IN his widely-read weekly column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER respected racing writer TERRY BUTTS predicts a truce is near between the Townsville Turf Club and Racing Queensland.

Here is the Butts’ column which has become a popular feature on this web site.

TRUCE NEAR BETWEEN RACING QUEENSLAND AND TOWNSVILLE TURF CLUB

NOTHING is yet official, but the word around the traps is that the Townsville Turf Club, after many months of rattling the sabre, has come to what might be termed an amiable agreement with Racing Queensland.

No-one is saying anything, at least not officially, but it seems it is no longer a case of TTC versus Racing Queensland and vice-versa, and the two bodies have agreed to puff the peace pipe and get on with what they both do best – run racing.

There will be changes, no doubt. There will be a switch in areas of responsibility.

The industry has undergone major change in recent times and is, in fact, changing constantly.

The roles of TTC and RQ will be different in the future – and stand by for some structural changes to Cluden as well.

There’s a strong street corner whisper about the greyhounds being accommodated at Cluden – a move that would have had the racing purists breathing fire 10 or 20 years ago. But things change. They have to.

There is even talk about on-course stabling at the Cluden track. Now, that proposal has been around for yonks and many will scoff at or dismiss the suggestion, with an, “oh, yeah, we’ve heard it all before”. Many times. But this time there is substance in the rumour.

And for the future of racing in the North, it’s a plan that has to be afforded prompt and serious attention.

The big thing, however, is the rent. The price being charged in Caloundra is $70 a week per box, which has been rejected by trainers as ‘just too much’.

Bear in mind Townsville has only 39 meetings a year, compared to Caloundra, which races weekly, is a night racing venue, and hosts midweek fixtures on the cushion track as well.

With an all-weather track and more race dates, owners in the north would be better placed to afford the on-course stable rent in Townsville.

But then again, Caloundra, in spite of its big number of race dates, is said to have plenty of stables empty and available for rent. There’s no waiting queue. Like everything, it all has to do with price.

TOO MANY MEETINGS AND NOT ENOUGH HORSES

THERE is a plethora of race meetings coming up in the northern region, and frankly, some meetings are going to face a tough challenge to attract horses.

Last Tuesday, for instance, Townsville had a six-race program. But it followed the centenary of the Townsville Amateurs that drew large fields and a crowd to match.

This weekend, Ingham has its two-day annuals (Friday and Saturday), and the following week Townsville races again on Tuesday, and then it’s the two-day Cairns Amateurs (track permitting).

And on Sunday 30-odd horses were taken from the pool and sent to the paddock for the Ewan grass-feds next month.

This year, too, the Cairns Amateurs clashes with the Birdsville carnival, which would take most of the western horses that might have otherwise headed to the coast.

It is hard to understand why all the meetings are bundled together, as the horse population is simply not there to cater for them all.

SUPPORT CONTINUES FOR EWAN MEETINGS

OFFICIALS at Ewan, one of the most popular two-day bush race meetings around, expressed considerable relief when more than 30 horses – some say 36 – turned up at the Hillgrove paddock near Charters Towers on Sunday.

Club secretary and mainstay Noel Brosnan was on the phone canvassing last week, but in the end the big stables of John Manzelman (Mackay) and Olivia Cairns (Townsville) came to the party and provided almost half or at least a third of the horses that went into the paddock.

Olivia said the paddock was in great order after a fire early in the year has provided a good covering of fresh grass.

No doubt, the old chestnut of whether Ewan should continue grass-fed racing or switch, as most other clubs have done, to corn-fed will be raised again – especially when just two stables dominate the meeting, at least in horse numbers.

But this year the members wanted to stick with grass-fed racing. The club asked members (and licensees) last year to vote and they stuck with tradition. And as we know, traditions die hard in the bush.

So do the ticks!

APPEAL FOR INJURED JOCKEY CONTINUES

UNFORTUNATELY the gold coin appeal for injured jockey Dot Slack Smith, one of the true amateurs of the old school, did not eventuate on Saturday at the NQ Amateurs centenary. Nor was there a collection at the Sedan Dip.

But organizers of the appeal to help the stricken jockey through her painstaking rehabilitation remain active, and there is a list of stallion services to be auctioned in the near future.

Stallions include the celebrated Falvelon and first-season sire Sea Zulu. Other service fees that have been donated for auction include Court Command, Ombre Della Sera and Upsized.

The Phil Richmond painting donated by the North Queensland Register was auctioned at the Amateurs recovery on Sunday and fetched $750. Darren Bragg (who also collected the calcutta prize) was the winning bidder.

COLUMN COURTESY OF TERRY BUTTS AND THE NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER

TERRY BUTTS can be contacted by e-mailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..