Doomben racecourse will carry the majority of the extra workload in Brisbane caused by the closure of Eagle Farm.
Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Race Club have agreed to recommendations in a report by former Victorian racing official Dale Monteith which means urgent remedial work at Eagle Farm means it will be closed until at least April next year.
RQ chief executive Eliot Forbes said meetings for Eagle Farm up until November had already been allocated to other tracks.
“We have already moved the three days of the summer carnival in December set down for Eagle Farm to Doomben. But we are in negotiations with other clubs about taking some Saturdays next year,” Forbes said.
RQ faces a problem because the clubs – Ipswich, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast – already race at capacity in established timeslots.
Monteith has recommended that when Eagle Farm resumes it holds as few as 20 meetings and no more than 35 for each of the first three years it is back racing.
Monteith has also recommended that Eagle Farm have rest periods to further consolidate each year.
It creates a problem for the BRC because of its media rights which mean the club is committed to providing a larger number of meetings a year.
