Latest news with #RacingQueensland
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Lee Freedman will take a step back from training to manage his brother Michael's new satellite stable on the Gold Coast
Five-time Melbourne Cup-winner Lee Freedman will take a step back from training to manage his younger brother Michael's newly announced satellite stable on the Gold Coast. Michael says the 'time is right' to set up an operation consisting of about 30 stables on the Glitter Strip in partnership with his Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman, who will take up the role as stable manager. From the new racing season starting on August 1, Michael Freedman will take over the stables currently occupied by Lee. 'I'll be looking to set up a satellite stable on the Gold Coast,' Sydney trainer Michael Freedman said. 'It's still in the process of being approved (by Racing Queensland) but hopefully next week it'll be finalised. 'I'm looking to send quite a few horses from Sydney up there all-year round to race, ideally in those mid-week and Saturday races. 'It gives me a base for Magic Millions, which is an important carnival now, and helps for the Brisbane winter as well because it's always very difficult to find stabling when you do bring horses up there. 'I think the timing is right and I'm looking forward to it.' Freedman said he was still 'working through' the new arrangement with his 68-year-old brother Lee, who has been training at the Gold Coast since March 2021. 'I think the timing's right and Lee and I had a good meeting about it yesterday (Thursday),' he said. 'I wouldn't probably be even contemplating this if Lee wasn't involved. 'Given that he's at a point where he's happy to be doing something along those lines, then it works well for me.' Freedman is following in the footsteps of Sydney's premier trainer Chris Waller, who also runs a satellite stable on the Gold Coast. In the late 1980s, Michael joined his three older brothers Lee, Anthony and Richard to form a highly successful training partnership that prepared more than 100 Group 1 winners, including five Melbourne Cup champions and four consecutive Golden Slipper winners. Michael spent almost a decade in Singapore and a brief stint in Hong Kong before branching out on his own at Randwick in April 2022 following a partnership with brother Richard which saw the two combine to win the 2021 Golden Slipper with Stay Inside. The highlight of his solo training career came last March when filly Marhoona won the Golden Slipper at Rosehill, just six weeks after making her debut at Canterbury. Michael said he planned to visit the Sunshine State more often once his new operation on the Gold Coast was fully established. 'I'll be looking to come up (to Queensland) a bit more during the year at various times,' he said. 'Certainly winter carnival and Magic Millions will be a key focus for me. 'We've got a couple of horses up there already that might run next Saturday and we'll start to trickle a few more up over the course of the next few weeks.' Gold Coast Turf Club boss Steve Lines said he was delighted to welcome a trainer of Freedman's calibre. 'Michael Freedman is one of the country's most respected horsemen and his decision to set up a stable here is a huge vote of confidence in what the Gold Coast has to offer,' Lines said. 'He joins a strong and growing cohort of top-tier trainers calling the Gold Coast home and will only further strengthen the quality of horses we have racing at the Gold Coast, given Michael's association with Godolphin and other prominent owners.'
The Australian
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Wagering hike ‘shows value of Inter Dominion in Queensland'
Wagering on the 2025 Brisbane Inter Dominion series has smashed a string of records. The three-night series at Albion Park bucked the national wagering trend to return a thumping 12.4 per cent increase – $6,799,000 compared to $6,051,000 – on the last Ladbrokes Brisbane Inter Dominion in December, 2023. It was by far the biggest turnover meeting in Queensland harness history, representing a 23 per cent hike on the corresponding meeting last year, headlined by the Group 1 Blacks A Fake. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'It shows the value of having the Ladbrokes Inter Dominion back in Queensland, not just this year, but for the next two years as well,' Racing Queensland's senior racing manager Andrew Clarke said. 'That's crucial. We always felt whatever we achieved this year, we could really build on by having the iconic series three years in a row. 'We're thrilled to set a turnover record and crowning our own local champion Leap To Fame again added another layer. Throw in another Queenslander, Speak The Truth, running second and it was a golden night for the sport. 'It was really important for us to get lots of interstate flavour and the Kiwis back across. To have the Kiwis finish second and third in the trotting final will surely attract more of them back next year.' • Singo doesn't Hesitate with Eureka slot pick This year's Inter Dominion was condensed from four to three nights of racing – two rounds of heats into finals. Average betting per race across the three nights compared to the 2023 series grew by 20.2 per cent from $446,000 to $536,000. 'It was terrific to see really strong figures around the trotting races, too. It really vindicates running the pacing and trotting series' together,' Clarke said. Favourites won both finals with Leap To Fame at $1.22 and Victorian star Arcee Phoenix backed into $2.60 in the trotting final. Albion Park chairman Greg Mitchell said a full review was planned despite the strong wagering results. 'We're obviously thrilled with the wagering figures, but the people came along, too. We had a record modern crowd on the final night. 'When you've got such a big event for three years, you can and must always learn from year one,' he said. 'We know we didn't get everything right and we're taking all the feedback on-board as part of our review.' • Hawkes hoping to land The Everest-Eureka slot race double One of the major talking points was the marathon 3157m distance for the finals. 'Whether we need them that far or 2680m is far enough will be something we look seriously at,' Mitchell said. But Mitchell backed the innovative 'bonus points' system used for the first time in Brisbane and which enabled star Kiwi veteran Oscar Bonavena to make the trotting final and finish a huge third. 'You want the best horses getting into the finals and by reducing the number of heats from three to two, it's important we have mechanisms for unlucky horses to get extra points when it matters,' he said. 'We're committed to the bonus points, but that's not to say we won't tinker with how they work.' • Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Wagering hike ‘shows value of Inter Dominion in Queensland'
Wagering on the 2025 Brisbane Inter Dominion series has smashed a string of records. The three-night series at Albion Park bucked the national wagering trend to return a thumping 12.4 per cent increase – $6,799,000 compared to $6,051,000 – on the last Ladbrokes Brisbane Inter Dominion in December, 2023. It was by far the biggest turnover meeting in Queensland harness history, representing a 23 per cent hike on the corresponding meeting last year, headlined by the Group 1 Blacks A Fake. • 'It shows the value of having the Ladbrokes Inter Dominion back in Queensland, not just this year, but for the next two years as well,' Racing Queensland's senior racing manager Andrew Clarke said. 'That's crucial. We always felt whatever we achieved this year, we could really build on by having the iconic series three years in a row. 'We're thrilled to set a turnover record and crowning our own local champion Leap To Fame again added another layer. Throw in another Queenslander, Speak The Truth, running second and it was a golden night for the sport. 'It was really important for us to get lots of interstate flavour and the Kiwis back across. To have the Kiwis finish second and third in the trotting final will surely attract more of them back next year.' “A MODERN DAY CHAMPION, BECOMES RACING ROYALTY.â€� The champion, the superstar â€' LEAP TO FAME â€' is now a dual Inter Dominion winner after dominating the $1 million Grand Circuit feature on home turf. What. A. Horse! 🌟 #QLDisRacing — RaceQ (@RaceQLD) July 19, 2025 • This year's Inter Dominion was condensed from four to three nights of racing – two rounds of heats into finals. Average betting per race across the three nights compared to the 2023 series grew by 20.2 per cent from $446,000 to $536,000. 'It was terrific to see really strong figures around the trotting races, too. It really vindicates running the pacing and trotting series' together,' Clarke said. Favourites won both finals with Leap To Fame at $1.22 and Victorian star Arcee Phoenix backed into $2.60 in the trotting final. Albion Park chairman Greg Mitchell said a full review was planned despite the strong wagering results. 'We're obviously thrilled with the wagering figures, but the people came along, too. We had a record modern crowd on the final night. 'When you've got such a big event for three years, you can and must always learn from year one,' he said. 'We know we didn't get everything right and we're taking all the feedback on-board as part of our review.' He's done it again! Hear from Grant Dixon after Leap To Fame's Inter Dominion Pacing Grand Final win, and the crowd just love it! 🥳 @TheCreekAlbion @RaceQLD — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 19, 2025 One of the major talking points was the marathon 3157m distance for the finals. 'Whether we need them that far or 2680m is far enough will be something we look seriously at,' Mitchell said. But Mitchell backed the innovative 'bonus points' system used for the first time in Brisbane and which enabled star Kiwi veteran Oscar Bonavena to make the trotting final and finish a huge third. 'You want the best horses getting into the finals and by reducing the number of heats from three to two, it's important we have mechanisms for unlucky horses to get extra points when it matters,' he said. 'We're committed to the bonus points, but that's not to say we won't tinker with how they work.'
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Qld winter carnival wagering hopes ‘washed away' by Group 1 Derby day weather
Queensland winter carnival wagering turnover copped a $20m black hole because of the Group 1 Queensland Derby day washout, however Racing Queensland insists there were still positive wagering pointers. Racing Queensland CEO Lachlan Murray said that overall winter carnival turnover had dipped from $384m to $357m (a seven per cent decline) but on a per race basis it was a 2.7 per cent drop-off seeing as not as many races were staged this year. Group 1 Queensland Derby Day on May 31 was a drama for wagering numbers with the second half of the card rescheduled due to bad weather conditions, including the Fred Best Classic being moved to a Wednesday midweek affair at Doomben. 'On the wagering front, our hopes of eclipsing last year's numbers washed away, quite literally, when we had to reschedule the second half of the Queensland Derby Day card to midweek and a Super Saturday in conjunction with the Oaks,' Murray said. 'We dropped $20 million in forecast turnover on those days alone. 'When we normalise the activity, stripping out Derby Day and Oaks Day, this year's Carnival was narrowly up on last year's carnival. 'On a per race basis, we were up 1.5 per cent so we're starting to see a few green shoots which we're hoping will hold during the new racing season.' The Derby Day situation wasn't ideal for wagering and weather is out of the control of racing authorities. However there were reasons for positivity. Wagering turnover on Caloundra Cup Day ($31.1m) was the biggest improver of the carnival as it was up 37.4 per cent, admittedly with an extra race than the year before. After many feature Sunshine Coast race meetings in recent years have been hit by bad weather, the sun finally shone on the day and the crowd of more than 6000 was up more than 50 per cent. Murray pledged that RQ would review the performance of the winter carnival. 'The final month of the carnival was also our best from an attendance standpoint – the Ipswich Cup and Caloundra Cup both eclipsed last year's figures – which showed that people were happy to vote with their feet when the sun came out,' Murray said. 'There's a lot to be positive about, but we always want it to be bigger and better, so we will review what worked and what didn't and we will look to make next year's carnival even better. 'Overall, it was another exciting and strong edition of the Queensland winter carnival.' The strongest wagering in the winter carnival was on Stradbroke Day ($55.2m), Queensland Oaks Day ($51.4m), Doomben Cup Day ($44.7m), Doomben 10,000 Day ($39m) and Tatt's Tiara Day ($37.7m).
ABC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Racing at new $85 million Queensland greyhound facility suspended again due to 'unsuitable' track
A high-profile Queensland greyhound racing event has been cancelled, after a track at the new $85 million greyhound racing facility The Q was deemed "unsuitable for trialling or racing" for the second time in a week. The Brisbane Cup was postponed for a week last Saturday after a "watering issue" at The Q in Ipswich caused the track to become unsafe for racing. Racing Queensland paused racing at the facility on Monday to allow an independent assessment of the track and remediation works to be completed. It comes as The Q grapples with a string of dog deaths since trials began at the track in March. In a statement on Thursday, Racing Queensland announced that following assessments, the rescheduled event had been cancelled and racing on the Q2 track suspended indefinitely. "With Queensland Racing Integrity Commission stewards inspecting the Q2 Parklands track last night and deeming it unsuitable for trialling or racing, all upcoming meetings and trials have been cancelled until further notice so further remediation works can take place," the statement read. RQ said rescheduling meetings at Albion Park was considered but "operational capacity" made it unfeasible. "As a matter of priority, RQ and the QGRC are focused on delivering a consistent and suitable racing surface before meetings are rescheduled on the Q2 Parkland," RQ said. Racing will continue on the facility's other two tracks. The former Queensland government put $44.15 million from the racing infrastructure fund towards the $85 million facility, which has been running trials since March and officially opened in June. Last month, the ABC revealed at least seven dogs had died due to injuries sustained at the racing track before its official opening. Acting Minister for Racing, Steven Minnikin said he was "disappointed for participants and supporters" that the Brisbane Cup had been cancelled. He said the facility was commissioned and built by the former Labor government, but that the new government would "make sure all steps are taken" to uphold animal welfare standards. "Independent investigations into the track and operations at The Q are now underway," he said. Labor's Member for Ipswich, Jennifer Howard, said in a statement the safety incidents at the track were "not acceptable". "The Minister for Racing, Tim Mander, along with Racing Queensland must act now," she said. "The… Q… was launched with the bold claim it would be the safest track in the country saying it 'uses the best practice standards for greyhound racing safety'. "This claim is nauseatingly repeated in advertising all over Ipswich and online." Ms Howard said any official material making those claims, which were first spruiked by the former Labor government when the track was announced, needed to be removed. She said she wanted to see "real steps" taken to "ensure the welfare of every animal involved in the industry". "The public deserves transparency. The dogs deserve better," she said.
