Dragged-out Ben Currie investigation damaging to racing

OPINION: For at least 10 months Currie has continued to train on "stays of proceedings” awarded by QCAT - and it appears he could do so indefinitely.

Trainer Ben Currie (left) with Currie Racing foreman Vatan Kumar after their horse Eight Over won race three at Clifford Park, Saturday, February 2, 2019. Picture: Kevin Farmer

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

THE dragged-out Ben Currie investigation is damaging the image of racing in Queensland.

The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission is a toothless tiger, apparently unable to enforce the rules of racing before being given permission by the Queensland Civil Appeals Tribunal.

The QCAT website boasts its purpose is to "...provide a quick, inexpensive avenue to resolve disputes between parties and make decisions.”

Toowoomba trainer Ben Currie is facing numerous charges relating to a raid on his stables last April and more recent investigations.

But for at least 10 months Currie has continued to train on "stays of proceedings” awarded by QCAT - and it appears he could do so indefinitely.

QCAT's competence to deal with racing disputes is highly questionable.

QCAT member Robert Olding, who ruled Currie be granted a stay, obviously knows nothing about the culture of horse racing .

In relation to allegations about the use of jiggers - one of the more recent charges against the trainer - Currie's barrister Jim Murdoch claimed the term "harped up” (allegedly used by Currie in text messages in possession of QRIC) was a benign "slang term” that "...could relate to the skilled preparation of horses in trials and gallops”.

"Harped up”, as every trainer, jockey and punter knows, means that the horse has been 'hit' with the jigger or battery. And the only skill involved is that required by the jockey or track-work rider to stay on the horse when it swerves suddenly or bucks violently in response to the sudden and painful shock.

Murdoch, who has been around racing for years, is well aware of this. But Olding, obviously, is not.

"The joke”, which a few short years ago was the term for a race, the result of which was organised in advance by a ring of participating jockeys, is now a term that aptly applies to QRIC - the body charged with enforcing the rules of racing.

The sad thing for QR is that its ability to ensure any semblance of integrity in the Sport of Kings is mired in delays and doubt - and public trust is inevitably undermined.

The government (the major beneficiary of racing through its taxes on betting) should act to redress a situation which is damaging the image of racing in Queensland.

Merv Welch,

The Palms