October
SeptemberSlash and earn
I know I’m going to make myself unpopular in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, but I for one am getting sick and tired of the current state of race scheduling on our race broadcast channels, especially on Saturdays and public holidays.
On a typical Saturday there are a total of 15 meetings with TAB status — thoroughbreds alone — between the four channels. It is just too much for ordinary punters to take in.
On Saturday morning’s Punters Club on radio 5RPH, panelists are saying this mindset is killing interest in racing but "we don’t know what the answer is."
The answer is very simple and very brutal. There must be a culling of race meetings across all three codes, as the current situation is unsustainable.
There are several ways this can be achieved.
1. Scrap Saturday provincial race meetings. Saturdays are our principal race days so it is only logical that metropolitan meetings should stand alone, with the major provincial tracks such as Kembla Grange, Gold Coast, Ballarat and Gawler racing on Sundays.
2. Make racedays shorter, with 30 minutes between races and seven-race cards during winter.
3. Major Group 1 race days should be eight events of Group 1 and 2 races only. Scrap "undercard" racing.
4. Scrap twilight greyhound racing on Saturdays and public holidays.
5. Get rid of South African, French and some UK racing.
6. Give tracks a rest during the winter months, with fewer race days.
7. Move country races from Sundays to Fridays.
These are just some of my suggestions to fix the unsustainable mess that is choking racing of its interest and depriving the industry of a fighting chance to compete against that sporting monster the AFL.
Fairview Park (SA)