BROWNIE'S BLOG: THE RACING INDUSTRY IS DOING A GREAT JOB BUT IT IS NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

By Damian Browne | Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The good news is that Australia appears to be starting to flatten the coronavirus curve. The more sobering news is we still have a long way to go in our fight against this globally devastating pandemic.

The racing industry did stumble for a couple of strides a few weeks ago while it was awaiting the medical test results on jockey Mark Zahra. Thankfully, the industry was then able to breathe a collective sigh of relief when Zahra’s test came back negative for the coronavirus … but that whole episode did go to show that it won’t take much to close racing down.

And the industry isn’t just at risk of somebody within the industry contracting the virus. It is also vulnerable to official state government directives such as the ruling made by the Premier of Tasmania who suddenly shutdown racing in that state just a week after the Zahra issue was resolved. That decision was made without there being any virus issues within the industry itself, but rather on a general public safety platform.

That vulnerability for racing still remains on both fronts.

Having said that, racing authorities have to be commended for all they have done … and are doing … to prevent the spread of the virus. We all know how quickly the virus can spread and how it can get out of control, yet racing, which has many thousands of participants directly involved in the game, is the only sport still going.

To have only had one little scare at the moment reflects positively on both the outstanding protocols that have been put in place and the participants willingness to adhere to the restrictions imposed on them.

I have been critical on occasions of Racing Queensland and how they can be slow about getting things done but, in this instance, working in very trying times, they have been on the front foot and been proactive and I have got to commend them for that.

You do try to remain positive and the actions of both the authorities and the participants have given reason to remain positive, but the problem, of course, is that for all of the good work that is being done the situation could change in an instant. That’s the cloud racing is living under at the moment and nobody can rest on their laurels.

They always say that when you are riding you should ride each race as if it is your last. That sentiment has probably never been as relevant as it is now because racing could be shut down halfway through a meeting which is why we should just enjoy every race-day we can get through at the moment.

That’s not being negative. It is just staying in touch with the reality of the situation.

That reality makes it pretty hard to comment on things moving forward because nobody can even really tell you what is going to happen tomorrow.

As much as racing needs turnover to survive, the worrying side of things now is that you have to hope that people who have lost their jobs and who are short of money don’t try to punt their way out of it. They might not see the light at the end of the tunnel and think if they could back a few winners it might help but, if anybody is in that position, I hope they realise that is not a good idea.

I want to put that out there as a word of caution.

Lastly, like everybody else, my family’s life has changed. I am a home teacher now. My wife Kim is a nurse and she is putting in some long hours at the moment and working bloody hard, so my job now is getting all of the house clean, doing the washing, preparing lunches, giving classes and taking the kids out for PE.

At the time of writing I’ve got one doing an exam in the office. I’ve the other one in another room doing science. I’ve just organised their lunches, so it will be gym after this and then a walk around the block. They don’t exactly get right into the PE so I have to be quite forceful.

I guess I’ve been practising for self-isolation for pretty much a year now since I stopped riding so I’m probably more used to it than most.

It’s still a tough adjustment for anybody though and I wish you all well as we all try to get through these tough times together.

Stay safe!

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