IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published by the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer TERRY BUTTS profiles the new Chief Executive Officer of Racing Queensland, Darren Condon.
Butts also reports that Condon will take responsibility for commenting on every day racing matters and will be heavily involved in some serious and tough battles confront the control body and the industry in the months ahead.
Silks & Saddles has items on the big carnival meeting in Cairns this weekend; the 80th birthday of a former stewarding legend in Queensland in Alan Cooper; and obituary on a real racing character in Joe Groves and support for Richard Callander in his comments concerning the ‘under age’ ban on Townsville Cup day because Liquor Licensing laws.
Here is the Butts column:
RESPONSIBILITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT DELEGATED TO NEW CEO BY RQ BOARD 
IN a show of confidence in the crucial appointment of Darren Condon, the Board of Racing Queensland has reportedly delegated responsibility for public comments on every day racing matters solely to the new Chief Executive Officer.
The Board is sending a message to the industry that this is very much ‘a hands-on role’ and Condon is well aware of the tough and difficult times ahead for an industry embroiled in a Commission of Inquiry, along with some delicate negotiations with TAB and SKY that could well seal the fate of racing in Queensland.
But Condon is confident that he can rise to the challenge and says he is ready for the fight. Many in the industry believe that the former deputy to Stephen Ferguson at the Brisbane Racing Club is the right choice to take the ‘hottest seat’ in the industry.
Condon has a strong racing background, being a grandson of veteran Toowoomba trainer, Barry Squair, formerly from Townsville. He is also closely related to the Laing family which has a long and rich history with racing in this state.
After beginning his career in racing, Darren has spent 14 years in the film and entertainment industry which should hold him in good stead for his current role, as racing administration today is increasingly reliant on the entrepreneurial skills of its leaders.
ALAN COOPER CELEBRATES HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY WITH A WISH FOR HIS SON
CELEBRATING his 80th birthday last week was one of Queensland’s best known and most respected stipendiary stewards Alan Cooper.
He was a man feared by licensees but he had their utmost respect. And very few argued his decisions.
He was awfully hard to beat and knew the rules like school kids know their A-B-C.
His resignation at retirement age as Chief Stipe in the NQRA left a gap that has never been completely filled in spite of a succession of appointees.
For a time his son Patrick, whom he groomed from an early age, was in the chair but he was eventually unceremoniously pushed out by controversial RQ Head of Integrity, Jamie Orchard, whose resignation payment is part of the current Racing Commission of Inquiry.
Alan Cooper has not enjoyed the best of health in recent times and at the very top of his final wish-list is to see his son reinstated to what he (and many others including licensees) believe is his rightful position.
It would not only be a tonic for the old man.
One thing is certain. Patrick Cooper didn’t get the push because he lacked ability. That has never been in question, so we might have to start asking just why he is, and has been, treated in such a shabby manner by RQ Boards past and present.
Damien Oliver had a $10,000 winning bet on a rival horse in a race that he was riding in. He got a slap on the wrist which is not only pathetic but quite laughable. No other jockey in the world would have escaped with such leniency – for such an unethical breach.
By comparison what heinous crime did Patrick Cooper commit to deserve the treatment he has endured from RQ?
He has been three years on the sideline.
Yes, what was the crime? It’s about time someone spoke up.
Because Patrick Cooper certainly didn’t resign.
TOWNSVILLE HORSE TRAINER QUESTIONS WHETHER PRE-SCHOOLER RUNS PROGRAMMING
A Cluden horse trainer wants to know what pre-schooler is in charge of programming these days.
And he has a valid point.
On three occasions recently three Maiden races have been programmed on the one day for TAB meetings in Townsville.
Is this done to ensure at least one race falls over to save prize money?
Well that’s the general belief.
Maiden horses – and it’s not a good sign for the future – and in a minority in the Townsville area at present. Yet Racing Queensland continues to put three Maiden races on the program at the expense of other classes or benchmark races that in the main attract decent fields.
Why? Good question.
SUPPORT FOR CRITICISM OF THE ‘NO KIDS ON CUP DAY’ POLICY AT TOWNSVILLE
TOWNSVILLE copped a proper bucketing from Richard Callander on TVN last week because of its No Kids on Cup Day policy – and he is a 100 per cent correct.
The TTC buckled under threats of prosecution by the Liquor Licensing authorities should under-age drinking be detected.
Such threats never seem to worry the organizers of V8 car races or the Cowboys rugby league club where kids are VIP.
The law is a complete ass.
Licensing should do their job by policing and prosecuting offenders. Onus should not be on the club alone and kids should be made welcome because after all they are the next generation of racegoers, punters, owners, jockeys and trainers.
As Callander said: ‘They should not be locked out’.
And the TTC and other clubs that invoke the ban should not be intimidated by threats of fines or loss of license.
I recall Ray Stevens, the aspiring Racing Minister declaring that the rules would be changed. Well like a lot of other LNP pre-election promises – nothing has happened.
NO SURPRISES WHEN ENTRIES FOR CAIRNS CUP WERE RELEASED
THERE were no surprises when fields for this week’s Cairns Cup were released on Monday.
Cash Attack, last year’s winner, will defend his title against the brilliant last start Townsville Cup winner More More More, which will be the pre-post favorite.
A nomination of 14 almost guarantees a full field which is restricted to 12.
The Newmarket, 1400m, has attracted 24 entries, including Cheval Argente to be ridden by Robert Thompson and the pair will be out to repeat last year’s all-the-way win.
IT’S TIME FACEBOOK WAS HAULED INTO LINE OVER PROMOTION OF CORPORATE BOOKIES
REGULAR readers of this column would be well aware of my view of Facebook, the social networking craze that has gate-crashed the lives of millions all over the world.
I have all but worn out my junk and delete buttons in a vain attempt to reject Facebook’s unwanted intrusion into my privacy.
Each to his own but I am prompted to express my total abhorrence of Facebook’s most recent association with the corporate bookmakers of the world – Australia included.
People talk about, and some actually perform, the commendable act of protecting the young and vulnerable from the perils of gambling.
But now we have the situation where corporate bookmakers openly, if not blatantly, take a free ride into the millions of potential and unsuspecting players, young and old, via this questionable network.
It should be stopped – immediately – and the reasons don’t need to be explained here.
THESE ‘SELF PROCLAIMED BIGGEST BOOKIES’ ARE GUTLESS WHEN IT COMES TO BETTING
AND whilst on the top of corporate bookmakers, a punter from Alice Springs decided to have $400 on the horse Agrippa in a race at Darwin a couple of weeks ago.
It was posted a $10 chance by one of the (self-proclaimed) biggest bookies in the land.
Well the big Darwin-based bookie decided $400 was just a tad too much to risk. So they offered the punter….wait for it…$2.40… at the $10 quote.
The horses finished third. What a joke.
If you don’t believe it (and I know it’s hard to believe) just ask the popular Alice Springs bookie Richard Wells. He was the gob-smacked punter.
THE PLAY ON WORDS THAT RUFFLED A FEW FASHION FEATHERS AFTER CUP DAY
RELIGION and politics have long been subjects to avoid in this game.
Now, for this old scribe you can add fashion as a taboo subject as well.
A nose or two went was put out of joint last week when we highlighted the plight of the young South Australian bird who flew in and ruffled few feathers (including her own no doubt) when she missed out in the Fashion Stakes on Townsville Cup day.
We still believe she made a few valid points but we have been asked to ‘correct a very serious mistake’.
We stated the winner had 12 months LEASE of a car as part of her prize. We should have said it was USE of a car.
JOE GROVES – THE UNSUNG HERO – WHO MADE IT INTO THE HALL OF FAME
THE North Queensland Register website has an obituary on a great old bloke, Joe Groves, who was known all over the Northern Territory, Queensland and old rodeo grounds from Tumbarumba to Timbuktu.
Joe was inducted into the Stockman’s Hall of Fame at Longreach as an unsung hero – and he was truly that.
Your scribe has been with him bull-catching – they were actually monstrous scrub buffalo – in the never never lands between Katherine and Kununurra.
He has seen him catch barramundi as big as marlin from the Victoria River that ran through his beloved Fitzroy Station. And we later sat under the stars and over the coals that cooked the barra, and listened in awe to the stories of his exploits in the bush, and the tales of his travels. he was an amazing man.
I also drank from the Cups won by Joe’s numerous horses that won countless races when the Territory was still racing ‘Yang Yangs’.
Your scribe consoled him when the local copper had to put his horse Charter Prince down after breaking a leg in the Timber Creek Cup in the mid-70s.
Joe Groves was very much a man’s man – the epitome of such.
And just like the name of his all-time favorite horse True Friend, that’s what Joe was to me – and hundreds of others – just that.
HOOFNOTE: It is ironic too that Joe Groves was laid to rest on the very same day as the Darwin Cup was run at Fannie Bay – the scene of so many wins in the maroon and white livery of the Groves family and for years the scene of so many after-Cup parties with Noel Buntine, Paddy Mornane, Sid Parker and dozens of others. Parties that will be long remembered – in the old tin shed that leaked like a sieve but no-one ever cared.
Said his wife Mary, the celebrated author, “There is much sadness and a gaping hole in the fabric of our family at present but I know he would have wanted his old mates to have a beer on Darwin Cup day to celebrate his time with them.”
SAD too was the passing last week of Bub Baker’s wife, Lorraine, after a long and painful battle with cancer.
Family and friends came from Blackall, Tambo and many other towns across country Queensland, as well as Brisbane, to pay their last respects to the lady who was, right until the end, the backbone of Bub Baker’s successful Wulguru stable. Lorraine was also a sister of well-known trainer-farrier Jim Fogarty.
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.
