MY CALL: INTERSTATE JOCKEY OPTIONS. WHEN EVERY PASSING DAY OF INACTION IS A LOST OPPORTUNITY

By David Fowler | Tuesday, May 26, 2020

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.

Yet another day passes with no attempt to gain “special dispensation” for interstate jockeys to ride at Eagle Farm on Stradbroke day.

Am I missing something here?

Yet a team of Parramatta footballers will steamroll the Queensland border later this week to play the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

An ambitious plan, largely executed by Peter V’Landys, has allowed the NRL to restart with crossing borders included in the equation developed by the NRL and State Governments.

By the way, for the uninitiated, this is simply the third round of their 2020 schedule.

Stradbroke day is Queensland’s biggest race day, already emaciated with savage prizemoney cuts.

The industry copped that on the chin.

Yet they have also demonstrably showed during Sydney’s Championships and Adelaide’s autumn carnival that “black type” is still worth chasing despite the stakemoney funk.

Our “revised” carnival in Queensland is already showing a similar response.

Yet good horses go hand in hand with good jockeys.

And good jockeys are like good horses. They are still happy to have a Group One on their CV despite the reduced size of the purse.

Yet good jockeys, naturally preferred by owners, have been shunned by Racing Queensland, the state’s key administrative body.

If there has been an attempt by RQ to reach out to the State Government and broker a “one day deal” and I don’t know about it, I will happily stand corrected.

As I pointed out on Radio TAB yesterday, you might fall at the first hurdle in the brokering but no one could accuse you of not “having a go”.

We are transitioning out of this pandemic not approaching it so State Government sympathy would be clearly on RQ’s side.

The Stradbroke, firstly subject to a hefty prizemoney haircut, is now subject to disgruntled owners securing jockeys they probably don’t want and some of those will have to ride overweight.

What a farce.

And a farce that could potentially be removed by Racing Queensland making a phone call to George Street.

Every day that passes is now a day lost as several connections lock in their non preferred choice.

The question begs, why the inaction?

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