country tracks now if the past Chairman had his way?

How would QTIS be going if the past Chairman was still in charge?

Would we have any prize money increases if the past Chairman was still in charge?

I could go on all day about the changes in the last few years, but I am sure you see where I am coming from.
 
Also, while I have a couple of minutes, greyhound racing – from the past couple of weeks of Editor’s Notes, has live baiting only been going on since Wade Birch has been the Chief Steward. Are you serious when you say that Mr Birch should be held accountable for the last 100 years of Live Baiting by Queensland greyhound trainers?

Please Mr Editor, just because you obviously have a gripe with Mr Birch, some of the responsibility has to lay with past stewards and management of Queensland Greyhound Racing.

I don't think Kevin Dixon and Wade Birch are responsible for everything that you seem to see as negative happenings in the Queensland Racing Bunker.

Please again Mr Editor, what is your fix to this blight on our great industry as a whole?
 
If you had your way or you got your perfect outcome, and the whole of all Queensland Club management was sacked or replaced, who do you think would continue to push Queensland Racing forward? I would love to know your thinking Mr Editor.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: The only reason I don’t have a positive response to a reader’s contribution concerning racing in Queensland is because most of them are negative.

You want my take on the situation, well here goes. Initially, I would investigate the reasons why All Codes Board members Barry Taylor and Brad Steele (who subsequently resigned) were left out of the consultative process when the new TAB agreement was negotiated. Surely the industry is entitled to the best possible deal not one that just suits Tattersall’s. Racing in this country would be far better off if we had no corporate bookmakers and a National Tote. I am told the prize-money increases you talk about could have been even better. Whilst I am a supporter of QTIS I think the breeders are well enough catered for already and have too much say in the running of racing in this country. I have never blamed Wade Birch for the live baiting scandal but there are allegations that stewards and investigators raised concerns and these fell on deaf ears. Those are a matter for the Commission of Inquiry to determine. As for Wade’s ability, I think he would make a good Chief Steward in a regional area but is out of his depth in his current role (and previous one as RQ Chairman). There is no comparison between the job he does and the heavy-hitters of the stewards’ ranks in this country. In conclusion we will just have to agree to disagree on the job that Kevin Dixon has done since taking over from Bob Bentley. Let’s wait and see what happens when the current Greyhound Commission of Inquiry is completed and whether others agree with me.     

‘DAN THE MAN’ ABOUT TO RETURN AND ALREADY CONTROVERSY IS RIDING SHOTGUN

PERCY SMITH of MELBOURNE sent this timely email:

‘HERE we go again – the much-maligned Danny Nikolic is poised to make a riding comeback and already controversy is riding shotgun with him.

Nikolic, who is still under suspension for threatening a steward during an appeal hearing, has been linked to a Racing Victoria investigation into a horse being heavily backed to lose a race at Echuca.

I cannot for the life of me understand how Nikolic could even be allowed back into our industry after what has occurred in the past. His ‘record of shame’ speaks for itself.

We all know there will be nothing but trouble and the war between he and the stewards (especially the Chief, Terry Bailey) will be reignited if he returns to race riding.

Nikolic is like a cat with nine lives. He seems to continually survive and one has to question why, considering his record in the past.

In my opinion there is a good case for RVL to consider whether they should relicense him – which they have the right to do – regardless of how big a team of lawyers he may employ to fight his case.’

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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in the above e-mails should not be interpreted as those of JOHN LINGARD, the owner-editor of the letsgohorseracing web-site. That is why he has added an ‘EDITOR’S NOTE’. Every endeavor is made to verify the authenticity of contributors. We welcome any reasonable and constructive responses from parties or individuals.