THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - THE COAST DOES ITSELF PROUD AT QUEENSLAND RACING AWARDS

By Graham Potter | Sunday, October 18, 2015

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.

Sunshine Coast based riders did themselves proud at the Queensland Racing Thoroughbred Awards function held at Doomben on Monday night with Damian Browne and Luke Tarrant walking away with the coveted Queensland Jockey of the Year title and the Ken Russell Queensland Apprentice of the Year award respectively.

For Damian Browne it was a case of justice being a long time coming.

As this column noted at the time, Browne was very much short-changed at last year’s awards but on this occasion he got a clear run and duly arrived when it mattered most with some panache, as he does in many of his winning rides.

Whether it be temperament or talent, Browne is the consummate, seasoned professional and there are many reasons to applaud his success. Few awards could be more thoroughly deserved.

For apprentice Luke Tarrant it was another accolade for a young talent who for so long threatened to run away with the Brisbane Metropolitan Jockey’s Premiership before his challenge became derailed late in the campaign.

It was still a magnificent season for the youngster, not least due to his stunning victory aboard Le Chef in the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic.

Le Chef in fact took out the Queensland Two-Year-Old of the Year title. That was another win for the win for the Sunshine Coast. Credit local trainer Darryl Hansen.

Not a bad return for a provincial racing precinct!

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Talking about Magic Millions, after the early nominations for the big raceday, there can be no doubt about what a little financial incentive can do for a race-day’s profile.

Ok, it is not a little financial incentive because in January the Magic Millions will become the richest raceday in Australia with no less than $10 million prize-money on offer over nine races.

Some, probably quite rightly, will continue to debate the controversial funding model adopted by Racing Queensland for a private sales company’s raceday, but, for the players it is ‘game on’ in a big way.

Little surprise then that connections with possible genuine contenders as well as those with reasonable hopes right the way through to those playing ‘lucky dip’ all want to keep the dream alive for just that little bit longer ... hence the weight of numbers in the nominations.

For example, a total of 789 entries have been received for the MM Two-Year-Old Classic, including no less than 53 from the Gai Waterhouse stable. The Three-Year-Old Guineas has attracted 388 entries at first call, 48 of which are from the Waterhouse yard.

Waterhouse is merely used as an example. Other big stables also have large numbers of entries to the degree that you would be forgiven for questioning whether the smaller trainer has any hope at all in these races.

But then you go back to what Darryl Hansen did with Le Chef last year or what another Sunshine Coast trainer Natalie McCall did with River Lad in the Stradbroke and you can have a quiet smile to yourself, safe in the knowledge that whatever the rights and wrongs within the industry, racing still has a mystique of its own in which even the smaller stables can have their day in the sun.

There are no guarantees for anyone ... and nobody would want it any other way!

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