MY CALL: THE REPORT IS IN AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE EAGLE FARM TRACK NEVER REALLY STOOD A CHANCE

By David Fowler | Tuesday, August 8, 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.

Honestly, the Eagle Farm track never really had a chance.

The gun was loaded on so many fronts that any long term success was highly unlikely.

Finger pointing aside, several factors stand out like beacons on a hill.

The wrong type of sand with a type of grass that has limitations from a horseracing point of view.

Apparently, “sprigging” instead of “sodding” the grass was a dubious path to take.

And a warning bell should have immediately sounded when Racing Queensland cut the budget from $12.7 million to $10 million.

And this is all before even a ball was bowled!

Maintenance squabbles can be considered but they only play a bit part in the whole scheme of things.

The recommendation to run 25 meetings in the first year of use is common sense rather than visionary.

But it’s worth putting on the table.

And a six week break for annual repair, slated from late August to mid-October also makes sense.

An interesting fact I noted is that Flemington only runs 24 meetings annually.

The contractual requirement for Eagle Farm and Doomben to run almost a 100 between them surely needs to be discussed.

One point regarding the pathway to the future puzzles me.

The need for “angular” sand rather than the “rounded” variety for the track base seems a cornerstone recommendation but it comes with the disclaimer “if it can be sourced”.

Well either it can or it can’t, surely!

Is a sand profile correct, is the budget ($1 to $1.5m) too skinny and is the resumption date (April) too optimistic are questions raised and will play out for sometime.

But, at least for the moment, it’s now time to move forward.

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I have been high in praise for the Queensland Official Price service or the “QOP”.

The snapshot of the whole betting landscape through the fluctuations paints a more accurate guide than simply sourcing on-track fielders.

But they lost some gloss at Ipswich on Friday when they declared a deduction of 4c in the win dollar after a $2.60 favorite was scratched at the barrier.

It should have been more like 30c but the mistake went unchecked.

And it appears as fact in the QRIC stewards’ report.

Further, the operation only kicks in 20 minutes before each race so a late scratching at, say 25 minutes before, is not acknowledged as such.

What are on-course bookies supposed to do? Make up their own deductions?

David Fowler