Breeding & Racing Magazine

Qld Racing Mails 8,000 Rebuttals

Queensland Racing chairman Bob Bentley & deputy chairman Tony Hanmer have sent a letter to 8,000 industry stakeholders responding to a story headlined "QR Costs Run At A Gallop" in last weekend's Sunday Mail newspaper. They provide a lengthy list of achievements since the beginning of Queensland Racing in April 2002 & note: "The negative & poorly researched reporting in the Sunday Mail harms the industry & jeopardises the livelihood of those stakeholders who put everything into racing, as contrasted to the shadow dwellers & fence sitters who contribute nothing more than criticism. Unfortunately this is the dark-side of our industry." Among the improvements highlighted (in comparison to 2001-02) are:

• Total prize-money & distributions: $87.736m ($74.536)
• TAB prize-money: ($64.487 ($50.108m)
• Average metropolitan prize-money: $68,523 ($48,626)
• Base metropolitan prize-money: $40,000 ($24,000)
• Base metropolitan QTIS added-stakes race: $60,000 ($49,000)
• Metropolitan races $30,000 & over: 406 (145)
• QR cost to provide $1 of funding to industry: 13¢ (16¢)
• Total actual overheads: $10.845m ($12.033m)