Letsgohorseracing - QLD & REST

Details: Published: 13 November 2013; Created: 13 November 2013

FUND ESTABLISHED IN HONOR OF POPULAR LADY JOCKEY WHO DIED AFTER RACE FALL

RACING Queensland, in conjunction with the National Jockeys Trust, has established a fund in honor of jockey Desiree Gill, Racing Minister Steve Dickson said today.

Desiree tragically passed away on Sunday, November 10, from injuries sustained in a race fall the night before at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club.

Read more: FUND TO HONOR DESIREE GILL

Details: Published: 24 October 2013; Created: 24 October 2013

FOLLOWING a hugely successful picnic races this year, Racing Minister Steve Dickson has announced Deagon will host another community race day in 2014.

Mr Dickson said Racing Queensland had approved a race meeting after overwhelming support from locals saw more than 7,000 people flock to the Deagon track last month for the first race day in 70 years.

Details: Published: 20 October 2013; Created: 20 October 2013

AT THE core of the Queensland Racing Inquiry sits a $91 million fortune and a salivating, cash-strapped industry. The inquiry, which wound up its public hearing phase on Tuesday, is examining $91 million in deductions enjoyed by the gaming giant Tatts.

But that money belongs, according to the inquiry's Assisting Counsel James Bell, QC, in the hands of around 24,000 not-all-terribly-well-off Queenslanders who derive an often perilous livelihood from racing.

MICHAEL MADIGAN reports in THE COURIER-MAIL that the inquiry, which has played out over the past month on the seventh floor of the Brisbane Magistrates Court building, again sifted through a basket of dirty laundry thrown up by an industry subject to three inquiries in less than a decade.

Details: Published: 17 October 2013; Created: 17 October 2013

RACING Queensland (RQ) has announced its support of a decision by Tatts Group to apply to the Queensland Supreme Court to determine a dispute over deductions relating to interstate race information fees.

RQ chief executive, Darren Condon, said the move was amicable and both parties wanted to have the matter determined as soon as possible.

Details: Published: 09 October 2013; Created: 09 October 2013

EXTRACTS from the annual report from Chairman Kevin Dixon for the Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board trading as Racing Queensland, which was established through an Act of Parliament on May 1, 2013:

"While you will note that this report covers only the period May 1 to June 30, 2013 it is pertinent to provide commentary on the entire financial year. The financial reports for the period July 1, 2012 to April 31, 2013 are covered by Racing Queensland Limited’s annual report.

As of May 1, 2013 significant progress in terms of reforming the administrative function of racing in Queensland had been achieved and will continue under the new structure and boards.

Details: Published: 30 September 2013; Created: 30 September 2013

A FORMER Racing Queensland Limited director said he believed there was an opportunity back in 2008 to mount a legal challenge over a deal with gaming giant Tatts alleged to have cost the industry $91 million.

MICHAEL MADIGAN reports for THE COURIER-MAIL that the Queensland Racing Inquiry has begun its second week of evidence with former director Bill Andrews saying the board had received legal advice in 2008 that the deal was open to challenge.

Mr Andrews, a solicitor for the past 30 years, said he took the view that the legal advice should be pursued.

Details: Published: 30 September 2013; Created: 30 September 2013

by TERRY BUTTS of the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER

CONFUSION still reigns after the last race at Cluden last Tuesday when correct weight was inadvertently declared in spite of a request by a jockey to review the patrol film .

The chief steward Ian Brown has already apologized to Cairns owner Robert Koch for what has been labelled a “mistake”.

Details: Published: 24 September 2013; Created: 24 September 2013

FOUR top Racing Queensland executives received $1.4 million in payouts after signing agreements allowing them to resign with full entitlements should Labor lose the 2012 state election.

MICHAEL MADIGAN reports for THE COURIER-MAIL that the novel workplace agreements have been under the spotlight this morning at the Queensland Racing Inquiry which has heard of the poisonous atmosphere inside Queensland Racing Limited in the dying days of the Bligh Labor Government.

Counsel Assisting James Bell, QC, has told the inquiry Malcolm Tuttle, Jamie Orchard, Paul Brennan and Shana Reid were offered new contracts in August 2011 just six months before the LNP Government came to power.

They included pay increases of around 30 per cent but along with the extra cash was a new provision.

Details: Published: 23 September 2013; Created: 23 September 2013

FORMER Racing Queensland chairman Bob Bentley has been accused of trying to sack a board member who questioned a deal with gaming giant Tatts alleged to have cost the state's racing industry more than $91 million.

MICHAEL MADIGAN reports for THE COURIER-MAIL that Mr Bentley, who chaired Racing Queensland Limited under the former Labor Government, is on the stand for a third day in the $3 million Queensland Racing Inquiry held at the Brisbane Magistrates Court complex.

Mr Bentley has been repeatedly accused of allowing Tatts to save up to $91 million in a financial arrangement with QRL related to payments for race information.

Details: Published: 06 September 2013; Created: 06 September 2013

HENDRA Virus expert Dr Peter Reid will use a racing industry day to strongly encourage harness racing owners and trainers to take part in Racing Queensland’s (RQ) Hendra Virus vaccination program.

The Queensland Harness Racing Industry Day on Sunday, September 8, which will feature information sessions, a free sausage sizzle, and a forum on the future of harness racing, is expected to attract many industry stakeholders.

Dr Peter Reid, the equine vet who responded to the original outbreak of Hendra Virus in 1994, will provide information about the deadly virus and the vaccine, alongside RQ veterinarian Dr Martin Lenz, who will host a Hendra Virus question and answer session.