CROWDS, fields and turnover for the provincial Cups Carnivals from Rockhampton to Cairns have justified an overdue increase in prizemoney for the major races.
With stakes for Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns Cups to be boosted by $50,000 to $200,000 each next year, a better quality of horse will no doubt be attracted from south-east Queensland.
The three-day Cairns carnival drew to a close with the running of the Cup on Saturday and attracted competitive fields for most races. From a punters’ perspective though the one down-side was a perceived lack of action action by stewards.
This comes as no surprise with arguably the worst Chief Steward in the State, Paul Gillard, running the show. But punters were expecting better with Darryl Griffiths, the Townsville Chairman, there to hold his hand. Perhaps next year their big boss Josh Adams should make the week-long trek north.
There were upset wins in the Newmarket (Red Hot Lizzie) and Cairns Cup (Choir Boy) but it was the lack of questions asked after form reversal results in three of the support races on Friday that had punters shaking their heads.
Muskito was heavily backed to win the Class 3 on Friday after finishing 9th at Cairns when well in the market at its previous start. Not a question was asked about the massive form reversal. Paul Gillard was in charge when the horse flopped and on that occasion asked the jockey to explain the poor performance. He said it compounded because of not being suited to lead on its own. Well that’s a new one.
The reason the Chief Stipe is under the microscope from those who follow Cairns on a regular basis has a lot to do with the powerful connections of Muskito, Hedley Racing. Some say without their support the sport in the Far North would be struggling and question whether – like Chris Waller in Sydney – they are, at times, treated differently.
Earlier on Saturday, Unifies, which had run favorite and finished fifth at Bowen at its previoius start, came out and was surprisingly heavily backed to win for trainer Joshua Manzelman. Either the form in Bowen is better than the punters assume or this was a major improvement. Darryl Griffiths was in charge at Bowen when Stewards reported Unifies shifted in under pressure. Surely there should have been an inquiry after it grew a leg.
Then Fancy Garter after starting $2.05 favorite and finishing 6th at the same track and distance, comes out and wins. Perhaps the dryer track made a difference but the panel, headed by Paul Gillard, did report on the day that the horse had trouble securing clear running – so an acceptable excuse for the improvement.
Some might explain the lay-back attitude on the stewards being in the carnival mood. But those of us who watch the performance of Chairman Gillard on a weekly basis believe he would be much better based in Birdsville or Betoota.
AND on another note who was the dill at Racing Queensland that decided to program a Townsville meeting on Sunday – 24 hours after the two-day Cairns Carnival concluded.
Story goes the brains-trust dodged the Sunshine Coast because Gold Coast raced Friday night to coincide with the Show Holiday on the tourist strip and they were concerned whether the fields would hold up.
Well why not – for one week only – run Toowoomba on the Sunday instead of Saturday night or program a one-off Sunday meeting for Ipswich. Guess that makes too much sense.
The major sufferer was turnover with the Cluden meeting only attracting sufficient acceptors for a six race card. Here’s a club trying to do the right thing and copping a carrot up their rear end in the process.
