Letsgohorseracing - Silks & Saddles

Details: Published: 01 May 2017; Created: 01 May 2017

By TERRY BUTTS of the NQ REGISTER

JUST as it was on all racecourses around the country on Saturday, a major talking point at the Mt Garnet meeting was the divorce of one of Far North Queensland’s best known sons, John O’Shea, from the Godolphin fiefdom.

There has been no official reason for the split but the news surprised few who know him well – and were aware of what pressure the trainer has been working under.

Surely it is hard enough satisfying the owner (and his stringent budgetary demands) without having to put up with an entourage of coat-tuggers and dart-throwers – not all of them Australian either.

Who said Winston Churchill was dead?

Details: Published: 17 April 2017; Created: 17 April 2017

By TERRY BUTTS of the NQ REGISTER

LAST week we sneered at the prospect of a rebirth of harness racing in the State and attacked Racing Queensland for even contemplating such a waste of valuable funds on the proposal to build new venues in the south-east corner.

We stand by those comments but can also confirm that the Townsville Turf Club is in consultation with a new Trotting Club Committee anxious to reintroduce the aptly-named ‘red hots’ to the north.

We said last week that it was a furphy – that the idea is absurd – and it is.

But new TTC Chairman Mal Petrofski has his doubts but hasn’t totally ruled it out.

Details: Published: 03 April 2017; Created: 03 April 2017

By TERRY BUTTS of the NQ REGISTER

THE long-awaited and much anticipated merger of the two Totes, UBET and TABCORP, hit an unexpected speed bump last week when Racing Victoria surprisingly opposed the $11 billion deal.

RV is TABCORP’s joint venture partner that provides RV with a whopping $200 million annually.

It was a bomb no-one in racing was expecting and most believe (and hope) it will have the impact of a North Korean-made missile.

Nonetheless, it is seen as a controversial attempt by RV to derail the negotiations.