Harness Racing is dying a slow death in Queensland.

G'day Flashing,

Looking on from afar, very much in the same fashion as that which has occured with Harold Park...when & if Albion Park is ever sold off then it should be done solely at a time of the QLD Harness Racing Industry's choosing, not as a result of what which would basically be a 'forced aquisition come outright seizure' of a QLD Harness Racing Industry asset by QLD Labor Party aligned & beholding bureaucrat & worse still one that appears to have significant TB Industry leanings, who's motives for doing so are at the very best less than clear and who's desired outcomes from said process appear for all intents & purposes to be of a similar ilk. I stand to applaud Kevin Seymour for kicking in a considerable amount of his own hard earned in order to keep the Barbarians from the gate. We've already seen Mary McKillop declared a Saint. Next in line for beatification is Rex Horne and then Kevin will get his call-up.

Havent they just announced prize money increases?

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Originally Posted by latemail_cam

Havent they just announced prize money increases?

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Yes.

What are the exact prize money increases?

Whats country and metro minimums

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Originally Posted by triplev123

G'day Flashing,

Looking on from afar, very much in the same fashion as that which has occured with Harold Park...when & if Albion Park is ever sold off then it should be done solely at a time of the QLD Harness Racing Industry's choosing, not as a result of what which would basically be a 'forced aquisition come outright seizure' of a QLD Harness Racing Industry asset by QLD Labor Party aligned & beholding bureaucrat & worse still one that appears to have significant TB Industry leanings, who's motives for doing so are at the very best less than clear and who's desired outcomes from said process appear for all intents & purposes to be of a similar ilk. I stand to applaud Kevin Seymour for kicking in a considerable amount of his own hard earned in order to keep the Barbarians from the gate. We've already seen Mary McKillop declared a Saint. Next in line for beatification is Rex Horne and then Kevin will get his call-up.

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'forced aquisition come outright seizure' - I completely disagree.

I think you will find, that other than a select few, the selling of Albion Park hasn't been "forced". The selling of Albion Park means we can have a Deagon - you would be surprised at how many people realise this trade off and actually don't mind it. We don't have enough money to have it both ways. There was a huge stink when it was first annouced, because Deagon wasn't annouced at the same time, so it looked like Albion Park was going to be sold to solely benefit the galloping clubs. I was whinging with the rest of them. But this is not the case. Sure, some of it will benefit the galloping clubs we we are all under the same umbrella now and we can get our very own Menangle! Have you looked at the Industry Infrastructure plan? Don't you find any positives in their for the Harness Code???
There are no significant TB leanings as I have previously outlined. There has been no pressure by the Labor Party on Bentley to sell Albion Park. I hate the fact that Labor is selling off the state's assets, I really do. I don't like Labor at all, not one iota. Out with Gillard, out with Bligh, PLEASE! But this is a different senario. Not everyone can be made happy. Have you not heard of "the greatest good for the greatest number?" Not everyone can be pleased. What is wrong with our industry, also the gallops and dogs, is that everyone thinks about themselves. Bentley thinks about the codes collaboratively, to move a united Queensland Racing forward. What's wrong with that?
I use to be Bentley's staunchest critic (see previous posts on other forums) until I was shown "the light" so to speak. He's not perfect, I think more communication with the industry would be better. But heck, he's trying.

Flashing Red.

Please give up. You are making yourself look very foolish. I talk on a regular basis with a large cross section of the industry up here and you are on your own with a small group who think this is a good idea for harness racing. Go and talk to Kevin Seymour or Bill Dixon next time you are at the races. Ask them why they are doing it and how this sale has been forced on harness racing. Mr Bentley has a very bad back ground in business. He has sent many ventures broke, i really hope the racing industry here in Qld is not his next target.

I'm not right up to date with the sale of A-Park or the going's on up there but i remember reading that if they could sell it for $100m so much money would be going to the Gallops. The first question that people need to ask themselves is why should the Gallops recieve a cent from the sale. I'd say as a guess Bob has made some promises to the Gallops which he can't get funding for and the only way to keep his promise is to screw Harness Racing over. If they are to move to Deagan which i here the Galloping people aren't happy about that would mean the Harness track would be inside the Gallops track, for me this is a backwards move and i would never go watch a race on the inside of another track. We are trying to get new and younger people into Harness racing and to bring them out to watch racing over another track is outright stupid.

I agree why race on the inside of another track build like melton and menangle.

If the sale did go ahead of Albion Park, they could race for $16000 per metro race on bank interest alone if the right people managed the cash.

Craig,

Forgive me I honestly did not see your previous post on page one of the thread. :)

I haven't found anyone that hasn't been switched around somewhere along the line, personally. Providing the other side of the coin does not make me foolish. Having such a passion for harness racing is why this issue is close to my heart. We'll have to agree to disagree with this one, I stand by what I've said (some of which I think you've mis-understood). I also find it humorous the lengths people have gone to to try and shut people that have similar opinions to me up, the media included. It's disgraceful. Let both sides of the story be told and people make up their own minds. I personally think only one side of the story is being told to the industry at the moment, hence my posts.

In saying that, it is good to see that you are also very passionate about harness racing in Qld. When push comes to shove, Bentley or not, I would just love to see the best for the industry, whatever that direction may be. :) However, the longer this drags on, I do feel that Queensland Racing is dying a slow death, as the OP stated.... :(

Perhaps this should be adopted as Racing QLD's Theme Song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shBKTA3QIok

Sing along now...

You go down the longest road to nowhere
You pull it apart and you're just left there
You go down the longest road to nowhere
You pull it apart and you're just left there