THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - A WAY TO ENSURE A GREATER RETURN TO THE INDUSTRY

By Graham Potter | Sunday, July 27, 2014

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

Logic seldom provides a full-proof path to follow in life but it does allow a useful point of reference as we move along our journey and now would be as good a time as any to use that point of reference to gain some insight into the on-going, long and loud call for prize-money increases in Queensland.

Let’s start with a ‘given’. Prize-money is intrinsically linked to betting turnover. That revenue stream dictates what level of prize-money the racing authority can afford to pay. The higher the turnover, the greater the capacity becomes to increase prize-money. It’s not rocket science.

So when Racing Queensland and TattsBet drum out a deal (good or bad) that allows for a possible greater return to the industry linked to any growth in the TattsBet turnover, that should give pause for thought and pose a question or two.

Again, it is not rocket science. If you bet on TattsBet, you are directly supporting the Queensland Racing industry, hopefully helping it grow to a point where those vital and much longed for prize-money increases can be afforded and implemented.

That’s the thought.

Now here’s the question.

How many of those owners and trainers and other participants calling for prize-money increases in Queensland, who have a gamble, bet on TattsBet?

I’m not for a minute suggesting they must do so. A punter’s mission is not only to make money but to make as much money as possible, hence, he or she is absolutely entitled to use the betting outlet which is going to give the superior return. That is their prerogative.

What I am suggesting though is that if you are one of those clamouring for increased prize-money in Queensland and you do not bet with the Racing Queensland / TattsBet partnership moving forward … then you cannot cry, complain or criticise the level of prize-money in Queensland.

The members of that club simply cannot go their own way for their own benefit and then expect to put pressure on Racing Queensland to operate on a level that the racing authority cannot afford, in part, because they are not being supported by the very people applying that pressure.

That’s the logic anyway, but as indicated life seldom follows that course.

No matter how the argument is approached though, two facts stand firm.

The deal between Racing Queensland and TattsBet is the deal. No amount of dissecting is going to change it … and, Victoria and New South Wales will always be the premier racing states. No amount of shuffling of statistics will alter that fact. Case closed.

So, we can either continue with fruitless arguments about the former or continue to make comparisons which are of no real consequence about the latter, or we could just play on with the cards we’ve been dealt and try to turn it into a winning hand for industry participants in Queensland.

I would have thought that was a no-brainer, but then that pre-supposes that most racing participants want the best for the industry.

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