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It's Somewhat holds on for win in the Doncaster Mile 0:55
Horse Racing: It's Somewhat holds on for win in the Doncaster Mile.
- April 1st 2017
- 19 hours ago
- /video/video.news.com.au/Sport/Horse Racing/
Queensland country racing needs more investment from government.
AMID the past week’s airing of grievances from a host of key players in the Queensland racing industry, the elephant in the room remains.
Like it or not, Queensland’s volume of race meetings, in particular non-TAB, is beyond the capabilities of the industry to adequately fund.
But country racing is rightly considered vital to the vibrancy of the industry and to many rural towns.
Both sides of politics have beaten the drums about the importance of country racing but at no point has either Labor or the LNP committed to properly funding that part of the industry.
It should be relatively simple to build a compelling case as to why government investment in country racing is a good spend.
Queensland country racing needs more investment from government.Source:News Corp Australia
Queensland punters bet just 59 per cent of what is bet in Victoria (based on figures in the 2015-16 Australian Racing Fact Book). That is reflected in returns to owners, with the Queensland figure of $114.3million being 58.6 per cent of what Victoria returned.
Yet Queensland runs 26 per cent more race meetings than Victoria, including 273 non-TAB meetings (compared to 42).
The mathematics for a sustainable Queensland industry under that scenario do not add up.
Queensland-based syndicator Grant Morgan has long been on the bandwagon of this issue.
Morgan, who operates On-Track racing, scaled the top of the racing mountain when Brazen Beau won dual Group 1 races in Melbourne. He also recently enjoyed Group 2 success in Melbourne with locally trained filly Savanna Amour.
He desperately wants to see Queensland racing flourish, but said there needs to be a change.
“The racing industry has been doing the heavy lifting for government for too long,” Morgan said.
“We are supporting vital community events, whilst our own industry has been decaying.
“Similarly, regional councils that benefit from these country Cups and big racing events need to play their part as well because they reap the rewards, while the racing industry funds it.
“There’s a misnomer in our industry and the wider community that racing at the top end is doing well. That’s not the case in Queensland.
“When the top participants are struggling it’s completely unrealistic to think any part of the industry can be successful.”
Lee spirals through floods form Doomben glory
Ballina trainer Stephen Lee phoned stewards yesterday morning to flag he may have to scratch Spiral after the deadline if floodwaters stopped his road trip to Brisbane.
About an hour out of Ballina at Chinderah the road was cut, but Lee was given permission to push on – provided he had the right vehicle.
“If we just had the float, we were no hope. I was told to take the truck and then we followed a bigger truck through the section of road that was cut,” Lee said.
“I told stewards I may have to scratch if we couldn’t get through.”
Footage of Lee making his way through the floodwaters surfaced on Twitter and went viral yesterday morning, making Spiral one of the most popular winners of the day when he landed the Class 3 Plate (1615m).
Stephen Lee trained Spiral winning at Doomben. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside PhotographySource:Supplied
“We’ve actually been lucky at Ballina. I really feel for the people down at Murwillumbah,” Lee said.
“I’ve told Matt Dunn we have stables available if he needs any help with what’s happened down his way. We just want to help any way we can.”
Peter Hulbert has carnival ambitions for Cooroi Chase, who lived up to a stunning Deagon trial to win on debut yesterday.
Wary of the 16 length winning margin on Tuesday, bookmakers went up $3 about Cooroi Chase, but punters swung in a different direction and backed debut winner Nick’s Dream into a skinny $2.50 by jump time.
It meant supporters of Cooroi Chase snapped up an SP of $4.40 and better than that on the totes.
“She was a bit slow, then she was caught wide, so it was a tidy effort to win and you would say on that she’s above average,” Hulbert, who trains in partnership with his son Will, said.
Stephen Lee trained Spiral winning at Doomben. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside PhotographySource:Supplied
“We will look at some of the carnival races, but she will need to earn some more money before that, so we will continue to nurse her along.”
Seven-year-old Mount Nebo is headed to Toowoomba for another crack at the Weetwood after revelling in the conditions first up yesterday.
Mount Nebo ran fourth to Mr Favulous two years ago and jockey Damian Browne said that experience on the track would serve him well at his second attempt this coming Saturday.
The Bruce Hill trained Kalandula notched her eighth career win with a strong finish in the Benchmark 75.
“She loves the sting out of the ground, so it was just a matter of finding the right race for her,” Hill said.
THE VERDICT - Government needs to invest in country racing
Jim Byrne winning on Kalandula at Doomben after bypassing Randwick on SaturdaySource:Supplied
RIGHT CHOICE FOR BYRNE
JIM Byrne took no great joy in seemingly pulling the right rein in staying home to ride at Doomben yesterday as opposed to going to Sydney to ride Perfect Dare in the Country Championship Final.
Byrne landed a Doomben treble, on Spiral, Brazen Moss and Kalandula, but his first thoughts were with connections of Perfect Dare, who failed to handle the heavy conditions at Randwick.
“I knew I had a good book of rides here at Doomben and having ridden Perfect Dare on a soft track at Eagle Farm I knew he wasn’t that comfortably in wet ground,” Byrne said.
“But I am really disappointed for Perfect Dare’s owners and Matt Dunn. They are a great bunch of people and it’s a shame they missed out because of the wet track.”
There was nothing wrong with Perfect Dare’s formline.
The horse he thrashed last start at Grafton, Free Standing, took out the $400,000 final under a slick Blake Shinn ride.
JUDGE KENDRICK
STU Kendrick showed he wouldn’t be out of place in a courtroom after putting apprentice Brooke Ainsworth under the spotlight in yesterday’s protest hearing from Margin Trader’s win in the BM 75 (2200m).
Ainsworth made a solid case to stewards as to why Marau Daze should be awarded the race on protest, before Kendrick went to work with a series of questions in defending Margin Trader as the winner.
Before the Kendrick and Ainsworth ‘stoush’ the hearing started out as a joke, with stewards waiting for someone to represent Marau Daze and Ainsworth.
It was a full 16 minutes after the race’s start time before the first shred of evidence was presented.
In an era where turnover is meant to be king, how much longer will the charade of everybody bar the barman giving evidence at protest hearings continue? The process should be sped up.
No doubt 99 per cent of situations, stewards will have made their own minds up from what’s presented on the footage (even though they might be loath to admit as much).
Our Beebee has been likened to champion racehorse TintoSource:News Corp Australia
OUR BEEBEE ON TRACK
Toowoomba jockey Kenji Yoshida likened promising filly Our Beebee to stablemate Tinto very early in the piece, trainer Rex Lipp revealed yesterday.
Clearly Our Beebee has a long way to go to match Tinto’s feats, but she’s on the right path.
Lipp said he may give Our Beebee a short break now to be prepared for the Queensland Guineas.
“The carnival is still a long way off, so I have to give her a break at some stage,” he said.
The common denominator with Lipp’s two gals is their sire, Red Dazzler.
THUMBS UP FOR DOOMBEN
Damian Browne gave Doomben the thumbs up after winning on Mount Nebo yesterday.
“It’s racing terrific. It has cut up a bit, but probably not as much as it should have for what it’s been through,” Browne said.
The fear is that Doomben will eventually crumble under the heavy workload, not helped by the big wet, but at this stage, it’s still holding together brilliantly.
QUEENSLAND SALUTES AT RANDWICK
There was some Queensland joy at Royal Randwick, with former BRC Chairman Bill Sexton’s colours saluting in the Adrian Knox with $21 shot Waking Moment, a filly he bred from the now deceased mare Try This. The Toby Edmonds trained Fallacy battled on strongly for third after selling for $155,000 at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale on Thursday night, earning her new owners a valuable Group 3 placing.
Originally published as Investment badly needed for country racing
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