Well what did we all make of the carnival??
After the hiccups early on it looked as though it might have been a bit of a disaster but I have to say last Saturdays Tatts Tiara meeting saved the whole carnival for me and it’s no coincidence we had a dry track to work with.
Any track that gets wet is not ideal for racing and what we witnessed day 1 of the carnival wasn’t a great look but I think what a lot of people missed is even though the track didn’t look great and had issues it still played fair every time we raced there, horses could win from anywhere. The way it played Saturday was outstanding and I’m not sure everyone understands exactly what Doomben has done for this state over the last few years.
The race of the carnival? Thought the build up to the Doomben 10,000 was outstanding. The Tatts Tiara was a ripping way to finish off.
The Low point: RAIN, just couldn’t take a trick with rain in the sunshine state, not ideal for connections, clubs or punters.
Horses to follow?
GRANNY RED SHOES can go on to better things.
YOUNGSTAR is going to be some sort of staying star, she will go on to win some really good races.
From a QLD perspective SESAR is the one I want to follow when he comes back and can race on some bigger tracks that will suit him.
Not convinced….Like the fact we have a race to help the bush trainers out, just not 100% sure the set up is right. Haven’t given a lot of thought to it and obviously it can’t be run like the ‘Highway’ races in NSW but just feel there has to be a better way to do it than have a race punters can’t see any footage of to have enough confidence of having a punt. Some horses were $29 into $7, many others $7 out to $17, the moves were enormous and you have no idea when you haven’t seen their races. Be keen to see it looked into and see how we can come up with the best option to run a race or races like this.
Best Jockey? Possibly T.Clark for mine, rode Dark Dream a treat throughout, won on English early on so no shortage of Group wins. Add Perast wins and a few others he had a fill up.
IPSWICH- Congrats to the club for having their track at it’s ABSOLUTE best for it’s one big day, it was outstanding.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Probably not a carnival thing, probably more a QLD racing thing. Just feel that when it comes to racing up here we should be looking at planning track maintenance better (South East Qld specifically). There is no doubt the tracks are at there best when rail is true, or close to true. And there is nothing worse than when the rails are moved way out in Qld, the racing is horrific, speed maps aren’t worth what they printed on as many change tactics. Maybe it’s time for the powers to be to put their heads together and try to work out some sort of ‘circuit’ where a few tracks are used more than the others for a few months and then allowed to under go heavy maintenance to keep them at their top, instead of us running tracks into the ground and moving rails every second meeting. Race with the rail in the right positions for that period and then let the track guys rejuvenate them.
Anyway, that’s just thinking out loud, as I say there are a lot smarter people than I running racing in the state.
