MY CALL - ALAN THOMAS TIPPED FOR TOP POSITION
By David Fowler | Tuesday, June 7, 2016
David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.
My former colleague Alan Thomas is poised to become Racing Queensland’s thoroughbred representative on the commercial board.
The spot was up for grabs when Jim Rundle was swiftly dumped almost two months ago.
The wheels move slowly but George Street insiders tell me AT is the “pea”.
Thomas retired from race broadcasting last December and only recently returned from an extended USA holiday.
It didn’t go unnoticed him walking the Eagle Farm track last Wednesday and a trip across the road to the Doomben midweek meet.
He would be a popular choice with stakeholders.
A rapport with all sections of the industry through his media involvement is a handy trump card.
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Don’t read anything into the rail being positioned at three metres for Stradbroke day.
Track manager Sean Bridges said the placement is part of a management plan that he doesn’t want to interfere with.
“It will be out to five metres on Tatts Tiara day, then a bit wider for a midweek meet before back to the true on Queensland Cup day (July 9),” he said.
Bridges’ post weekend report of the “new” Eagle Farm was glowing.
“The moisture readings today (Monday) were actually lower than Friday.
Hard, heavy rain is actually a better result for us than light stuff,” he pointed out.
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There is a very good chance of 10 races with an 18 horse capacity in each this weekend.
There were 264 nominations and balloting will be necessary in a few.
And don’t party too hard on Friday night. A 10:50am start seems likely.
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Deanne Panya has been gaining rave reviews for some clever rides in Sydney recently.
Her twin sister Beany caught my eye with a nifty display at Ipswich last Friday.
She cleverly rated Excellent Spirit in front en route to an all-the-way win.
There was enough daring to open up a five length break midrace to get her rivals off the bit but enough gas left at the end.
Apprenticed to Pat Duff with a three kilogram claim, she is certain to be in demand in the next few months.
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The Victoria Racing Club bit the bullet and broke tradition by swapping the Mackinnon and Emirates around for this year’s Spring Carnival.
The move seems logical and gives the old Mackinnon a new lease of life, a tempting target two weeks after the Cox Plate.
But being a true traditionalist, did they have to drop the Mackinnon title?
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