Letsgohorseracing - Silks & Saddles

Details: Published: 27 November 2017; Created: 27 November 2017

By Terry BUTTS of the North Queensland Register

COUNTRY racing in the southern States paints a far brighter picture than Queensland where the clubs in the south-east corner and those in the country scramble for the crumbs of a diminishing cake. They live on hope.

And, closer to home, the Chairman’s report to be handed down at the Townsville Turf Club’s AGM next month is hardly a confidence booster for the future.

Details: Published: 20 November 2017; Created: 20 November 2017

By TERRY BUTTS of the NQ REGISTER

SO top trainers Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh had no idea what the drip contained.

They said (under oath) that they had no idea it was Cobalt.

No, they had no idea!

Well, maybe they didn’t know – but so what?

Details: Published: 13 November 2017; Created: 13 November 2017

by TERRY BUTTS of the NQ REGISTER

QUEENSLAND Trainers’ Association chairman Ross Shannon has reacted to the ALP pre-election pledge of $70 million to country racing with a plea to his members and stakeholders of all political persuasion to seek similar (or even better) commitments from the LNP, One Nation or other Independents.

“We all need to ensure that this commitment by the ALP is not scuttled should the Government change on voting day,” he said.

“The key facts are that two years ago the ALP committed $21 million over four years.

“There is now two years to run and there was still a gap which RQ had to fill in order to fully fund country racing prizemoney when the initial $21 million ran out.