SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: NEW BOARD NEEDS TO BE A TEAM OF EQUALS SERVING IN A SELFLESS MANNER

By Graham Potter | Sunday, April 21, 2013

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

A Racing Minister, Steve Dickson, who hails from the seat of Buderim coupled with the appointment of Sunshine Coast racing identity Peter Boyce to the recently announced Queensland Thoroughbred Racing Board can only bode well for the region.

Of course all four persons involved in the thoroughbred side of things … the Minister, the Chairman of the Board and the two remaining Board members … are there to do what is right for the greater good of racing and not play favourites to any precinct, but history shows it certainly doesn’t do any harm for a particular club or region to have a voice where it can be heard.

Dickson, by his own admission, knows very little about the game he has been called upon to referee. In his own words, when speaking at a trainers’ meeting, Dickson stated he would rely heavily on the advice of Kevin Dixon, the man he has just appointed as chairman of both the Queensland Thoroughbred Racing Board and the Queensland All Codes Racing Industry Board (QACRIB).

It can only be hoped that the newly appointed boards perform their intended function. Like all appointed positions they are there to serve and to carry out their charter in a responsible and selfless manner.

Sadly, it can be argued that all too often the board environment seems to swallow some of its own members and leave behind one person in an all-powerful role.

That has happened before. The consensus in racing was that it should never be allowed to happen again.

So, with the minister seemingly having little more to do other than give the all-important final approval, the onus is now clearly on Kevin Dixon, Peter Boyce and Mike Kelly to gel as a team of equals and to bring their collective expertise to bear on plotting a path that will take racing successfully into the future.

The new board faces a simple equation with a complex solution.

They not only have to deal with pressing matters in a competent matter but they also have to win over a currently largely dissatisfied racing fraternity with their work culture while they are doing that.

The two tasks are so intrinsically meshed together, with one being as important as the other, they are almost impossible to separate.

The good news is that if the board does tackle that dual task with meaning and if they can build that credibility they will have the full force of racing industry stakeholders right behind them.

That has not happened in a long time.

I know most of you out there won’t be holding your breath on that outcome, but think what a difference it could make!

That is the new board’s ultimate challenge.

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Somehow, we all basked in Black Caviar’s glory.

The mare treated us to something special … something unforgettable … and every time she went out and won her race it somehow put a smile on our faces and made us feel a little bit better about life for a little while.

It has been an absolute joy-ride and a privilege to have been part of, even if it was just from a spectator’s vantage point.

Congratulations to the entire Black Caviar team for their superb handling of our champion and I can only join the chorus wishing her everything of the best in her retirement.

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