The short-term future of racing at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm is under a cloud with jockeys refusing to ride at the track until a resolution is found to horses shying at a new construction project alongside the track.
The final two races at Eagle Farm on Saturday were called off and eventually moved to Ipswich on Wednesday after Robbie Dolan was dislodged from his mount Victory Command in Race 7.
Dolan’s fall was caused by Power Pack shifting out abruptly at the 600-metre mark of the race, something that was attributed to the horse shying at the new construction near the home turn. Power Pack, who is trained at Toowoomba, had never raced at Eagle Farm before.
Dolan broke his wrist in the fall and jockeys, backed up by Queensland Jockeys' Association’s Glen Prentice, refused to continue the meeting on safety grounds.
The QJA claims that there have been at least a dozen cases of horses shying at that point of the track since the new building has been under construction this year.
A further meeting between the QJA, the Brisbane Racing Club and Racing Queensland took place on Sunday, where a host of solutions were discussed but none agreed to. The BRC, whose CEO Tony Partridge left his role on Friday, has said it is not convinced the construction is causing the problem.
Racing Queensland CEO Jason Scott said jockey safety was the number one priority and a solution needed to be found.
However, discussions are set to continue with the parties unable to agree on the next course of action.
The next meeting at Eagle Farm is scheduled on August 3, while another Saturday meeting is scheduled for August 10.
It is the latest headache for major tracks in Queensland after the renovation of Gold Coast’s turf surface proved troublesome, keeping that track out of action on turf since March.
Bren O’Brien
RQ has previously said it was looking to return to the Gold Coast turf ‘early in the new season’, but it is believed slow grass growth and recovery means the surface is still some time away from racing.
Eagle Farm went through many years of issues with its resurfacing in the late 2010s.
