MY CALL: LOOKING AT POSSIBLE WINTER CARNIVAL SCHEDULE CHANGES. THE GRAPEVINE IS IN OVERDRIVE

By David Fowler | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

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.

Always be careful what you wish for.

Only late last week in this very space I suggested the appetite for change for the 2020 Winter Carnival feature race placement was likely to be whetted.

The vibe seemed positive between Racing Queensland and Brisbane Racing Club to remove the Queensland Derby from Stradbroke day and relocate it to a fortnight earlier.

That would see a “Derby day” followed by an “Oaks Day” and then “Stradbroke day”.

A beefed-up P.J.O’Shea Stakes (read prizemoney) on Stradbroke day to entice Derby contenders was also under serious consideration.

My view has been the present format works well and this was vindicated by recently-released turnover and attendance figures on this year’s Carnival.

The other concern was moving one or two races cannot be done in isolation and surrounding races could be effected.

But Monday’s Courier-Mail report suggests there is now a push to include another Gold Coast feature card slap bang in the BRC’s current brace of Carnival dates.

How does that sit with the BRC?

The school of thought is that the Magic Million National Broodmare Sale would give leverage to this proposed meeting or vice-versa, I suppose.

If the Gold Coast meet was slated on the Saturday prior to Stradbroke day, where does the Queensland Oaks land? Bundled alongside the Derby a week earlier seems the only alternative.

How does that sit with the BRC?

There had been chatter for a feature mares’ race to be the lynchpin for this hypothetical Gold Coast meeting.

But where does that leave the current mares’ feature race schedule that culminates in the Tatts Tiara?

Again, it is like the chess game I referred to last week. A shift or an addition is rarely executed successfully in isolation.

One wonders is there some leaning from the State Government to have kickstarted this Gold Coast push?

It merits thought because the idea seems out of whack to most racing insiders.

What started out as a reasonably complex issue has become a hell of a lot more complicated with this latest idea floated.

More questions than answers.

The BRC board of directors meet this week. You can be certain this topic will be high on the agenda.

More articles