DESPERATE times call for desperate measures. Let’s call a spade a spade.
Racing Queensland’s crazy plan to increase field sizes and turnover by drawing barriers prior to acceptances is nothing short of absurd.
It’s easy to understand how long-suffering stakeholders in the bush once again feel overlooked with the focus strongly on those TAB clubs, mainly in the south-east corner, that would arguably benefit from this change.
For too long owners and trainers in the outback have a much bigger headache than worrying about field sizes. The lack of jockeys means that more often than not their horses are not assured of a start. Is anyone at RQ counting the cost to them?
Julie Creek last Saturday was another embarrassing example of what awaits owners in the outback who outlay good money for horses to keep the sport going only to discover when they are ready to go to the track that they might not get a start because there are insufficient riders. Would a control body anywhere bar Queensland allow this to happen?
There were only 51 horses set to start at Julia Creek. But an amazing 23 of those had to be scratched because there was no jockey to ride them. It’s hard to believe but RQ has continued to watch this to happen for years now.
THE situation in the outback was summed up perfectly in a message to peterprofit.com from a bush trainer who suggested:
‘I love this industry and I love training racehorses, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult when one of the biggest challenges isn’t preparing the horses – it’s simply finding someone to ride them.’
‘BEN’ DOES ANOTHER ‘PR JOB’ FOR RQ WHILE ‘ARCHIE’ TELLS IT WORTS & ALL
INSTEAD of pumping up the tryes of RQ about this new venture like Ben Dorries did for the Murdoch Media, our old mate Archie Butterfly told the story ‘worts and all’ on his wonderful subscriber-only website, www.peterprofit.com, when he wrote:
‘THE optimum field size to maximise wagering pools is somewhere between 10 and 14 starters. If you have less than 10 in a race the turnover goes down. The average field size in Queensland is currently 9.2. Do the maths.
It’s costing the industry here a motza in lost or forsaken gambling dollars, and let’s be honest, mugs losing on the punt overall fuels the fire.
Racing Queensland like everyone else knows this, and being stacked full of boffins at the top who cut their teeth working in the corporate bookmaking trade, the leaders of the organization know they need 10-plus fields, and are introducing measures to achieve it.
(LGHR Editor’s comment: Being cynical we wonder if some of the rocket scientists at RQ are more interested in protecting the interests of their old mates at the corporates and disguising what they are doing as being advantageous to racing).
The Butterfly continued: The problem is that these people lack a fundamental understanding of the fundamentals of the racing industry.
No matter what they say, the lads (pardon the pun) from the corporate bookmaking arena who are now running Queensland racing know full well that the true driver of wagering revenue is turnover, and that you get more turnover from running 100 races a week with fields of EIGHT than you do from running 67 races with fields of 12, which is what you would have to do to get optimum field sizes.
So no matter what they might publicly pronounce, the truth is that these maths nerds from school who get the betting numbers but not the spine that carries it are just going to keep on ploughing through as long as they can get people to punt on them.
That is the nature of the business, and the way of the game in this modern racing environment run by people who see it as a product and not a sport.’
GREG SEES ROTATION OF OVERSEAS APPRENTICES AS THE ANSWER
NO-ONE has fought harder to improve the plight of outback racing from a lack of riders perspective than GREG BLANCHARD of the GOLD COAST (yes he might live on the tourist strip but he loves the bush). Here’s Greg’s latest take on the situation:
‘THERE are dark clouds over our economy, petrol prices soaring again with the war and inflation out of control.
Racing participants will have extra costs with petrol and diesel rising.
People will inevitably cut back on non-essentials, including gambling.
Last weekend Julia Creek had 23 horses scratched because there were no riders. There were also a couple who missed a start at Longreach for the same reason.
It’s been about 13 years since I started advocating for overseas kids in our Apprentice School to help overcome the problem in the bush.
If it was possible each overseas apprentice could, on a rotation basis, go out to the bush for say six months then come back to south-east Queensland or somewhere they choose.
Racing Queensland provides a Jockey Subsidy of $800 for the far north west which I am told has increased from four to six eligible riders. In any case it’s helped save meetings up there.
I think long term that sort of money could be better spent getting overseas riders on a rotation. They would be able to ride trackwork as well where FIFO jocks can’t.
I am hearing more positives on this front than I have heard in the past. Let’s hope it comes to fruition.’
