IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer, TERRY BUTTS, reports on a group of city slickers experiencing first-hand the devastating effects of the drought when they attended the Ilfracombe meeting last weekend.
He also tells how sacked Racing Queensland CEO Darren Condon was the guest speaker at Ilfracombe and continues to win plenty of industry friends for the manner in which he has handled his unfortunate dismissal.
Here is the Butts column:
CITY SLICKERS GOT REAL PERSPECTIVE OF DROUGHT AT ILFRACOMBE
THE majority of Australians, particularly the city dwellers, have absolutely no idea how devastating the current drought really is.
Some, in fact 100 or so from Brisbane, gleaned some idea of the stress and suffering last weekend when they took a special air charter that landed them at Ilfracombe (28km from Longreach) for the drought relief race meeting.
They returned to Brisbane on Sunday with a totally different perspective – and an appreciation of just how hard the fight for survival is for their country cousins caught up in what is being touted as the worst drought ever.
This is a drought that stretches from the Gulf country down into NSW – and Longreach is its epicentre.
The visitors last weekend joined the townsfolk in a marquee for a moonlight dinner on the banks of the Thompson on Friday night, sailed down the famous river on Saturday, and then joined a record crowd at the races. According to secretary Lillian Irwin it was the best race day in years.
“Well, the bar takings were a record – and we ran out of beer at midnight,” she said.
“I was still putting the stragglers on buses at 2am on Sunday”.
The success of the Ilfracombe meeting augurs well for the Back to Longreach celebrations on September 26. There a major plans for that showcase event that will coincide with the Longreach Cup on the day.
The Townsville Cup will be run on the same day this year, which is an unfortunate clash.
Apart from racing however, Channel 9 is expected to produce the highly rated Today Show direct from the drought stricken town on the Friday. There is a whole host of VIPs said to be lining up.
DARREN CONDON WON PLENTY OF FANS WITH HIS APPEARANCE AT ILFRACOMBE
GUEST speaker at the Ilfracombe Marquee dinner was former Racing Queensland heavyweight Darren Condon.
You might think it was a brave effort to stand before a group of racing folk after weeks of personal turmoil that culminated in his unceremonious sacking – some might say wrongly – as CEO of RQ.
It could have been just the platform for him to gain even more sympathy from a gathering of racing folk. But I am told he displayed no bitterness.
Condon simply told the crowd that he was proud to have been associated with racing at such a level and will remember and cherish the good times, of which he said there were several.
“Life goes on,” he said, as he recounted his association with racing, its personalities and events of a tumultuous time.
As the dust settles everyone with the slightest interest in the dwindling industry must be surely convinced that his sacking, and that of the three Boards, especially gallops and harness, had absolutely nothing to do with the live baiting scandal, as Government wants us to believe.
It was purely politics – at its worst.
And who says there won’t be another change of guard when the current Premier is toppled.
There are no winners – just one loser in this political game – Racing by a TKO.
Some are saying the Queensland Government is simply too close to the pulse and control of racing in this State.
But then they are reminded of the mess created by the dictatorial Bob Bentley regime which for a time was given a virtual carte blanche by the Beattie Government. He had the chance to put the industry on a sound and solid footing but made some disastrous decisions, for which racing is still suffering. Some of those decisions (Sky and TAB for instance) will be long remembered as hardly favourable. And stakeholders will never forget that infamous golden handshake to a few of his chosen disciples as the clouds of doom gathered.
GROWING CONCERN THAT THE ‘RIGHT PEOPLE’ ARE MAKING THE TOUGH DECISIONS
NO matter who is in control there are some tough decisions to be made and there is growing concern whether the right people are in place to make them.
The acting CEO called a meeting this week with the Australian Jockeys Association to discuss a drop in riding fees. Good luck with that!
Does he know what goes up doesn’t always come down?
And I am pretty certain jockeys’ fees won’t either.
But then again the potential to retain their current level of earnings might be curtailed if race dates across the State are savagely cut. And that might be the only way, according to insiders.
Currently it costs RQ about $60,000 for every non-TAB meeting in the State. As politically unpalatable as it might seem, the day is looming when Queensland will be forced to reduce racecourses and race dates. It is simple arithmetic.
Just last Saturday it cost RQ around $360,000 to provide prizemoney, integrity and jockeys’ fees for six non-TAB meetings from which there is no financial return whatsoever. Multiply that by 50 (race days) and ask how it can be sustained in the current climate.
Then add the obscene wages and expenses lavished on senior staff, (a rumoured $20,000 a WEEK for a stand-in CEO, for heaven’s sake), plus prizemoney for the major TAB clubs each week.
As each week passes Queensland is being left behind by the interstate media – particularly the television rights debacle that has resulted in SKY for NSW ,Channel 78 for Victoria and chewie on your boot for the rest.
Adelaide and Brisbane are definitely the poor cousins and losing traction every day.
And the nation is losing its faithful followers because of the greedy, single, simple minded attitude of a few who control when and where we can watch racing.
Punters are turning away from Australian racing in droves and why not?
Hong Kong offers much more. Bigger betting pools, superior control, the best jockeys in the world, twice weekly racing, and a much easier form study because of just two tracks (Happy Valley and Sha Tin) and a pool of horses that doesn’t change dramatically.
And then there is QTIS. Is it as viable and sustainable as recent statements by the breeders and Government like us to believe?
Theoretically perhaps – but in practice….?
DETAILS EMERGING IN COBALT SCANDAL STUNNING EVEN THE MOST HARDENED
APART from the TV rights fiasco – and by any definition it is just that –a fiasco – there is the cobalt scandal. Revelations from the Sam Kavanagh Inquiry in Sydney has stunned even the most hardened.
That some despicable types are injecting formaldehyde into the jugular vein of horses is bad enough – but the allegations of compliance by leading vets in the illegal use of cobalt are devastating for an industry already suffering dwindling interest, crowds and turnover.
In Melbourne it seems to be now a question of ‘administration’ of the drug or ‘presenting’ a horse at the races with the drug.
In the Rules of Racing: What’s the difference?
A trainer is responsible under the Rules. If a horse is presented with a drug it doesn’t really matter who administered it. The buck stops with the trainer – rightly or wrongly.
There was no question of ‘presentation or administration’ when my ‘old mate’ Glen Baker fronted Racing Queensland stewards just recently. He copped two years on the chin.
He, like Peter Moody, said he didn’t do it.
Didn’t matter in his case – shouldn’t matter in any other.
But sometimes they do things a little differently in Victoria.
Remember that bloke Oliver?
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..
