BROWNIE'S BLOG: WHEN CERTAIN OUTCOMES MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE

By Damian Browne | Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Brownie’s Blog is the weekly blog of multiple Group 1 winning jockey Damian Browne. In this edition Brownie shares some of the feedback he has received on last week’s powerful blog relating to apprentices in Queensland. He gives his view on the practise of scheduling qualifying races for upcoming feature events … on the pros and cons of the new Eagle Farm track … and on the consideration being given to splitting Saturday’s two-year-old race, a decision which, if taken will have a significant effect on the Magic Millions Order Of Entry. This Brownie’s Blog – exclusive to HRO.

Firstly, it seems last week’s blog on the current state of apprentices in Queensland sparked quite a reaction.

For those who’ve asked … I even had Brent Thomson ring me and he went through quite a few things that he had been doing and the way things are done in England and we exchanged a number of emails.

Everybody has got an opinion about the subject I guess and it’s probably hard to line them all up.

To answer another question … no, I didn’t hear anything from Racing Queensland. I also asked Brent about that as well and he had not received a phone call from Racing Queensland.

I guess it is just another case of a lot of argument but no action.

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I’m not a fan of the ‘win and you are in’ concept whereby the winners of certain designated races become automatic qualifiers for a big race down the track.

If those are the rules then all trainers and connections can do is have a go so my criticism is not directed at them but you'd have hoped that qualification for most big races would not go the way of the Melbourne Cup where one of the qualifying races is the Andrew Ramsden which takes place in May … a long way out from the Cup itself meaning that winner may take the place of a horse more deserving to be there five-and-a-half months later when the actual Cup race comes around.

Now we have the same situation with the Stradbroke with Saturday’s winner of The Gateway, Vega One, being exempt from the ballot for the Stradbroke … which again is a full five-and-a-half months away. It was a great run under a great ride, breaking a course record, but will he be worthy of his place in the line-up come Stradbroke time?

I’m not saying he won’t be … just that I think it would be better if all runners earned their places on current form leading into the big race. Surely you want your best horses at that time in the race.

I think ‘win and you are in’ is a creative idea on paper and it might raise the profile of those qualifying races, but I also feel it is a dangerous concept in a way and you would need to be very careful as to how many free kicks you give into these big feature races.

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The Eagle Farm track is another subject that can produce a two-fold argument.

We went from the abandonment of the Doomben meeting on Friday, after it copped a deluge, to racing at Eagle Farm on a Good 4 and then a Good 3 track on Saturday with two track records being broken.

It is great that the track is racing so well and can handle the weather. That is terrific … but then you have got the other side of the story with regard to genuine wet track horses.

Will this end up meaning that you can’t race them at Eagle Farm?

For example, I understand that a horse, Denarius, was a late scratching due to the firmness of the track. With the weather we are currently going through we can only expect more of that moving into the future.

Some of those connections of the horses racing at Eagle Farm would have been rubbing their hands together with that heavy rainfall of Friday only to come out and find a good track on offer at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Don’t get me wrong, the way the track is playing, particularly its apparent fairness right across the track, is a real positive in general terms but, like everything else, it means different things to different people.

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Lastly … and this might not come to fruition … I believe Racing Queensland is considering splitting the two-year-old race at Eagle Farm on Saturday. If they do it will have a direct, significant impact on the Magic Millions Order Of Entry.

The question is … is it a fair call to do that, or not?

It is crunch time for Magic Millions qualification which is getting to a critical stage. Trainers would have planned and plotted their potential path into these races and to move the goalposts at this late stage and allow somebody to leapfrog up the Order Of Entry is probably only going to please those who would be balloted out of the race originally but who might now have a second bite at the cherry.

I don’t know the criteria for how a race is to be split, but I imagine you can have a scenario where one of the split races ends up being a very, very strong race and the other race could end up being a much weaker contest … which would not be ideal.

What I do know is that it is definitely disappointing to have only have four runners in the Phelan Ready (transferred to today from Friday).

Again, there are just so many variables in play. Trainers work out and pick what they think is the best route for their horse to follow to ensure qualification.

All they can do is have a throw of the dice and see what comes up.

Like everything else in racing, it is a gamble.

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