Take racing seriously

On July 13, I wrote a comment piece in the Sportsman slamming the NSW Government for their bad handling of the racing portfolio.
This is what I wrote, I have more to say in the light of the EI crisis but I thought this is good background.

WHEN is the NSW Government going to wake up and take the racing portfolio seriously.The state's department of liquor, gaming and racing website says its responsibility, among other things, is to ``support the growth and economic viability of NSW racing''.
By kicking the horses and trainers out of Randwick for 10 weeks on the eve of the 2008 spring carnival surely hosting Pope Benedict XVI and 500,000-plus pilgrims is going against its charter.
Perhaps if premier Morris Iemma and his new racing minister Graham West can convince the pontiff and his followers to stick around and have a punt it could be seen as aiding the economic viability of racing.Consider what the World Youth Day festival, which actually runs for about a week, has the potential to do to racing at NSW's premier track.
There's the inconvenience to the trainers having to uproot and shift their horses, many of which will be Group One class gallopers preparing for the spring.
There's the potential that owners could be lost to the trainer and/or the state with the disruption. Consider the impact this could have on the spring carnival and on the Randwick track itself, which has already had more than its share of problems.
Closing Randwick also means closing the Kensington track which means we lose two racecourses for 10 weeks -- consider the impact on Canterbury, Rosehill and Warwick Farm racecourses from extra workload.
There's the loss of turnover as its is perceived by TAB Limited that punters bet less if the races aren't at Randwick or Rosehill. If the AJC moves a Randwick race meeting to Warwick Farm it must compensate the TAB for loss of revenue.
Talk of compensation for all parties involved is welcome but there's no way anyone can put a figure on the actual cost until the event is over. No-one knows the extent of the damage to the track (the WYD website says Sydney is mild and dry at this time of year), the loss of turnover and revenue and all the other factors.
Then there's the logistics.
Anyone who has been to Derby Day at Randwick, which regularly attracts 50,000 people, knows what a nightmare it is to get around largely because the government decided to sell off an important piece of adjoining land.
They're talking 500,000 people or more descending on the area, one which lacks infrastructure. Is everyone going to catch a bus? The Government says it is too late to move the event. We're just on a year away.
Surely it can be done.
Sydney Olympic Park was built to cater for large crowds -- Randwick has already proven it can't handle them.
The Government must realise they can have their cake and eat it too with this event -- they don't need to cripple racing and the livelihoods of many of its participants to host the Pope.
Like so many other things in racing, one thing you can say for sure is that this wouldn't happen in Victoria.Can you imagine the VRC agreeing to close Flemington for 10 weeks ahead of the Melbourne Cup Carnival so its surface can be destroyed and its carnival compromised?
As Richard Freedman said recently on 2KY, the Victorian government would close an airport for the event before it even considered messing with the racing industry.
Their government knows how important racing is to the state.