PROMINENT local businessman Malcolm Petrofski, the new chairman of the Townsville Turf Club, has vowed to kick-start a revenue raising program to get the club out of its financial woes.
He has called on current TTC members to each introduce a new member to the club that would boost membership to around 800.
“That’s a priority – the more members the better.”
Mr Petrofski said RQ had also given him an extension to decide on whether to accept the RQ demand to install an auditor for three months at a cost of $150-200,000 should the TTC accept a $200,000 loan from RQ to clear outstanding debts.
“They have also agreed that we could seek alternative finance from other sources – in which case we would not need their auditor.”
It seems the new chairman might opt for the latter and has promised that he would not accept the RQ offer without a vote by members at a meeting on December 22.
A relative newcomer to the racing industry, Mr Petrofski was the sole nominee for the position of chairman.
He became chairman at a special meeting of TTC members last week that was called to install a new committee after the resignation of the previous committee three weeks ago.
Others elected are vice-president Ross Donovan (better known in recent times as the owner of champion sprinter Our Boy Malarchi) former policeman and solid supporter of the Olivia Cairns stable Graeme Deveney, local businessmen Graham Ede, and long time owners Peter Malpass and Graham Nichols.
An RQ lawyer and an accountant Michael Campbell also attended but dodged several questions from anxious members with a standard “I am not able to comment etc, etc”.
It was a somewhat disappointing response from the man who has been giving northern clubs as “tough time” in recent months. Members who attended the meeting simply wanted to know exactly what role the new committee might have, given events that saw the previous committee resign for refusing to act on a RQ directive to engage a Brisbane-based administrator for a seemingly outrageous fee. For three months work, mind you.
It will be interesting to see what occurs now in Townsville. There are still two vacancies on the committee but the feeling is a highly qualified local accountant may be appointed soon, which might alleviate the need for the RQ administrator.
RQ might then take a step back and concentrate on helping the club return to the black by replacing the totally unfinancial Tuesday and Thursday TAB meetings with Friday, Saturday or Sunday race dates.
Or would that be too simple?
Meanwhile it is business as usual at Cluden with CEO Michael Charge reporting that the large contingent of members who turned up to the meeting on Thursday was an encouraging sign.
“They have pledged their unity and strength to work together to forge a strong future for the club,” he said.
WHERE is it in the Rules of Racing that a trainer must keep his treatment book at the stables?
Well, it isn’t.
Yet Cairns trainer Fred Weiland copped a $200 fine last week for exactly that. The Brisbane stipendiary steward turned up early Saturday morning for a stable inspection. Fred told him he kept the book at home (as many do) and that he would bring it to the races that day. He did – and copped the fine, which apparently can’t be appealed because it was under the $390 threshold which begs the question: When will that unfair rule be repealed?
The revenue raising treatment of Weiland was way below the belt. And it certainly doesn’t help the already tarnished and deteriorating reputation of QRIC stewards.
Nearly as low the Victorian steward (a former Tasmanian) who last week fined a raw young apprentice $200 for not producing his apprentice book (diary) at the races. Pathetic.
THEN there was the case of trainer Brian Cox who was disqualified for three-and-a-half years after stewards found an anabolic paste (Nitrotaine) in his fridge after a tip off from a disgruntled staff member.
Cox, son of the legendary Ollie Cox, has trained for 45 years and never ever had another job. Nor, more importantly, had a positive swab.
After the incident every horse in his stable (25 or more) was swabbed and even underwent hair testing with not a single positive.
The manhandling charge involved Cox (highly strung by nature) trying to resist the steward from searching the fridge.
Cox was handed a life sentence – a sentence that reflected no recognition of his contribution, devotion and commitment to racing in all those years.
He has created training records that will never be broken in his area. He was the master of Vlad Duric, Mark Zahra, Luke Currie, Steve Sharman and Troy Baker to name just a few.
Quite clearly he shouldn’t have had the stuff (a muscle building steroid) in his fridge. But it is not a performance enhancing treatment. It was controversially banned a few years ago by the breeders – dominated Australian Racing Board. Many still believe (this writer included) that anabolic steroids in geldings should not have been banned for several good reasons. But unfortunately it is and its use easily identified by swabbing.
And Brian Cox shouldn’t have resisted the stipe. And he knows that.
But three-and-a-half years?
After all they didn’t find a fridge full of cobalt. And he didn’t have $10,000 on the winner of a race at Mooney Valley in which he had the favourite.
In racing it is not who you are… or is it?
Cox, a broken man, has appealed the severity of the sentence.
He has been crucified by his peers, but hopefully the Life of Brian is not over yet.
