AS Normanton staged yet another successful sprint race meeting outside the auspices of Racing Queensland, the Australian Quarter Horse Racing Development Company (AQHDC) readies itself to launch a sprint racing venture in Australia to compete with the thoroughbred racing industry.
The Chair and Managing Director of the Australian Quarter Horse Racing Development Company (AQHDC), Allan Murnane, flew from the Sunshine Coast to the Normanton meeting to see how this form of sprint racing was staged.
The Normanton Race Club broke away from Racing Queensland eight years ago when it was under the control of the controversial Bob Bentley. Fed up with what it considered impractical and expensive regulations imposed on country racing clubs, the club decided to go it alone with their form of sprint racing.
Initially the horses were station stock horses but with the popularity of the event was so high owners have introduced some very handy quarter horse bloodlines.
The AQHDC have been granted a license to set up and operate a quarter horse racing facility in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and have earmarked a 4000 acre property to build a race course and breeding facility.
“It is the first time a private company in Australia have held a licence to conduct race meetings,” Mr Murnane told the North Queensland Register.
“The company has strong support from the Australian Quarter Horse Association and several major quarter horse breeders in the US who see this venture as a “second frontier” to sell their bloodlines into,” he said.
Unlike the thoroughbred horse racing industry, quarter horse breeders can easily avail themselves to the best bloodlines of the breed by purchasing semen straws and artificially inseminate their mares. This ensures all breeders are able to choose the bloodline and traits they want not just the richest few breeders at the top of the industry.
The AQHDC has also had interest from private commercial international bookmaking companies who appear ready in invest capital into the venture.
Mr Murnane said that at this point he was not prepared to disclose those interested parties.
The formulae has been so successful the Sedan Dip Race Club and the Burketown Race Club have followed suit and several other outback race clubs are seriously entertaining the idea including Richmond and Cloncurry.
The AQHDC are well along the road to professionalising sprint racing in Australia and Mr Murnane was so impressed with the Normanton meeting, told the club he hoped be back early next year with a sponsorship package.
The AQHDC begin construction on a multi-million dollar breeding complex and race track on 4000 acres in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in 2015 and hope to stage the first professional quarter horse race in 2016.
Current sprint horse owners will have to prove the breeding of their horses to register them. The horses will also have to meet a speed index to race. Mr Murnane said he was surprised just how fast the Normanton horses were.
He said an audit conducted by AQHDC showed there were over 1200 sprint bred listed in Australia and that figure was growing by the month.
Representative from the Sedan Dip and Burketown race clubs also met with Mr Murnane.
For a full gallery from the races click on the photo below.
Another successful rodeo was in conjunction with the sprint race weekend.
Although numbers were down due to so much happening on this new-to-the-calendar long weekend, the competition was as fierce as ever.
To add more spice to the ladies events, a $3000 purse was offered for the Open Ladies. It was won by Amy O’Neil who also won the Easter Rodeo and Annual Normanton Rodeo Ladies Barrel Race on the same horse.
In all fairness it must be said the bulls gained the upper hand over the bull riders this rodeo but the action was fierce in both the bull and bronc rides and those that rode time deserved all accolades.
Click on the photo below for more coverage from the rodeo.