’Broken system’ targeted
CAIRNS trainers and administrators have voiced their frustration with the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission and its “broken system” after Thursday’s Cannon Park race meeting was unable to be rescheduled due to a “staffing issue”.
QRIC stewards and local officials walked the track late on Tuesday afternoon and determined there was no possibility the eight-race TAB meeting could proceed on Thursday, with 450mm of rainfall in the Cairns region in the 72 hours prior to the inspection.
Cairns Jockey Club general manager John Cameron said there was a chance the meeting would be rescheduled to Monday, April 26, but that plan had to be abandoned due to a lack of stewards in the region on the day.
“We couldn’t get three stewards from anywhere in Queensland, despite there only being one race meeting scheduled for that race day,” Cameron said.
“No matter how you look at it, it’s probably an outcome that stakeholders would struggle with, to suddenly no longer be able to get $150,000 worth of prizemoney.
“For a club like ourselves to lose a race date and not be able to have a replacement within a reasonable time — on a public holiday, which are normally premium dates to race on — you would say it’s a horrible outcome for both the club and the stakeholders.
“The only reason we couldn’t race (on Monday) that I’ve been advised of was that we couldn’t get three stewards to the track to assist with running the meeting.
“We have two based up here, we’ve got at least three at Townsville, plus whatever else you’ve got throughout the whole of Queensland, but the system is that broken that it could not service an extra race day — the only TAB race day that was proposed on the public holiday.
“We’re really happy from one perspective that QRIC staffed us with two stewards, and we think it’s a huge asset to have them here permanently, but we were of the opinion it was a positive way in which we could avoid this situation going forward, and on this occasion it hasn’t.”
It’s understood one of the Cairns-based stewards Paul Gillard will be on duty at Mt Isa on the Monday.
Cameron acknolwedged, in hindsight, a rescheduled Monday meeting may have also suffered the same fate, with wet weather lingering in the region, but said it was the principle of it all.
“The point is we’re in trouble from a staffing perspective if the racing industry is held to ransom over the availability or unavailability of stewards,” he said.
“We’re a Tier 1 race track, we should be treated as a Tier 1 race track. If another Tier 1 race track like the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast Turf Club were suddenly not able to race on an alternative date solely because you couldn’t get stewards in, you’d say the system was broken.
“There needs to a better attitude from QRIC to service the industry better so that clubs and stakeholders are not as disadvantaged as we have been on this occasion.”
Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham said it was “ludicrous”.
“We’ve got $150,000 worth of prizemoney gone begging because QRIC can’t supply three stewards,” he said.
“There’s quite a few trainers that aren’t happy.”
Acting commissioner of the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission Mark Ainsworth said the commission did everything possible to facilitate rescheduled race meetings and was in full support of race clubs around the state.
“It is not possible to reschedule on this occasion due to race commitments over the weekend and the following day throughout Queensland, including a race meeting at Mt Isa that was rescheduled from April 24 to April 26,” he said. “The commission must adhere to workplace safety and fatigue management guidelines for all its staff.”
“Several dates in May have been offered to Racing Queensland as alternatives for a rescheduled race meeting in Cairns.”