OBE UNPLUGGED - BONUS INCENTIVES WOULD HELP LIFT THE STANDARD OF OUR SUMMER FEATURE RACES

By Mark Oberhardt | Monday, December 10, 2012

Mark Oberhardt has been a racing and sports reporter for 40 years. He has written racing for the Courier Mail, Brisbane Telegraph, Sydney Sunday Telegraph, Sportsman, Australian Associated Press, etc. He has also written many sports columns including the Courier Mail’s The Ear. Mark has also been a regular on RadioTAB for 20 years. Mark’s personal blog, Obe Unplugged, will appear every Monday on HRO.

THE Meynink and McDougall Stakes two-year-old feature races are upon us and they will again be a major lead up to the Magic Millions carnival.

However, the question is whether the races will attract the attention of southern trainers.

Both the Meynink and the McDougall are $100,000 black type races. The boost to prize-money in the south means they are not as lucrative as once upon a time for southern trainers trying to qualify for the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic.

NSW has provided about 75 percent of Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classics race winners in the past decade. It means almost all of them have qualified for the race in the south and almost all of the time in Sydney.

I would like to see some more Sydney horses come north earlier and try to qualify through our races and in particular the Meynink and the McDougall. They have been wonderful races over the past 100 years and have produced a string of champion horses.

In recent times they have been moved from their traditional spots at the start of the two-year-old racing season. The races are now positioned as lead-ups to the Magic Millions in December.

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One way to attract NSW and for that matter all interstate horses would be to put a Magic Millions bonus on both races.

The MM group do a wonderful job with promotions at tracks such as Wyong in NSW and Ballarat in Victoria.

The prize-money for the Magic Millions is already world class but an extra $100,000 for the connections in the form of a bonus would never go astray. It could be for a horse winning both races the Meynink or McDougall and the Millions.

Perhaps, we could even have a special bonus for a trainer which would also be an incentive to run horses here.

There is a big problem in that Victoria has not provided a Magic Millions winners in years. I am told that is a natural flow on from the fact not too many Victorian horses come for the race.

It was therefore a good idea to have a special race at Ballarat where the runners actually went our clockwise direction.

Any type of promotion to get the very best horses here is worthwhile.

I wonder how many southern trainers actually know about the Meynink and the McDougall races.

It wouldn't hurt to give them a boost via advertising next year.

The Millions is again shaping as one of the highlights of the year with several smart Brisbane two years about to begin their quest for the big prize. But to have Sydney and Melbourne horses here a month early can only generate more publicity.

I know money is tight but, as we keep saying, to make a buck you have to spend a buck.

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That brings me to another subject which has been the talk of the racetracks and the TABs - the number of meetings.

It is getting to the stage that you can bet 24 hours around the clock.

Take Friday … there were the usual afternoon offerings, then twilight meetings which were followed by the night meetings. Most nights you can bet into the wee hours on European or American race meetings. Last Wednesday you could even go to 1am for Happy Valley.

The point is that the average punter is swamped by race meetings.

They just don't have the cash to bet all day.

I can see where the TABs and off-course bookies are coming from. They are in a battle for the gambling dollar against the big lotto, keno and poker machine push. It has turned racing into a giant keno game.

By that I mean if you throw in dogs and pacing you can have a bet about every minute. The problem with that is the average bloke can't comprehend it all.

It again raises the question of whether we should be going for quality and not quantity.

I have had my say - less racing but more prize-money and a better standard.

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My opinion has gone down like a lead balloon but a lot of the problems associated with racing are a spin off from too much betting. It will be interesting to see where things are in a decade.

I just hope it is the doom predicted by some who reckon we will be betting on Sydney, Melbourne and overseas meetings, with the other centres a thing of the past.

I am sure that won't happen but we should be looking at ways to personalise racing and not dehumanise it.

Mark Oberhardt