Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
Brendan ‘Pins’ Parnell is the CEO of Racing Queensland, the control body for harness racing in the Sunshine State. He is paid more than half a million dollars a year in the role. Uncle Shank is a young pacer. 18 months ago he was the subject of a high profile (in the industry) controversy over […]
The feature piece on apprentice rider Alisha Ross that you see in the photo at the top is published in the December edition of Race Magazine, the Racing Queensland publication that we old timers used to know as the calendar. There is a slight problem with the timing. Two months ago at the start of […]
Synthetic race tracks have been tried and failed before in the Sunshine State, on more than one occasion. No-one wants them, and even fewer want to race on them. That didn’t stop the gurus from Racing Queensland spending $9 million to build another one, success never having been a key performance indicator for government desk […]
This is the full list of scratchings for the Brisbane metropolitan meeting transferred to the synthetic track at the Sunshine Coast today because of the rain. Do you reckon Racing Queensland still think that its new wet weather meeting transfer policy is a winner? As long as it generates some betting turnover, probably. Not many […]
Racing Queensland has transferred its second meeting in a week to the poly track at the Sunshine Coast. As it was in the first episode of Synth Mania, there have already been mass scratchings. Come 7.00am this morning there will be many more. Anyone who watches international racing regularly will know that when it comes […]
For the umpteenth time this year the photo finish equipment at a regional Queensland race meeting has failed or not worked from the start. In the year 2021 this is just totally unacceptable. It is unfair to owners, trainers and punters, and it just makes Queensland racing and the people who run it look fools. […]
You have got to be good to let a field go without telling the riders, and do it while one of them is not even on their horse. I’m not blaming Larry Lewis, the starter at Clermont who did it in the 3rd race yesterday afternoon. He’s just a race loving bloke who works at […]
This is recent CCTV camera from a Rockhampton pub. The bloke who gets whacked is Nathan ‘Grubby’ Day. He’s the good guy here. The bad guy is trainer Jamie McConaghy, the fella who hits him, gets ejected, and then comes back for a second crack while the bouncer’s back is turned. How it unfolds is […]
The Apprentices Cup was held at Gatton yesterday. This time honoured race is a big deal for the kids, who get to pit their skills against each other head to head in a race unencumbered by senior jockeys, in a battle against their peers. It’s a bit like your own child’s school graduation ceremony. It’s […]
Has the world gone mad? Or has Racing Queensland? RQ is a Statutory Body set up under State Government legislation. It is run by a board comprised of members appointed by the Government. All of its functions, including the parameters of its financial management and operations, are regulated by Government instruments. It reports to the […]
