Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently, I was honoured to be named patron and No. 1 ticketholder of the Standardbred Association Queensland, or SAQ as they are known. Celebrating its 20th year in 2018, the SAQ was founded in 1998 and was primarily established as the standardbred society in Queensland. However, it became evident that there was a shortfall in opportunities for standardbreds retiring from harness racing, with a large majority of them finding their way to the knackery.

In 2002, the SAQ started their Adoption and Rehoming Program, which was the first not-for-profit association in Queensland to focus specifically on training and rehoming retired race horses. Over the past 16 years, the program has steadily grown, along with the industry's awareness of the importance of retirement options for these retired athletes. In recent years, SAQ has rehomed between 80 and 120 horses each year on average. This year, they kicked over their 1,000th rehoming standardbred. That milestone was reached in February. To have rehomed 1,000 standardbreds from the track since 2002 is testament to the hard work of each of the executive, which includes Owanna Fansisca, the state president, and her executive and volunteers over the past 16 years.

I'm very much looking forward to working and assisting the SAQ throughout 2018 as their patron to help promote— (Time expired)

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