Armchair Punter raises question -- 'is smoking 'something' still allowed in the Racenet bunker?'


ALL-STAR MILE DESTINED FOR GREAT HEIGHTS

There’s little doubt in my mind the All-Star Mile has now claimed the title as Australia’s No.2 ‘mile’ after the Doncaster and I reckon there’s a good chance it will be challenging for the top spot in years to come.
All-Star Mile on target to becoming a juggernaut

The clock is ticking down to the All-Star Mile and I’ve got to admit to being pretty excited about not only this edition but the overall future of the race.

.................. the concept of this race is fatally flawed ...... combining 'punters picks' with 'promoters selections' entails staging a contest of 'can wins' and 'no-hopers' while risking the consequences of an inflated field delivering a 'blowout' result --  a knockout to the concept of punters voting in contenders.

Let the owners put bucks up to decide the field -- skin in the game counts!

Contenders for the best races should have the best ratings and the best recent form ----  punter 'votes' are compromised by allegiances to runners unlikely to be qualified.

... that the very idea of the no-star mile devalues racing is, alas, consistent with the apparent determination of RVL and the Victorian government to devalue the legacy entrusted to them.

Gun, the good news is someone woke up to his ineptness   

Oh & I voted for the west aussie, Regal Power

Those voted out (sacked) are no hopers as well as you know only too well peter    

Putting on unfair racing is never a good thing

                                           If it brings more people to racing, it should be a good thing

New people attracted to dud racing on a dud day out will not come back  -- lost forever.

Like most of the racing RVL is promoting these days, a no-star-mile featuring cluttering also-rans as well as the very best is likely to be unfair to the best horses and their connections.

It is almost that RVL has a death wish for this race -- it will be scrapped when the cluttering delivers a bradbury-boilover.

........ never forget 'tears i cry' leading in a $1m First4 after the Flemington track was 'off'  -- the TIC was then a G1 weighted-out certainty.

Looking at the voting so far I do not see any "no hopers" making the field and this promises to be an excellent race.

The concept is basically the sane as the Arima Kinen in Japan which was the 6th highest ranked world last year

Yes, looking like Mair is wrong again.  

No 'bradburys' suggests a managed outcome

A capacity for RVL to learn from mistakes -- voted bradbury-runners -- is encouraging.

How did they do it?

Is the field of candidates now limited to credible runners?

BM 80 is not a credible WFA entitlement.

To be eligible for the race, horses must have satisfied new minimum performance criteria over the previous year at the close of nominations, as well as have an increased minimum handicap rating of 80 if aged four and above, with three-year-olds remaining at last year’s minimum rating of 70.

Is the voting managed to exclude 'bradburys'?

Presumably, with RVL deciding 4wild card nominations,  the inclination to run 'elected' runners is a function of prize-money for running 14th?

....... how much does the horse running last get paid .......... $90k was suggested last year..... this year?  $50k

Owners Prizemoney First $2,250,000 Second $720,000 Third $360,000 Fourth $210,000 Fifth $150,000 Sixth to Eighth $120,000 Ninth and Tenth $100,000 Eleventh to Fifteenth $50,000


This is inviting no-hopers from a syndicated-stable able to swamp the ballot-boxes at the cut-off.

................... as the voting stands, a well organized stunt could start a bradbury or two or three, hoping for the best, but most likely to be impeding the fair-chance of a better and well-qualified runner.

...... this race is a disgrace ....... RVL is covering its initial stupidity with a still risky strategy begging for a bradbury to win and destroy the concept of democracy determining race fields

...... be mindful .............. the Trumpster and Scott from marketing, et al, starting favourite!

PM, I thought you gave up betting on Melbourne racing.

I don't have a problem with them taking 4 days to make sure there is none cheating the system.

However I think they should have waited until at least this weekend before closing the vote.

Some other misapprehensions to be addressed

Not betting on MM racing does not imply not taking an interest in protecting most punters that do.

Other posted misapprehensions about my representative role, previously let go through to the keeper, are probably also best corrected .... and I will address that matter soon.

Punters (and owners) care -- they pay the freight

When funds contributed by punters pay the prize-money, it is important that the punters, and the owners, get a fair run for the money they put up.

Too often they do not -- paying generously for no-hoper runners to run 10th is a corruption of the idea of a fair go -- these 'cant wins' turn a fair race into a pinball game as they block 'could wins' in the run.

........ the composition of the field matters a lot ... the no-star-mile is corrupted by allowing 'populist votes' to inflate the field with runners that should not be there.

Hey Pete, are you waiting till after the event to answer the question.

Come on, be the advocate that you claim, tell us who isn’t a star or who shouldn’t be in the field