There has been a decision made in QLD racing that I’d like to touch on. You may have read it in the breeding news update.
*There has been a prizemoney increase in QLD… That’s right, you’re not hearing things. Brad Davidson went over it quickly in his Gold Coast Bulletin article Monday. Brad said the $8400 to the winner of a midweek race has been an embarrassment, and I couldn’t find a better word for it!
Just to put it in perspective —This Thursday in NSW they race at Wyong for $10,440 to the winner + $5000 on top of that for BOBS eligible horses. On Friday they race at Ballina and Wagga and at each of those meetings the winners receive $6500 + $5000 for BOBS eligible horses.
That is embarrassing when they are racing for around the same money (or more) in the bush of a Friday as what we are racing for at our midweek races, which are our second strongest events for the week in our state.
It really hits home when you compare the NSW midweek meeting where they race for $17,550 + $10,000 on top of that for BOBS horses! You can expect that to increase in coming years also.
We have been the laughing stock for far too long, and this is a step in the right direction. There is still a hell of a long way to go. I can’t see it ever getting to the stage it should be at, but this just may help keep a few owners and trainers interested for a while longer to see if even more announcements are made in the near future.
You only have to look at those figures that we are up against to see why people are choosing to race horses interstate. You have to win three midweek races in Brisbane at the moment to get close to covering the costs for training your horse for 12 months, and I can tell you they are not easy to win!
The new government and the new Racing Queensland team have acted quickly and they deserve a pat on the back. It is incredible how much they have changed and are looking at changing in such a short time from taking over from the old people who ran the racing in our state. It has been a welcomed change from all participants, but let’s just hope there is more to come?
Fingers crossed.