Opinions are divided on the latest push from Melbourne to trim the gap between races from 40 to 30 minutes. It is perceived in some quarters as being punter-friendly and the magic wand to increasing race track attendances. Which begs the question -- have the punters been asked?

It would be folly to think that the bulk of punters only bet on the one venue. With such a wide variety of race meetings, particularly on a Saturday, the punters are conditioned to be 'multicultural,' so to speak.  Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth plus provincial venues in the three eastern states - for the racing enthusiast it is a veritable smorgasbord of betting opportunities.

The other aspect is that if one meeting trims back the between races gap to 30-minutes it should be in concert with all of the other venues.

Will a meeting with the 30-minute buffer encourage more people to the race track? I'm not so sure. I think first-rate facilities, improved wining and dining areas plus quality racing would be a greater lure to the public than trimming the gap between races.

Racing schedules, though, seems to be the least of Victoria's problems at present. Several provincial tracks have been attacked by jockeys as being unsatisfactory for racing. Abandonments seriously affect betting turnover. Clearly the wear and tear of increased racing combined with wet weather contributes to this on-going problem.

Would more synthetic tracks be the answer?

Odds-on for me means look-on but at Warwick Farm on Saturday I will be looking keenly at Karuta Queen in the www.tab.com.au Handicap. The Queenbeyan-trained filly hasn't started since her second in the 1000-metre Schweppes at Flemington in November. A speed-machine she has had a lucrative career so far and collected prize money at 11 of her 12 starts. The only blot on her copybook was an unplaced effort in the Golden Slipper when she clearly had gone 'over the top.'

No jockey in Sydney is riding better than Glyn Schofield and he partners Tropicana Girl for Chris Waller in the fifth event at Warwick Farm. A recent model of consistency, Tropicana Girl was second over 2200-metres here in early January and then dropped back in distance to 1800-metres at Rosehill and was a handy third. She should be perfectly primed for the 2200-metres of this race.

At Caulfield, the Tony McEvoy-trained Jimando is resuming from a spell in the fourth and his performance will determine whether he holds his place at the top of Blue Diamond markets. In a set-weights and penalties race, the filly Formidable has a 3-kilo advantage over Jimando and she is a winner of a Flemington 1000-metres on debut. She may well make it two in a row.

In the seventh race at Caulfield, Seguro is showing promise as a middle distance galloper coming off a solid minor placings over 1600-metres and 1700 metres at Caulfield and Flemington and previously he has been placed at 2000-metres.