Patrons were barred from the members' grandstand after a recent ceiling collapse but it didn't stop Toowoomba trainer Brett Baker celebrating after General Secretary gave him his first Eagle Farm winner on Wednesday.Brisbane Racing Club chairman Kevin Dixon said it was fortunate no-one was injured on one of Brisbane's biggest race days last Wednesday when a two square-metre section of ceiling overhanging the members' grandstand gave way before the final race."It's fortunate it didn't hurt anyone

Patrons were barred from the members' grandstand after a recent ceiling collapse but it didn't stop Toowoomba trainer Brett Baker celebrating after General Secretary gave him his first Eagle Farm winner on Wednesday.

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Kevin Dixon said it was fortunate no-one was injured on one of Brisbane's biggest race days last Wednesday when a two square-metre section of ceiling overhanging the members' grandstand gave way before the final race.

"It's fortunate it didn't hurt anyone," Dixon said.

"Water in the guttering got clogged up and leaked in behind the sheeting of the roof which pulled some of the screws out of the concrete."

A section of the sheeting and concrete collapsed but fortunately it was over the vice-regal area which wasn't being used on the day when more than 20,000 patrons attended last week's Exhibition holiday meeting.

Dixon, who became chairman of the new Brisbane Racing Club following the merger of the former Queensland and Brisbane Turf Clubs, was confident repair work on the ageing grandstand would be completed before the club held its next meeting in September.

"It's not a major repair job. We don't have our next meeting at Eagle Farm for three weeks and it will be right by then," he said.

Meanwhile Baker, who has six horses in work, ended a long city drought when General Secretary scored by two lengths over debutant Red Raiders in the Castlemaine Perkins Handicap (1000m).

"My only city winner was at Doomben with a horse called Red Felt more than 12 months ago," Baker said.

General Secretary was originally trained by David Hayes but the daughter of General Nediym wasn't rated highly enough to remain in Hayes' Melbourne stables.

"My cousin works for Inglis and I went looking to buy a broodmare and got her instead," Baker said.

"She was originally owned by a syndicate from Ireland and England but they didn't rate her good enough so I picked her up for $5,000 in the sale ring.

"To me she's well above average now and her mother is a daughter of Danehill and was placed in a Sires' Produce in Adelaide."

Baker gave General Secretary her first start when she finished sixth over 1200 metres at Eagle Farm last January.

"She bumped her leg that day so I turned her out and gave her plenty of time to recover," he said.

Apprentice Mitchell Speers made it five metropolitan wins in his short career after landing his first city double for trainer Liam Birchley aboard Calm Before in the Lyndhurst Stud Handicap (1200m) and Sirena Ligera in the Foster's Group Handicap (1500m).

Birchley has a good opinion of Calm Before and is hopeful she can win at Listed level later in her career.

"She was stakes-placed as a two-year-old when she ran third to Black Minx in the (Listed) Sir Douglas Wadley," Birchley said.

"I'll take her through her classes for the time being but ultimately I think she can win a Listed race."