IN his popular column, ‘Silks and Saddles’ in the North Queensland Register, TERRY BUTTS reports that the famous Mt Garnet race meeting on the May day weekend, that has been much more than a highlight of the North Queensland racing calendar for 60 years or more, is under threat.

It is the latest target for outrageous licensing stipulations, that border on the unreal. The club has been handed a raft of totally unnecessary and unrealistic demands by police and Licensing that severely threatens the future of this legendary weekend – an event that some might even describe as iconic.

The only hope for the future, according to long-time Mt Garnet stalwart and former long serving club president Kevin McDonald, is a change of Government. It’s that serious.

And Opposition Racing spokesman Ray Stevens has been quick to condemn the stand-over tactics by licensing that is expected to cost the Mt Garnet club this year at least $25,000.

“Money we simply cannot afford,” said Mr McDonald. And if the club doesn’t agree to the demands made only last week, no license will be issued.

Mr Stevens blasted the QRL chairman Bob Bentley and the Racing Minister Peter Lawlor for ‘forcing country racing to its knees’ with such unrealistic demands. He promised to ‘undo’ changes, including the controversial under-18 ban that currently exists on major race days throughout the State.

The Mt Garnet Club was given their instructions last week. The club is required to provide seven security staff for every 1000 patrons and another four security for every thousand above that figure. Further the club is required to pay for 90 hours of police attendance – at $110 per hour. And it must provide street lighting in the camping area with unobstructed passages for traffic.

Because of the new requirements the club will be forced to charge for camping which it has never done previously.

“How do we know many will come to Garnet?” asked Mr McDonald. “Licensing told us that last year there were 6000 campers. They reckoned two thousand went to the rodeo on the Sunday, two thousand attended the races, and two thousand never left their camp”.

Mt Garnet has been a meeting place for family and friends for a long time. Many have permanent, fully equipped camps that are used only on the race day weekend. It heralds the end of the long hot and this year very wet summer, and for years has been hailed as the city meets the country weekend with hundreds of Townsville and Cairns residents always in attendance for a fun weekend.

These new liquor licensing regulations (which incidentally do not affect football or car racing) just about ruined the big race day fixtures last year in Cairns and are blamed for the financial demise of Townsville.

Last year at the Cairns Amateurs, the club paid upfront for an expected crowd of 18,000. Only 9000 turned up.

“How do we know many will come to Garnet?” asked Mr McDonald. More importantly, how does Licensing (or the coppers) know how many will show?

The rules, as this column has stated before are pure and utter bull dust. And the quicker Ray Stevens and his LNP get in and appoint a Racing Minister who is prepared to stand up and do something to help – not hinder clubs like Mt Garnet – the better.

I would have thought Premier Bligh would be more concerned about retaining votes – not losing them as she has surely done with this mess designed and delivered by bureaucrats in their little office in Cairns. Obviously with the blessing of the Racing Minister Peter Lawlor, who is also in charge of Licensing.

Lawlor should go! If not just for his ‘blind monkey’ stance on the Gold Coast Magic Millions issue recently but for allowing this latest episode that could ultimately be the ruination of Mt Garnet. Not because of any lack of interest among the racing fraternity or regular patrons; but all because of inept politicians and their band of bully bureaucrats. Talk about dumb and dumber.

As did a half dozen or more that were sold for figures between $500,000 and $800,000 according to figures published on the informative Breednet website.

Heading the list of disasters this week and joining the ever growing pile of broken dreams was the $1.7 million purchase Speedskater. He finished stone motherless last in race eight at Rosehill. In the same race the $1.2 million buy Hus de Lieften finished eighth.

At Caulfield, Vimy, which cost connections $1.2m, was a less than mediocre seventh in the Thoroughbred Club Cup. Other high-priced flops were Saint Encosta ($800,000), last in Rosehill Race 7, and Dominguin ($750,000), which flopped at Bendigo in provincial Victoria.

You might ask whether the cost of bloodstock is too high or whether these published prices are for real. Is the cost of stallion service fees totally out of whack? And more importantly, is the prizemoney for some of these two and three-year-old races in the cities put on to encourage buyers to pay these astronomical high prices for stallion fees and yearlings?

Yes, prizemoney totally out of proportion to prizemoney elsewhere in the country.

The big-time breeders have had it too good for too long. They dance to the tune of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and their overall influence on the racing industry must be curbed.

And so what if Darley packed up and returned to the desert, as it recently threatened. Yes, so what? Would racing suddenly grind to a halt in this country without the Arab presence? Really!

TRADITIONS die hard in the bush. Always have. And the trend continues with members of the popular Ewan Amateur Turf Club deciding to stick with grass fed racing, at least for the upcoming two-day meeting in September.

Members were asked at the conclusion of last year’s meeting to vote on retaining grass-fed racing or do what most other clubs in Australia have opted to do and switch to corn-fed. But the horses will go to the paddock again this year and no doubt it will be a talking point again as the day draws nearer.

THE racing fraternity of Townsville copped a little surprise last week when QRL decided to give TAB status for the Saturday meeting at Cluden on April 10.

The prizemoney didn’t go up – it remains the standard non TAB purse, but it’s a welcome move and will coincide with the new Sky Channel2 that is being set up to cater for provincial racing around the country.

Townsville also has a TAB/Sky meeting on Saturday May 5, a week before the Parry Nissan.

‘SILKS AND SADDLES’ column courtesy of Terry Butts and the North Queensland Register

Contact Terry by e-mailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..