MY CALL - ONE SUGGESTION WILL HAVE UNIVERSAL BACKING BUT IT STILL WON'T GAIN ANY TRACTION

By David Fowler | Tuesday, July 21, 2015

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.

A return to the old three model code is 100/1 and drifting.

I expect this will be a popular suggestion at the upcoming consultation meetings and embraced by all codes.

One of the few, I might add, that will have universal backing.

The now five-year-old merger has produced few, if any, benefits and the greyhounds have been sent to coventry by the other two codes after their shenanigans earlier in the year.

So an unpicking of the merger emerges as a sure fire winner.

I would agree but it will gain little traction with this Government. It’s not in their DNA.

An overarching board will remain but there needs to be a better conduit between it and the respective codes.

The “individual code” boards dumped in June were gloried advisory groups. They need more firepower to be effective.

Speaking of DNA, selling off assets is also not in their makeup.

And with a real question mark hovering over the value of Deagon, expect the selling of it to be swiftly consigned to the rubbish bin.

Not to imagine the long and protracted fight that would certainly ensue from the trainers.

And I’m tipping the Deagon residents would be well against it.

RQ’s present problem is a budgetary one to be fixed by belt tightening.

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Many stakeholders still can’t reconcile the blowout figures announced compared to the buoyant mood of a year ago.

Don’t hurt your heads. It’s too complicated

It seems the previous Board’s strategy was to invest now and recoup later. Some speculation obviously involved.

The KPMG bean counters don’t entertain such liberal enterprise and have taken an ultra hard-nosed view.

There’s probably plenty of room in the middle to negotiate but that’s a scenario that’s not going to happen.

I’ve heard to word “consultation” many times in past years.

Generally, those consulted get an opportunity to speak and that’s where it ends.

The real difficulty in this “consultation” being meaningful is you’re being asked what do you least want to keep rather than what do you want.

It’s like starting off a 10m handicap at the trots.

David Fowler