Eagle Farm track to remain Brisbane racing’s biggest problem until at least next winter

Queensland racing will be stuck with the troubled Eagle Farm track for at least another year, even if the sport’s powers heed calls to rip up the much-maligned surface.

Leading trainer Robert Heathcote maintained his rage at the Eagle Farm surface in a Melbourne radio interview on Monday morning shortly after Racing Queensland chief executive Brendan Parnell refused to rule out ripping up the track to start again.

Heathcote said the current sand and grass profile of the Eagle Farm course was simply not suitable for racing in the Brisbane climate as the grass goes dormant in the cooler months.

“The surface is poor. It’s the wrong grass. It’s Grand Prix couch that I wouldn’t put in my backyard,” Heathcote told RSN on Monday.

“The surface is not suitable. Underneath the surface, the sand track profile has been a failure.”

The Eagle Farm track was first reconstructed in 2014 before it was again re-laid in 2018 after an independent review by former Victoria Racing Club boss Dale Monteith.

Heathcote said the recent successful Brisbane Winter Carnival only masked the problems with the Eagle Farm track.

“They did a remarkable job to get through the Winter Carnival, no doubt they have,” Heathcote later told News Corp.

“But it’s like Kevin Costner said (in the film Field Of Dreams), if you build it they will come. If you put the prizemoney on they will come and that’s what the winter carnival did.

“We shouldn’t be fooled into thinking the track is fine because the Snowdens, Waller and Mike Moroney came up (to Brisbane) with their horses.

“I don’t blame any particular person. It’s just a culmination of mistakes.”

Racing Queensland chief executive Brendan Parnell says there is no quick solution to the issues surrounding the Eagle Farm Racecourse. Picture: Glenn HampsonSource:News Corp Australia

Heathcote applauded Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Racing Club for their efforts to keep racing on the Eagle Farm course but their work was not sustainable.

Heathcote and Parnell agreed there is no quick fix for the Eagle Farm Racecourse.

Parnell did not rule out replacing the grass but added the track metrics showed the Eagle Farm track had improved and would continue to do so as the grass matured.

He said any track replacement process would take at least a year to be properly completed. Meetings with the Brisbane Racing Club would determine the way forward for Eagle Farm.

“We’ll look at all the options, whether it’s the grass or the profile,” Parnell told RadioTAB.

“But it won’t be a quick decision.

“If there is a decision to change grass, it will take time to grow new grass offsite.

“We’ll be racing on this surface next winter. It takes that long to grow the grass.”

All Heathcote wants is for the Eagle Farm track to return to its place as the showpiece venue of Queensland racing, no matter how long it takes.

“I love this industry, it’s been fantastic to me,” Heathcote said.

“I love it and I want to be racing on the best track and have the best of everything in Queensland racing.”

Originally published asEagle Farm will remain troubled – short-term at least

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