By PETER BREDHAUER   ONE of Australia’s best known horsemen, John Drennan, passed away in the early hours of last Friday morning at Toowoomba. In an ABC Big Country documentary on the late T J Smith, the legendary trainer declared Drennan ‘the greatest horseman he had ever seen’. John was born on October 26 1938 at Augathella. He commenced race riding at Tambo on October 22 1954. From this humble beginning emerged one of the greatest Amateur jockeys ever seen who was forced to turn professional by Stewards in the CQRA and D&SWDRA  when they deemed he was too good to

WEEKLY column by MATT NICHOLLS  ARE there key performance indicators (KPIs) at Racing Queensland? If so, exactly what are they? When I wrote last week’s column, the 2026-27 calendar had only just been released and I actually stumbled across it by accident. So this week, I sat down with it and took a closer look. Let me tell you, the closer you look, the worse it gets. The reason I ask about KPIs is that there’s no way Peter V’landys at the NRL or Andrew Dillon at the AFL would allow such a diabolical calendar to be released. There are

PETER MAIR of SYDNEY weighs into the debate about whether running less races in Queensland next season will help boost field sizes. He writes: ‘A lead story in the subscriber-only website The Straight this week is about ‘field sizes’ Queensland …. looks to boost field sizes. Field sizes across Queensland averaged NINE in 2024-25. For optimal wagering returns, it is generally accepted that 12 runners is an ideal number to keep punters motivated.    Talking-up a transition from ‘9 to12’ is a bit hopeful.  Metropolitan field-sizes on Saturdays, the big turnover days, typically average 14 while ‘mid-week’ meetings are lucky to average

IT had nothing to do with the running of Queensland’s biggest race on Saturday when stewards mounted surprise raids on stables said to be linked to controversial racing identity Ben Currie. A team from the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission is said to have seized phones of a number of licensees while one trainer in Toowoomba who refused to hand over his mobile has reportedly been stood down. LGHR understands QRIC took action for two reasons: They were under mounting pressure from stakeholders, especially on the Sunshine Coast, who claim Ben Currie has been a ‘de facto’ behind-the-scenes trainer since his

RACING followers will be sad to learn of the passing of an outstanding Queensland jockey of yesteryear in Les Harris. A star apprentice with trainer Eric Kirwan in the early 1960s, Harris would have achieved the rare feat of winning the senior jockeys’ premiership in his first season had he not broken a leg with two months to go. He still finished second. Harris rode with great success in Sydney (for trainer Pat Murray) and later in Ireland where he won the Killarney Cup and Tipperary Cup. He returned to Queensland and rode on well into his 50s but mainly