MY CALL: WERE THE JOCKEYS WRONG ABOUT THE 'NO GO ZONE' AT EAGLE FARM LAST SATURDAY?
By David Fowler | Tuesday, July 19, 2016
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.
Did Eagle Farm jockeys feel foolish when Meteorologist hugged the rail to win the last on Saturday?
This was the part of the track that jockeys had made their minds up would be a "no go zone" before the meet even got underway.
Evidence to support such an assertion? Well I'm yet to hear of any.
Rather than shift to a well worn path out wider, Travis Wolfgram rolled the dice and darted home to win on a section of the track unused since Stradbroke day.
Yet another day where jockeys' riding patterns dictated the public opinion of the Eagle Farm track.
It wasn't quite as bad as the overreach at the June 25 meeting when there was that mad rush to the outside rail.
Hey, I'm no jockey and their judgement might be right.
But Meteorologists win certainly delivered a big question mark on that suggestion.
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Is there a need for Brisbane Racing Club officials to provide more information to knock some of this speculation out of the ballpark?
Maybe penotrometer readings inside and outside will put an end to this peddled nonsense that the inside is "off"
Meteorologists win clearly illustrated that to be a myth but finding out by the last race is too late for punters.
Again the question begs, "why did jockeys avoid the fence area from the first race"?
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The criticism that the track "fell apart" from a soft 5 to a heavy 9 demonstrates an uneducated response from many who should know better.
Any track manager worth his salt will tell you light rain or drizzle during race day is a worst case scenario.
The rain just lies on the surface compared to swifter drainage if say one or two inches falls in a short space of time.
And there was no better example of comparison than the Albion Park trot meeting that followed Eagle Farm.
The light rain created a mudheap. It's a fact of life. New Eagle Farm or old Eagle Farm.
The Eagle Farm track soap opera has been a PR nightmare for the BRC but clearly heightened by pre-conceived "groupthink" and ill-informed post race comment.
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There was a fair groundswell of agreement with last week's item regarding moving the Queensland Cup back to its original November timeslot.
A further thought could be to make it the "final" of a stayer’s series, a concept that has worked well for Racing Queensland in the past.
Heats could be run over 2200 to 2400 metres before, say, a $150,000 final, a figure that could lure stayers not good enough for the Sydney or Melbourne spring.
Worth a thought.
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