The Doomben race meeting on Wednesday went ahead as normal after a last-minute peace settlement in a licensing row between Racing Queensland Limited and the Brisbane Racing Club.
BRC chairman Kevin Dixon threatened to abandon the meeting and evict all licensees and patrons if RQL refused to negotiate terms of a new licence issued to the club on Tuesday.
“The BRC currently has a licence from January 1 to December 31 but we received yesterday a new licence from Racing Queensland which came into effect from July 1,” Dixon said.
“Some of the terms and conditions in the new licence are unacceptable and we haven’t had the chance to negotiate it with Racing Queensland.
“We assumed the new licence superseded the current licence.
“I suggested in order for things to go on unaffected we continue to operate under our current licence while we negotiate but Racing Queensland refused.
“We were told to operate under the licence presented to us yesterday but we said we couldn’t do that.”
There was a delay of 20 minutes until Racing Queensland’s Integrity Services manager Jamie Orchard confirmed the meeting could go ahead under the club’s old licence.
Dixon said one point in contention with the new licence was Racing Queensland’s ability to take over the running of a race meeting.
“If for some reason the BRC decided it couldn’t hold a meeting, Racing Queensland could step in and stage it,” Dixon said.
Orchard claimed the row was more of a misunderstanding between the two parties.
“This is not really an Integrity issue,” he said.
“The BRC was issued with a new licence for the new financial year from July 1 and they want to take issue with a couple of points which is fine.
“Traditionally club licences operate on financial years and there was some correspondence last year to say we were looking at moving to a calendar year but that process didn’t happen.
“It was a simple misunderstanding.”
Meanwhile, trainer Mike Moroney may have unearthed a potential Group One Victoria Derby hope when Devonshire Duke scored an impressive debut win in the Padua College Maiden Plate (1200m).
Devonshire Duke, ridden by Chad Ormsby, stormed home to beat One Green Bottle by a short half-head.
The son of Keeper was one of four yearlings bought in a package by Moroney.
“We buy four yearlings we hope will make stayers each year and this is the second one to run,” Moroney said.
“I might head south with him to Melbourne for the spring and he’d make a nice Derby horse down there.
“But I’ve got the feeling he might be more of an autumn horse and he could well go back home for a spell.”
Jockey Glen Colless was taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays after escaping serious injury in a fall from Favours Traded in the Blackwoods Handicap (2060m).
Colless was concussed when he was dislodged on the turn out of the straight.
AAP TURF
