This is a photo of the new parade area at Doomben which has met with very positive feedback from the general public.

As at last Friday night, Doomben 10,000 day was shaping up to be a corker of a day’s racing, on probably a “good 3” track. Unfortunately, at that point, Mother Nature intervened and decided to show us she's the boss - and sent rain into Brisbane to put a cat amongst the pigeons, with the end result being that we raced at Doomben on a “slow 6” track. The stewards and Doomben track staff did a good job by getting the quickly deteriorating track rating out to media outlets quickly, so it is fair to conclude that by 10am when most punters were placing their bets on the meeting, that they all knew they were dealing with a “slow” track. There have been quite a few emails to the website stating that at the Gold Coast meeting last Thursday and the Caloundra meeting last Friday - the track ratings that were issued were not a true indication of the surface, in that both were worse than they were given out as, but there is certainly no disputing that at Doomben the “slow” rating was spot on for last Saturday.

The Doomben track seemed to play fair to all runners on 10,000 day, as gallopers like Kutchinsky, Whobegotyou and Tabulate could come from a mile back, whilst others like Firebolt and Run For Levi could lead all the way and still others like Princess Qualo, Prince Braeman and Hot Danish could sit just off the lead and win. So anyone who thought there was anything wrong with the track wouldn’t know what they are talking about.

The rain obviously had an effect on the Doomben 10,000 crowd, which was a shame for the club, on their signature day of the year at Doomben, but given good weather next year, they’ll pack ‘em to the rafters I would suggest. Why is that? Well put simply, whilst Brisbane racetracks have copped a continual spray here, in my writings for about the last decade, even I must admit that finally the club has started to understand that both tracks of Doomben and Eagle Farm need to get "a new look and feel" about them. I often write that nothing has changed at either place since I was a teenager, frequenting both racetracks on school holidays, way back in the 1960’s. I hadn’t been to Doomben since it has had a revamped parade area and enclosure opened, but emails to the website have had a common theme, in that they have had nothing but praise for the changes, so I went along last Saturday to have a look for myself and the changes are, in a word, best described as “outstanding.” There was a time when only bored souls, who were at Doomben by themselves, would bother going and watching the horses parade, watch the trainers give the jockeys instructions, then watch the horses proceed to the enclosure and then walk out onto the track. Now, since the revamp, on a Carnival day, it is standing room only, with all racetrack attendees able to view the horses close up, just a metre or two in front of them, as the thoroughbreds parade in a clockwise direction, in an area that is large in circumference. Watching horses parade is a great way to assess a horse’s fitness, as per a few photos that I’ve put up on the Brisbaneracing website during this week. The punter can take their own camera along and take photos of a horse’s condition, then take the photos home and blow them up and make conclusions as to whether the horse will take improvement from the run etcetera. In fact I know of at least one photographer who is employed full time by a professional punter to do exactly that at South East Queensland tracks, so that the professional punter who incidentally turns over many tens of millions of dollars a year can chart the progress, condition wise, of every horse. Nothing illegal about it, that’s just smart business acumen, if you are going to be a full time professional punter.

Anyway back to the score at the Test – and once the horses leave the relatively new parade yard, they then enter the enclosure where they walk past hundreds more people who are enjoying a drink, before moving onto the track. The concept is wonderful and whoever thought the idea up should be congratulated.

The bookmakers – betting on both local and southern events – as well as tote outlets, are only metres from the parade area, so a punter can watch the horses parade, place a bet, then go and watch the race.

Historically most big Carnival race days in Brisbane are an absolute pain in the you know where, as one spends an eternity waiting in a queue for such basics as a feed or a drink. Last Saturday there were plenty of hot dogs, chips, hamburger and drinks style vans around the track – and the longest I waited for a feed, or a drink, all day - was two minutes. That’s miraculous.

The other thing that bugs the hell out of me on Carnival race day is the drunks. You go to have a quiet, relaxing afternoon out at the racetrack and then you inevitably encounter the drunken ferals that are out in force. Now I don’t know whether those drunks are all sooks one-out and don’t like rain or something, but I didn’t see one drunk at Doomben last Saturday, so that’s proof that the good security presence at our racetracks is having a positive effect on crowd behaviour.

When all is said and done, the Brisbane Racing Club should take a bow on the wonderful day they presented to the public last Saturday – and on innovations they have undertaken since Doomben 10,000 day of 2009 and any fair minded person would accept there was nothing they can do about the rain.

In life, everything needs to have “a new look and feel” occasionally - whether it is simply refurbishing a room in the family home with some new tiles, upgrading the family 1985 Datsun 180B to a 1999 Commodore, or the bride wanting to dolly herself up a bit when she’s going out to a special function. Put simply, racetracks are no different. Doomben has taken a long time to get “a new look and feel” about it, but if people who have a present or former love of visiting the track want to go back to Doomben and have a look, I’m sure that they would be suitably impressed. It is my considered opinion that a couple of times a year the Brisbane Racing Club ought to throw the gates open at non-Carnival time, to get people back to the track free of charge. Get the Bookmakers Association involved, as they are always looking for proactive ways to get more people back to the tracks and I’m sure the off-shoot would be that many racetrack attendees would enjoy what they see so much, that they would return on Carnival race days. I’ll even banner advertise the free days for free for the club – just to help out with the idea.

Today on www.brisbaneracing.com.au Queensland Racing's Director of Integrity Services, Jamie Orchard, has his say over my recent Paprika article, on www.sydneyracing.com.au there's an exclusive photo of Gerry Harvey - you work out what he's doing, whilst on www.melbourneracing.com.au Tim Hickman looks at an upcoming Melbourne Cup movie.