DOOMBEN STANDOFF SHOOTS RACING IN THE FOOT

By Graham Potter | Thursday, July 7, 2011

The standoff between Racing Queensland Limited (RQL) and the Brisbane Racing Club (BRC) which marred the meeting at Doomben yesterday was an untimely test of strength which arguably further damaged the already worrying image of the industry in the state.

The views of many of the paying customers at the track won’t be repeated here because of the course nature of the language involved. Suffice to say that if their comments were played on any radio station the bleeps would deafen the listener.

So, if nothing else, the exercise was a public relations disaster of major proportions as the ‘leaders’ of the industry had their playground stouch while their business was sidelined (albeit, thankfully, only temporarily) and their customers ignored (which according to some comments made yesterday is just par for the course).

So what happened to cause the latest furore? Who’s to bless and who’s to blame? This is how the unfortunate episode unfolded. You make your own call.

On Tuesday, RQL sent a letter of notification to the BRC (along with all other race-clubs) in which it changed the status quo with regard to the licencing conditions … on two fronts … as it pertained to the individual race-clubs.

In the first instance, it altered course in terms of the timeframe in which existing licence, under which the BRC had been operating all year, was valid. That licence was originally issued and paid up for a full calender year and was due to expire at the end of December 2011.

RQL had seemingly decided to supersede its own agreement and replace it with new ruling which brought a new licencing agreement into play with all clubs needing to be re-licenced from July 1, the start of the new financial year.

In the second instance RQL changed the conditions under which clubs may operate its business. These changes reflected, to a significant degree, a shift in control which gave RQL more power over race-club activities, particularly those activities not directly related to racing. Such events were formerly under the club’s sole jurisdiction.

Prior to the Tuesday notification, the BRC Board claim to have had no knowledge of the changes being proposed. That Board’s view is that the BRC had been given one day’s notice in which to sign a new, revised licencing contract when they were not happy with some of the new conditions and without being granted any opportunity to discuss the points of difference with QRL.

With the new contract replacing the old from July 1 and with that contract not being signed BRC was now a club without a licence. In these circumstances public safety issues and insurances alone precluded the BRC from continuing with the meeting.

The club chairman, Kevin Dixon, believed there was an easy-fix to the problem. If they could race under the old, existing contract, the meeting could comfortably go ahead. However, if RQL insisted that a prerequisite for the meeting to go ahead was that BRC sign for the new licence, the meeting would not take place as the club could not agree to do that without some consultation taking place on the points about which the club was unhappy.

RQL said ‘sign’. BRC said ‘no’. That was the stalemate that race-goers ran into as the time for the first race at Doomben came and went.

They stood around stupefied at the futility of it all while they waited for either QRL or BRC to blink.

The horses were ready to go. The jockeys and trainers were ready to go. Hard-core punters were in place … but the track had suddenly become a ‘no-go’ zone.

In the blue corner, Kevin Dixon was on the phone for much of the time. While Jamie Orchard was Dixon’s sparring partner in the red corner, there was little, if any, direct contact between the two, with Chief Steward Wade Birch, either by design or by default, acting as some sort of intermediary.

Things got worse before they got better. RQL continued to insist BRC accept the new deal before any meeting could go ahead. BRC insisted that RQL back-down from that standpoint and allow the pervious status quo to remain in place for the day so that the meeting could continue.

Another call. Another demand. Then it escalated all the way to Dixon telling Birch that any attempt by RQL to take over the meeting, after it is believed the stewards were instructed to proceed with the meeting by RQL, would result in him ordering the RQL officials out and having them escorted off the track, which is BRC property. That was Dixon’s final offer.

Then followed the wait for the RQL decision. When word came down that RQL had relented, all that was required was for an e-mail confirming that fact to arrive at the BRC offices and the meeting was on!

The spin doctors immediately went to work.

Dixon who, to his credit, had kept the press informed every step of the way, gave his final report. QRL issued its own press release and a response to the day’s events was equally quickly forthcoming from The Queensland Racehorse Owners Association.

Printing press releases is an overrated space filler. In most instances they reflect a biased viewpoint from the supplier and thus have only limited value as opposed to coverage which looks at the big picture but, for those who find importance in such things, the comments of the main players in this episode are printed below.

What you won’t find there, as already mentioned, is the comments of racing’s customers.

Their point of view would be devoid of all double-talk and would cut to the chase in graphic terms, if their views of yesterday’s proceedings are an any example.

The customers are entitled to be angry. That is their prerogative. The authorities on the other hand, do not have that priviledge. They just have an obligation having been charged with the responsibility of overseeing the smooth running of the industry.

Surely it is time they did so!

Comments from Kevin Dixon and Press Releases from QRL and QROA.

Kevin Dixon (Chairman of the BRC):
“Racing Queensland initially said we must operate under the new license or not at all. So we had to say, in that case, it was not at all. The reason being that the new licence has conditions that we don’t agree with. Some of the terms and conditions in the new licence are not acceptable to us.

“We have never had the opportunity to discuss those … or negotiate … or compromise on those with Racing Queensland. We asked for an opportunity to discuss those conditions and to be allowed to continue under the licence we have held since January 1 and they initially refused that.

“If they didn’t allow us to operate under our old licence, the legality of the situation is that we, as a club, become unlicenced and we can’t operate a race meeting unlicenced. It effects any number of things.

“It was never our choice not to have the meeting, but we simply couldn’t go ahead without a licence.

“I must point out that we only received the correspondence yesterday afternoon. We were back to Racing Queensland within two hours of receiving that correspondence. That’s all the time we’ve been given.

“I would hope that most of those differences can be discussed and negotiated so that we can come to some resolution that we are both happy with, it’s just that we haven’t had the opportunity to do that yet. I would hope that the inconvenience of today be short and temporary."

QRL Press Release (06/07/11).

Clarification regarding delayed start at Doomben today.
Earlier today, the Brisbane Racing Club (BRC) advised Racing Queensland Limited (RQL) that it was considering not proceeding with its scheduled race meeting on the basis that it disagreed with conditions on its renewed licence and it was of the view that its previous licence should continue.

In fact, BRC's previous licence expired on June 30, 2011. While RQL had intended toward the end of 2010 to move to a calendar year licence (and in fact received applications and payment of fees from clubs on that basis), given the events of January 2011that did not eventuate and instead clubs were issued with licences from July 1, 2011 in accordance with the practice of previous years. Accordingly, BRC's only licence was that which operated from July 1, 2011.

While BRC was prepared to abandon the meeting, RQL, acting in the interests of all stakeholders to have the meeting proceed, advised BRC that the licence would operate from July 1, 2011 in the same terms as its previous licence until such time as it had the opportunity of discussing the operation of the new licence.

QROA Press Release (06/07/11).

Disruption to race meetings unacceptable.
The disruption at today's Doomben meeting due to a licence dispute between Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Racing Club is totally unacceptable according the Queensland Racehorse Owners' Association (QROA).

"Owners are sick and tired of the hostility between Racing Queensland and some race clubs," said QROA president Grant Morgan.

"If this is going to boil over into race meetings being disrupted, owners have the right to be totally disenchanted with the people running the sport.

"There is a desperate need in our industry for the powers within the Queensland racing industry to find some common ground and get past these sorts of issues.

"It seems that both sides of the hostility are looking to the next state election as a cure all and we fear it will be a war of attrition until then.

"If this type of argy bargy continues, many owners may not stick around until next March."

The QROA will seek further information on the licence dispute between Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Racing Club, whilst demanding that no race meetings be impacted until the dispute is resolved.

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