MY CALL: WHEN THE COMPLAINTS BECAME TOO HARD TO IGNORE. BRC CARNIVAL TAKEN AWAY FROM EAGLE FARM

By David Fowler | Tuesday, May 30, 2017

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.

Racing Queensland probably made the right decision in transferring the remainder of the BRC Carnival to Doomben.

But I would mark the call a lot closer than most who thought there was no other solution on the table.

The volley of complaints from industry members was hard to ignore.

Unlike party racegoers, these people are in the business day in and day out. They put the show on and expect a level playing field, literally in this case.

Horses beaten by colossal margins and staggering across the finish line was not a good look.

And Racing Queensland, as the custodians of the industry, was not prepared to turn a blind eye and see this story drag on and on for the next fortnight.

A PR disaster could only get potentially uglier.

******************************************************************************************************

But I firmly believe the Brisbane Racing Club had a strong case to prosecute to keep the show rolling at Eagle Farm.

Punters were consistently informed from as early as Tuesday the track would be a heavy 8 and it played exactly to that assessment.

The track was safe and the turnover was comparable to the corresponding meeting of last year.

Would such an outrage occurred if the meeting was held in mid-March or mid-July? Of course not.

However that has to be balanced with the fact that this was a meeting attracting the national spotlight.

The BRC is fortunate to have Doomben at hand but the shift will still be financially disastrous.

Some critics either naively or deliberately ignore race clubs have commercial considerations. A race meeting is more than just running the races.

So BRC were entitled to meet with RQ head on and launch a strong case to retain Eagle Farm, despite what many think.

I can fully understand both sides of the argument.

*****************************************************************************************************

Social media became obsessive about the issue.

But this isn't new.

Twitter, particularly, plays to what I call the "pile-on" effect.

The initial criticism begins and then rather then a constructive argument developing, it's just the same after the same.

And woe betide if someone has an alternative viewpoint whether it's on the Twitter feed or in another media forum.

I've been in that position on more than occasion and it ain't pretty.

******************************************************************************************************

There was great store in Kerrin McEvoy's quote after the first that it was the worst track he had ridden on.

It would be one of those "brush past" moments when journalists get a grab.

Understandably, they lapped up this gem and it was reproduced extensively.

All good you'd say. But ...

When it was announced Eagle Farm was off the table, McEvoy tweeted "please be Sunshine Coast. ... Doomben is half length behind EF"

Really? A tweet with totally no foundation.

Fair to say the Saturday assessment lost a stack of credibility after the Sunday tweet.

But I'm yet to see anyone call McEvoy out on it.

You're an outstanding rider Kerrin. Stick to it.

David Fowler