Since the change of government, the three codes of animal racing which fall under the banner of Racing Queensland have been subject to considerable upheaval.
Control boards, senior administrators and executives have been dismissed and business/financial gurus KPMG, in the person of Ian Hall, have been appointed by the Racing Minister Bill Byrne, to restructure the finances of Racing Queensland.
The move is to reduce, and prevent, the incurrence of further debt.
This debt has been publicised as being in the order of $11 million with a projected figure in excess of $25 million in a further 12 months if RQ business practices were not greatly modified.
In addition, a well reputed serving police detective, Mark Ainsworth, was seconded from police duties to take over, control, and investigate matters of integrity relating to all three codes.
So far so good.
Once Hall got his head around the tangled web of the RQ balance sheet, a number of consultative meetings were held with race club and industry representatives, which were designed to acquaint Hall with ongoing problems specific to animal racing which may have been prime contributing factors in the debt saga.
Here is where two somewhat bizarre events take place, which may, or may not, have significant effect on near future developments.
Firstly, Hall is appointed "acting CEO'' of Racing Queensland.
It's a strange appointment, given that Hall was put in place to direct a course of financial restructuring.
Now it seems that he is "driving the truck''.
It might have been more prudent had he been instructed to act on recommendations from the operations managers of the three codes, given that their wider knowledge of the nuts and bolts of racing on a day-to-day basis would be beneficial.
Time alone will tell.
Secondly, Ainsworth has returned to his role as a serving senior detective.
Apparently this is due to his expertise as an investigator being prioritised for a more pressing police matter.
Appointed in his place is Jamie Dart, chief steward of Greyhounds Queensland, who now also heads Qld Racing Integrity.
This is another one straight out of left field.
I have little knowledge of Dart's CV for the position, but it begs the question.
It is at least 15 years we are told that Dart has been overseeing integrity matters in a sport which has no human intervention on the racetrack itself.
Dogs, to my knowledge, have neither jockeys nor drivers.
Important meeting
GIVEN the above developments, harness industry body Botra meets on Monday night (7pm) at Albion Park.
If you are a harness participant, owner or licencee, do not miss this meeting.
It is vital to Harness Racing in Queensland that you understand that matters to be tabled here. It's your future.
Guest speaker Jamie Dart, from QLD Racing Integrity, will report on a number of key areas. They include animal welfare consultancy, club and associations consultancy, infrastructure and the product development advisory group.
He'll provide updates on the awards night, invite items for feedback and discussion, consider how to increase revenue, look at BOTRA syndication and start an action plan to resist any reduction in prize money.
Marburg in spotlight
ON the local front, Marburg will race again next Saturday.
The highly successful "funny money bookmakers'' will be in operation again, with punters able to bid in the desirable goods auction after the last race.
We will have our full compliment of conventional bookmakers willing to set the punters for cold hard cash on the local trots and major gallops meetings.
A monster four prize raffle with the two nights accommodation at Mowbray By The Sea (Port Douglas) is up for grabs as last meeting's winner Kenny Parker donated the prize back to the club.
There are three meat trays for the runners up.
Gates open at 10am, with trials starting at 11am.
The first race goes at approximately 12.30pm.
Entry is $5 for adults, $3 for pensioners and children under 16 can join in for free.
Racebooks are $3 and contain $500 "funny money'' and an entry form for the Fast Work horse Supplies pick the last four winners, which has jackpotted to $150 for this meeting.
Rock up for a great afternoon of country harness racing.
Handy hints
SELECTIONS for Albion Park tonight.
R1: Box trifecta 1-5-8: Corey O'Donohue (P. Diebert)-Kenny Dee Dee (B. Hewitt)-Burra Sullivan (I. Ross).
R2: Quinella 1-8: Somebeach N Clovelly (B. Cockburn) and Major Coup (W. Graham).
R3: E/w 4: A Passion For Aces (T. Moffat).
R4: E/w 1: Blue Eyed Suzie (P. McMullen).
R5: Quinella 4-8: Audrey Maree (A. Sanderson) and Rathmore Lady (S. Graham).
R6: E/w 3: Only One Slim (N. McMullen).
R7: Quinella 1-8: The Falcon Legend (B. Cockburn) and Regal Point (B. Hewitt).
R8: Quinella 1-8: Avonnova (S. Graham) and Courageous Kiwi (H. Barnes).
R9: E/w 1: Katsidis (B. Hewitt).
Honour board
A fair spread on the leader board to kick off the new season. Training honours went three ways with Chantal Turpin, Barty Cockburn and Darrell Graham on two winners apiece. Drivers honours were shared by Nathan Dawson and Adam Sanderson.
Gold Coast at Albion Park, September 4: Blucolla Moon (Pete for Chantal Turpin); My Delightful Lady (Nathan Dawson for Neville Doyle).
Albion Park, September 5: Corageous Kiwi (Hayden Barnes for Chantal Turpin); Special Thoughts (Adam Sanderson for Darrell Graham); Goldstar Invasion (Adam Sanderson for Vicki Rasmussen).
Albion Park, September 8: Nicoblake (Narissa McMullen for John McMullen); Floyd Mayweather (Barty Cockburn); Karloo Kix (Isobel Ross for Barty Cockburn); Ronald George (Danielle McMullen for Ryan Veivers).
Gold Coast at Redcliffe, September 10: Chicken On A Chain (Nathan Dawson for Mitchell Dawson); Machbino (Adam Richardson for Tess Neaves); Adriatic Coast (Darrell Graham); Markey Oh Markey (Amy Rees for Jack Butler).
By Denis Smith