AMATEURS EVENT IN DOUBT

COVID-19 controls hit FNQ’s iconic race day

A TRIPLE whammy caused by COVID-19 has plunged the 2020 Cairns Amateurs carnival into uncertainty.

Restrictions on large gatherings, border closures and poor economic conditions are providing organisers with a tough call to proceed or not. A decision will be made in coming days.

HAVING a trackside bet at one of Cairns’ premier annual social events might be off the cards completely this year.

The Cairns Amateurs racing carnival remains in doubt, with event organisers facing some tough decisions about the event’s viability amid the economic impact and travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 virus pandemic.

On Wednesday following a decision from Racing Queensland, the Cairns Jockey Club announced the Cairns Cup Carnival, usually held in early August, would now be scheduled for the 28th of the month.

At this stage, it was shaping up to be a patron-free event, the club said.

The annual two-day event will be reduced to one day and the prize money pool reduced.

But Cairns Amateurs president Ross Moller told the Cairns Post the date set for Amateurs, held each year around the start of September, was non-negotiable, citing fears of the looming wet season.

“We won’t (be rescheduling) … I am concerned if we did that the weather (could) get worse,” he said.

Mr Moller said a decision on whether to make the 2020 Cairns Amateurs patron-free would be made at a committee meeting in coming days.

He said major considerations would be event sponsorship and the likelihood of southern race fans being able to travel freely across the Queensland border, which currently remains closed.

“You are going to have to start marketing soon if you are going to have (crowds attend) the event,” he said.

Mr Moller said with many tourism-based businesses on rocky ground it would be a challenge to attract sponsorship, compounded by the uncertainty of what COVID-19 restrictions would look like mid September.

“The uncertainly with the borders … (interstate visitors) won’t be able to come or won’t be able to book in advance and that affects our ability to sell the thing,” Mr Moller said.

Cairns Jockey Club GM John Cameron said for the benefit of the Amateurs and the wider community he hoped a patroned event would go ahead. “It’s very important we retain the Cairns Amateurs carnival in what is one of the hardest hit regions from a tourist perspective,” he said.

Mr Cameron said he expected Racing Queensland would reduce the race meeting to a one-day event in a decision expected today.