Upset as Amateurs falls at first hurdle
REIGNING winner Stephen Massingham has questioned why the 2020 Cairns Amateurs Cup could not have been run without crowds and lesser prizemoney like other NQ Cups.
Racing Queensland released the northern feature program last week with Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton all running their carnivals later this year behind closed doors and with a reduced purse.
The Amateurs Cup will be the anomaly of the annual northern series, deciding to cancel this year’s annual event with the future uncertain during current COVID-19 restrictions. Cairns’ Massingham, who has won the last two Amateurs Cup with The Harrovian and Multifacets, thinks the Amateurs committee should have still run a 2020 Cup.
“It is disappointing, we have the other Cups, so why can’t we have them all?,” Massingham said.
“At the end of the day it is now lost prize money, good prize money, that the industry is not getting and able to win.
“If the Amateurs do not have their party, they do not want to put in, that is the problem, as they get plenty out of the racing industry these days but do not want to put in at times.
“Our local club, the Cairns Jockey Club, still needs to run a Cup without crowds, our club has to survive and they are pushing on.”
In place of the 2020 Amateurs Cup, RQ will program a provincial meeting to be conducted by the CJC on Friday, September 11.
Meanwhile, Massingham revealed champion horse The Harrovian is likely to remain in the north in the short term, instead of heading to Brisbane as originally planned.
The Northern Crowns Series
bonus winner is recovering from a small eye injury and will now be targeted towards the Cairns Newmarket on Friday, August 28.
With the Newmarket now a Weight for Age race, The Harrovian will not need to carry massive weights he has copped this year and Massingham believes he will be more than competitive over the 1400m.