IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer, TERRY BUTTS, reports on plans to reintrodeuce Tuesday racing as part of the new race dates for next season.

Butts also reveals some interesting statistics from a track evaluation report undertaken by Racing Queensland which pinpoints Townsville has having the best capacity of the premier venues in the State.

Here is the Butts’ column:

REINTRODUCTION OF ‘TERRIBLE TUESDAYS’ A HOT DATES TOPIC

THE planned reintroduction of Tuesday racing is the current hot topic as Racing Queensland chiefs and the race clubs of the State sort out dates for the upcoming season.

Tuesday had been a disaster for TAB clubs in the north before RQ decided to axe them completely two years ago. They were a severe drain on the already meagre financial resources of the clubs that hosted the Tuesday meetings, namely Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton.

But RQ (and UBET) still consider the “Terrible Tuesdays” a vital part of their revenue. So they are back - from June.

What will be argued however when the parties sit down to finalise race dates for the year is that Rocky, Mackay and Townsville  currently have 75 per cent - or a total 28 Tuesday meetings in the draft. The south east corner are lumbered with just 11 - including Melbourne Cup day and Anzac Day which next year falls on a Tuesday.

The three major northern clubs currently share 20 of the coveted Saturdays, and 10 of the more profitable Friday meetings in the current draft. They (the clubs) say it is totally unfair and inequitable.

Mackay and Townsville refused to attend a meeting with RQ scheduled for Monday.

“Why bother. The chief of operations Ross Gove is on annual leave.

“We will wait until someone comes up with a more equitable draft of dates,” said one club administrator.

SHARE OF SKY 2 SATURDAY DATE COMPENSATION FOR TUESDAYS

MACKAY’S new kid on the block Ryan Van De Velde, in a letter to Ross Gove, said that after a meeting with CEO Ian Hall he was urged to contact him and raise the possibility of the three northern clubs sharing a SKY 2 Saturday date each week to compensate for them operating a regular Tuesday circuit.

Hall has already indicated the clubs that race on Tuesday would be entitled to a supplement to help cover losses.

Trainers in the far north are not opposed to Tuesday racing either. They claim it would give them give them a chance to travel from the Tablelands to Mackay for instance and then return for a non-TAB meeting in their area on a Saturday.

But they did mention a bit o relief such as a transport subsidy would be appreciated.

The race date that needs sorting out is for the Mackay Newmarket. It is usually run on the Thursday before Saturday’s Mackay Cup.

In the current draft it is pencilled in to be run on the previous Saturday.

Can you believe ... Rockhampton has the Thursday date?

Expect that to change, surely.

TOWNSVILLE EVALUATED BEST TRACK WHEN IT COMES TO CAPABILITIES

ANOTHER fact that has gone unnoticed by those dealing the race date cards is the capacity and capabilities of each track.

Racing Queensland hired the expertise of Labosport to do just that - evaluate its premier tracks.

The final report rated the maximum usage potential of each track for the year.

The report claimed Gold Coast had a recommended maximum of 60, Sunshine Coast 59 and Doomben 59.

Top rating track in the state was Townsville which Labosport said was capable of withstanding 62 meetings.

 So far Townsville has 39, in the current draft.

“We don’t mind the Tuesdays so long as we get a few more Saturdays. We would like another six dates and we will be asking for them, based on this Labosport report,” said TTC’s Michael Charge CEO.

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..