THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: LATE NIGHT FINISH SHOWS A LACK OF RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION

By Graham Potter | Friday, September 15, 2017

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.

Night racing returns to Corbould Park tonight and extends deep into the evening with the last race scheduled to jump at ... wait for it ... five past ten.

Now there can be no doubt that, when the weather plays along over the summer months, the Sunshine Coast Turf Club is an ideal venue for an evening of racing.

The view on arrival as you turn the final corner and look down at the floodlit track is enticing. Once inside the ambiance is comfortable and the floodlights bring a different dimension to the racing action.

BUT ... racing until five past ten at night!

Seriously?

Do the people responsible for race scheduling know anything about how a racing stable operates? Do they know what time stable staff starts work in the morning ... that is every morning, including the one directly after a night meeting?

Race at five past ten at night and then travel from the Sunshine Coast back to Toowoomba ... as the Ben Currie stable will do tonight if they accept in the last race ... and 225km later they are already into the next morning, just a couple of hours shy from the alarm clock going off!

Talk about health and safety concerns!

Sure, stables can put more staff on so that different staff can be on different shifts but that increases overheads, a detail that few stables can afford.

Then there is that old chestnut ... if you don’t like it you don’t have to run your horse at a night meeting.

Trainers could well adopt that view if there were other similar, suitable race options for their runners. That is not always the case ... some would say seldom ... but now we are entering the world of race programming and, believe me, you don’t really want to go there.

And, of course, there are the horses to consider. Why is it necessary to take them so far out of their routine?

In fact, how does late night racing impact on a jockey’s routine, given their increasing workload and demanding lifestyle?

So there is one last question I have to ask.

Where is the respect and consideration for the stakeholders and players who actually put on the show?

I couldn’t find any!