Doomben faces major water shortage

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Neville Bell says they need to buy water for Doomben.

The Brisbane Racing Club is facing a hefty bill to buy water for its Doomben track as the impact of the drought moves into the city.

BRC chairman Neville Bell said Doomben had no water while Eagle Farm was running short with two to three weeks supply left.

“We spent $15,000 last week buying water for Doomben,” bell said.

“The actual racetrack is in prime condition. But our staff have had to restrict watering of training tracks and gardens and lawns.

“Unless you know a good rain dance we will have to further review things soon.”

The usually lush grass in the enclosures at Doomben, renowned for its gardens, is now burnt brown.

“We are looking at buying recycled water but that isn’t possible at this stage,” Bell said.

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“Unfortunately, we missed most of the big storms which hit north of us last week.”

Doomben will host several stakes races over the next fortnight before racing returns to Eagle Farm.

Doomben recently unveiled a state-of-the-art irrigation system which allows staff to better regulate watering.

The water issue was one of several issues the BRC discussed with Racing Queensland officials at a meeting this week.

One of the main topics was the upcoming media rights contract with the BRC expressing dissatisfaction with Sky Racing’s coverage of Brisbane racing on its premier thoroughbred channel.

“Once again on Saturday we were playing second fiddle to the minor NSW meeting at Gosford when we had two stakes races,” Bell said.

“It just isn’t good enough.”

The media rights contract for Queensland racing is up for renewal in the middle of next year.