Jenny - Clean

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RESPECTED Townsville-based racing journalist, TERRY BUTTS, says the LNP has pledged to dismantle the proposed merged control Board for the three codes if they win Government and Opposition Racing Minister Ray Stevens has promised to sack Bob the Builder, his sidekick ‘Tonto’ Tony and the ‘chosen ones.’

In his widely-read and at times controversial racing column, ‘Silks and Saddles,’ Butts pulls no punches highlighting serious problems with the two Cushion Tracks, now under fire from leading jockeys as well as disgruntled punters.

This web-site welcomes the opportunity to reproduce the Butts’ column, courtesy of the North Queensland Register, to give the racing industry a different perspective to what they are mostly reading and hearing in the mainstream media.

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PRESSURE is mounting for the Queensland Government to consider an alternative structure for the integrated control body for the three racing codes to that proposed by Queensland Racing chairman Bob Bentley.

There is growing support statewide for a Governance framework and organizational structure formulated by Gerard Betros, an associate lecturer and unit leader from the Faculty of Business at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.

Mr Betros has impressed some key industry figures and stakeholders who have read his review that has just completed, which is entitled: ‘Instigating Development in the Racing Industry towards an appropriate Governance Framework and Structure for the Queensland Racing Industry.”

The Government is under pressure not to fast-track the legislation, purely based on the Bentley blueprint for an integrated control body for the three codes. The industry is calling for greater public disclosure and protesting a lack of consultation on the issue. There is a call for the Betros Report to be circulated widely in the industry and considered first by the Government.

Mr Bertos, in proposing a different control board structure, argues that ‘because primary racing participants provide the racing function, it is more accurate to describe them as owners of the industry rather than key stakeholders. In their capacity as owners, the Control Board is legally bound by their fiduciary duty to be fully accountable.

‘Because the two-tier has failed to provide accountability, it is proposed that the new Control Board should feature a non-hierarchical structure that will consist of 11 board members, all of whom will be afforded full directorship status.

The Control Board will therefore consist of:

  • 3 representatives of the primary participant groups, namely, breeders, trainers, and race clubs
  • 3 representatives from the racing codes the harness, thoroughbred and greyhound racing codes
  • 1 representative of country racing
  • 1 representative of license-holders (excluding trainers)
  • 2 chief development coordinators to facilitate the needs of customers, namely owners (Production) and punters (Racing)
  • 1 chief integrity officer.’

Because of the concerns being expressed by so many people in the industry, we have decided to provide a copy of the majority of the Bertros Review. We are thankful for the opportunity to circulate it in the best interests of the industry.

We wish to highlight the fact that ‘this Governance framework and organizational structure was created by Gerard Betros and remains the intellectual property of the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba. Any further information and the full review (including apprendices and graphs can be secured by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To Read the full report please click here.

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IN what is being described as the ‘last stand’ for Queensland Racing a group of powerful industry stakeholders is preparing for a major fight to force the Government to give them some say in what they see as an inevitable takeover by QRL chairman Bob Bentley.

The group, which includes several major clubs from the city to the country, want Premier Anna Bligh to be aware of the lack of consultation and public disclosure in the decision by Racing Minister Peter Lawlor to legislate an integrated control board for the three codes.

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QUEENSLAND PARLIAMENT TOLD OF LACK OF CONSULTATION IN THREE CODE MERGER

RACING Minister Peter Lawlor has been accused in Parliament of forcing an amalgamation of the three codes into one board ‘to continue to long-term reign of Bob Bentley over racing in Queensland.’

Ray Stevens, the Shadow Minister for Racing, said the QRL chairman had devised a new scheme to extend his unelected reign over racing in Queensland for another five years without any consultation with industry, any public disclosure of the terms and benefits of the amalgamation, or any quantification of the projects he will deem worthy of expenditure of the new-found industry’s money.

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OF all the racing States in Australia, for some unknown reason QUEENSLAND is the hot-bed of rumor mongering and racetrack gossip – perhaps it’s the warmer climate. We will continue to air some of the ‘grievances’ and ‘inquiries’ received in dozens of e-mails to this web-site daily in a regular 'BELIEVE IT OR NOT' column.

We will not be intimidated by threatening e-mails from anonymous sources – several of which we have been able to trace and now know the identity of. Some will be exposed in another forum, which will be extremely embarrassing for the authors. We attempt where possible to verify claims made in e-mails. If we publish something found to be incorrect we are willing to follow up with any reasonable response.

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THE racing industry in south-east Queensland awoke today to what they thought was an April’s Fools Day joke with the Gold Coast Turf Club valuing its complex between $300-$500 million.

No sooner had the news filtered through to other sections of the racing industry than the e-mails started to arrive at this web-site with some even asking if Premier Anna Bligh had enlisted a Government valuation to produce this amazing figure.

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THOROUGHBRED Breeders’ Queensland Association president, Bob Frappell, reports that the Stud Book has just released a summary of the 2009 breeding season which shows coverings of Queensland mares down 20 per cent.

“On the surface this appears tragic and alarming but here are several reasons for the drop some of which are a good thing surprising as this may sound,” Mr Frappell said.

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RACING Minister Peter Lawlor has written to Queensland Racing chairman, Bob Bentley, advising that the harness control body has agreed to be part of an integrated board for the three codes.

“Accordingly, I intend to proceed with the amalgamation of the control bodies by introducing legislation into Parliament in the near future to amend the Racing Act 2002 and establish one control body to manage the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound codes of racing,” Mr Lawlor said.

 

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RACING writer, TERRY BUTTS, in his Silks ‘n’ Saddles column, reports that the grand opening of Queensland’s latest race track at Rockhampton last week was hailed as a raging success.

We run that column courtesy of the North Queensland Register. It reads: ‘True, everyone was impressed by the new $6 million dollar surface. It was rated by some as one of the great tracks of the world….

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THE e-mail responses to our fire-side chat with Queensland Racing on a number of contentious issues confronting the industry were quite amazing but unfortunately raised more questions than the answers that were provided.

We have decided to run some of the responses and will attempt to secure answers to legitimate concerns from Queensland Racing. Those sent from false e-mail addresses have been given the full flush treatment.

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