IN his popular column, ‘SILKS & SADDLES,’ published in the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER, respected racing writer, TERRY BUTTS, reveals how the Northern Territory is a furlong ahead of Queensland when it comes to racing.
He also questions whether is light at the end of the tunnel with another ‘dumb idea’ emanating from Racing Queensland and supports the idea that all senior staff at the Deagon Bunker should be asked to reapply for their jobs.
Here is the Butts’ column:
RACING IN QUEENSLAND BEING LEFT BEHIND BY NORTHERN TERRITORY
LEADING Darwin trainer Gary Clarke passed the imposing $500,000 mark for prizemoney earned this season when Toowoomba-owned Handsome Tycoon – formerly with Peter Moody – won the Pioneer Sprint at Alice Springs on Saturday.
Clarke, originally from the central west of Queensland where he rode with great success before moving to Darwin 25 years ago, has saddled 40 winners this season. It is a sterling achievement and ample evidence that racing in the top-end is leaving its Queensland neighbour for dead.
Obviously racing in the top-end is thriving on the back of the corporate bookies. The Northern Territory is where they are all based and licensed – a phenomenon that surely cannot last if certain Federal pollies have their way.
But while it does – and the NT continues to control and license the generally unwanted species – the local racing industry is the beneficiary. Ironic as it might be.
The absurdity of this situation was realized last week in Darwin when a mere five runners contested races that ranged in prizemoney from $14.000 (Class B, mind you) to an $18,000 weight-for-age sprint.
Last weekend’s Alice Springs Cup carried prizemoney of $100,000, the same as that offered by Rockhampton and Townsville for their Cups. Big difference however is there was no $700 acceptance fee as required by the Queensland clubs but not applicable elsewhere.
Darwin Cup this year is $150,000 (with a $500 travelling rebate) while the upcoming (acceptance-free) Scone Cup is worth $200,000 and this week’s Wagga Cup is $140,000 with prizemoney down to 6th placing and a subsidy for all other unplaced runners. How Queensland has kept up!
We have had $100,000 Cups at Callaghan Park and Cluden for the past 10 years.
MOST BELIEVE THERE IS NOT A ‘SMIDGIN OF HOPE’ OF RQ IMPROVING
IT is certainly getting harder in the sunny State and worse there is not a smidgin of hope of things getting better.
There are many old racing folk who seriously believe country racing is heading the same way as the trots.
They recall that almost every major town in Queensland from Cairns to the Gold Coast boasted a harness track 10 years ago.
How many remain? And, seriously what is the future of the once great spectacle of night harness racing.
The blame for the downturn of racing lies squarely with successive governments and the people they appointed.
They have failed miserably and, as has been suggested, every senior employee of the current RQ should be made re-apply for their positions. That would be a start because at the moment it is a demolition in progress from the Minister down.
WHY SAVE MONEY WHILE DECLAN PROMOTES ANOTHER ‘DUMB RQ IDEA’
LAST week the chairmen and CEOs of all TAB clubs in Queensland were summoned to Brisbane for a meeting at RQ headquarters. You might ask: Why not a video link-up in this cost saving era?
But of course money is no object to the big spending executives of RQ. Its only prizemoney that’s a bit scarce – and getting scarcer.
The visitors were told that there was to be a change in the distribution of funds or subsidy to each club. The clubs once received $300,000 and a percentage of the off-course turnover – until Bob Bentley and his Board swooped and changed the rules.
The clubs got a small respite when Kevin Dixon took the RQ Chair – but that was soon scuttled and the clubs are facing a real battle to survive.
Now, believe it or not RQ’s Head of Operations, the mercurial Declan Martschinke, proposes to give the clubs a basic fee and a percentage of the UBET tote winnings. But what if UBET loses on a meeting – and there are no guarantees with fixed odds betting – and we should highlight that fixed odds betting turnover is far greater than the tote, and growing.
No, RQ couldn’t answer that. Nor would it (or UBET) release performance figures so that the clubs could get a guide.
How dumb is that?
Really, what hope is there?
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..
