BROWNIE'S BLOG: THINGS ARE WARMING UP IN THIS VERY UNUSUAL QUEENSLAND WINTER CARNIVAL

By Damian Browne | Thursday, May 21, 2020

There has been a lot of talk about what will happen in the coming weeks in terms of which jockeys will get the coveted Group 1 ride in the Stradbroke because of the unusual circumstances in the way the race will present itself this year.

Interstate jockeys wanting to ride here would have to quarantine for two weeks before being allowed on track and they are running out of time to do so (I think Saturday is the cut off date). Their enthusiasm to come here, I am sure, has not only being dented by that ruling but also by the fact that there are only two Group 1 races up here this year and also that the prize for the feature races that are still left standing in the reduced ‘carnival’ schedule has been drastically reduced.

I think the fact that there is just not enough big racing and the money has stopped is ultimately the reason most of these jockeys will decide not to come. If it was the usual carnival schedule, I think you would have found that half-a-dozen or so jockeys would have been happy to go into quarantine and stay here for an extended period.

Blake Shinn committed himself to the Queensland Carnival last year … arriving early and staying the distance … but it is just not worth it to do that this year for the southern state-based jockeys. For what they would earn just riding at normal race meetings in Melbourne and Sydney during this time … it is just not worth it for them for what is available here now.

While it might not be a cast of the usual suspects, the reality comes down to the age old principle that, whatever the circumstances, you have got to be in the right place at the right time to get the right result … and this year, because of these special circumstances, therein lies an opportunity for those who might not normally get their chance, the hard working people who deserve a crack at a big race instead of having all of the bigger name jockeys sweeping in and getting the prize.

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