Recent Posts
1
Racing Talk / Call for submissions on Wagering and Betting Licensing in Victoria
« Last post by wily ole dog on 9 minutes ago »How did you go with your submission
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Racing Talk / Inflated fields – assessing the consequences about to unfold
« Last post by wily ole dog on 12 minutes ago »Have you looked at the sales figures for newspapers?
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Racing Talk / Taking Care of Stable Staff
« Last post by Peter Mair on 26 minutes ago »Taking care of 'stable staff' is the responsibility of trainers and connections -- not the racing 'tax take'
The over-funding of racing, with ever higher 'takes' from the punters bets, is reaching dangerous levels when the government has to dictate what the staff get.
...........one likely consequence is that the staff get less ... ... no win, no money.
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Racing Talk / All Star Mile
« Last post by Peter Mair on 40 minutes ago »The whole thing is emerging as an embarrassment to RVL
Apart from being too-quickly conceived as a retaliation to initiatives from RNSW, allowing anyone to vote to select the field invites the show of disrespect that reflects the disenchantment of most punters with RVL.
....w ill RVL call in the cavalry to 'select' the field?
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Comps & Clubs / THE WEEKDAY TIPPING COMP
« Last post by specialweek2 on 53 minutes ago »Media wins.
Media 213
SW 167
BMac 148
JWH 119
RH 108
Westie 94
Rat 15
300 out
SW 422
Westie 324
Media 312
BMac 244
RH 169
JWH 149
Rat 72
Media 213
SW 167
BMac 148
JWH 119
RH 108
Westie 94
Rat 15
300 out
SW 422
Westie 324
Media 312
BMac 244
RH 169
JWH 149
Rat 72
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Racing Talk / Taking Care of Stable Staff
« Last post by Arsenal on 1 hour ago »Stable staff want share of the spoils
Andrew Eddy@fastisheddy
There is to be a renewed push for stable staff in Australia to be rewarded with a guaranteed percentage of prizemoney won.
Racing Victoria (RV) is to host a meeting on Thursday with a number of interested parties including George McGrath, a UK representative of the National Association of Racing Staff, who will stress to Victorian racing officials the need to properly look after track staff.
McGrath told Racing.com on Tuesday that staff in the UK and Australia shared a number of issues and that staff in Australia could expect more support.
"We represent all of the staff working in Great British racing," he said. "We have currently 6734 members and our job is basically to enhance and improve the economic and social conditions of all of our members.
"First and foremost, we (UK racing) have had a campaign around respect for staff - just giving the strappers and track workers recognition when horses won Group 1 races or indeed, any races," McGrath said.
"Second, there’s the economic aspect. We’ve improved wages by 20 per cent in the last five years and that’s against an economic downturn.
"We’ve address the work-life balance because that’s probably the most important thing. It can be a great job but it can be very physically and mentally draining and we’re trying to address that currently in the UK."
McGrath said he had been most impressed with how he had been received in this country by racing officials but said Australian racing can start to improve the lot of stable staff with a mere stroke of a pen.
"I think the primary difference is that stable staff get a percentage of the prize money," he said. "So, In the UK, we have something called pool money. It’s five per cent of anything that a particular yard wins regardless of where that race is won within the country and even aboard.
"We’re not wanting to frightened trainers and everybody else in Australian racing but five per cent is what we work on in the UK.
"But having spoken to people and organisations over here in Australia, five per cent is probably not achievable anywhere in the near future but what they do currently have is a one per cent prize money reduction for equine welfare.
"If you do have that - and it is right and proper to have a reduction for equine welfare - surely to goodness you can have a one per cent reduction for staff welfare.
"That is a gaping commission at the moment and something I’d like to see addressed in the near future."
Two per cent is currently taken out of prize money in Victoria and New South Wales for equine and jockey welfare.
McGrath said currently in Australia, the Australian Worker’s Union is the representative of track staff but he said few staff in this country are aligned with the union.
"The AWU is the union for racing staff but I believe the percentage number of members is anywhere between two and five per cent so you’ve got 95 per cent of track rider and strappers with no representation at all," he said.
"That’s not to say the AWU doesn’t have a place at the table. They certainly have. They are certainly very good at wages and negotiations in that respect.
"The difficult I identify here is that the AWU will be representing all track riders without understanding there are different levels of skills between the newest employees and somebody of maybe 20 or 30 years of experience. They are pretty much lumped in as one in terms of a wage negotiation."
McGrath said that after Thursday’s meeting with RV, he would return to the UK but said is new colleagues in Australia - Helen Grundy and Rob Gardner - would continue pushing the case for stable staff when he leaves.
https://www.racing.com/news/2019-01-22/news-rv-to-meet-on-stable-staff
ENDS
The AWU has coverage for the racing industry for yonks but its membership is very light on probably on the same scale or worse than the 15% of unionism in the workforce.....at one stage I recall stewards in QLD all signed up with the AWU out of concern for their jobs under one or other of the then control boards ....once the threat dissipated so too I imagine did the desire to keep paying union fees...still the I don't imagine the AWU would take too kindly to this UK interloper getting under their guard...I think The Shortman came under some flak maybe during the Royal Commission for allegedly inflating AWU membership by including licensees as members unbeknown to them ....seems a reasonable proposition that stable staff should share in the efforts of the training team ..possibly the major stables have such an arrangement in place...NSW has been ahead of the pack in providing for licensees ..probably that's why RV was chosen as the first point of call...I expect Peter V'Landys will have something to say if NSW is already online on this.
Giddy Up
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Racing Talk / All Star Mile
« Last post by Jeunes on 1 hour ago »The first two horses Urban Ruler and Autumn Sun have 3800 and 2700 votes respectively.
10th on the list has 900 odd votes while some of the better performed horses are in the 20s including Hartnell and Happy Clapper etc.
RVL will be happy that currently Autumn Sun, Grunt, Amphrite and Extra Brut are in the top 10 to add some class.
A couple in the top 10 have not won for a while or will be lucky to win a standard Saturday metropolitan race over the mile.
10th on the list has 900 odd votes while some of the better performed horses are in the 20s including Hartnell and Happy Clapper etc.
RVL will be happy that currently Autumn Sun, Grunt, Amphrite and Extra Brut are in the top 10 to add some class.
A couple in the top 10 have not won for a while or will be lucky to win a standard Saturday metropolitan race over the mile.
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Racing Talk / Cobalt Lee & Shannon Hope
« Last post by Arsenal on 2 hours ago »Hopes get three-year cobalt bans
Andrew Eddy@fastisheddy 3:02pm
Shannon Hope has had his five-year ban reduced but he and his father Lee must still serve three-year disqualifications at the conclusion of their cobalt appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The Hopes' cobalt case was the first in Victoria under the new cobalt rules but the pair have had to wait more than three years to get a final determination after a series of appeals against the original verdict.
The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board initially found both trainers guilty in November 2015 of administration of cobalt to three horses - Windy Citi Bear, Best Suggestion and Choose - but laid more of the blame with Shannon, who was given a five-year disqualification, two more years than his father Lee received.
VCAT had announced on October 26 last year that it had found both trainers guilty of administering a prohibited substance to the horses for the purpose of affecting their performance or behaviour in a race, in breach of Australian Rule of Racing AR 175(h)(i).
VCAT only recently released details of the new sanctions over the past few days and Racing Victoria released a statement on Tuesday, confirming the penalties.
"Racing Victoria has been informed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal of its decision regarding the penalty imposed on Victorian trainers Lee and Shannon Hope in relation to cobalt charges," the statement began.
"Lee and Shannon Hope have each been disqualified for a period of three years, with the periods of disqualification commencing at midnight, Monday, 28 January 2019."
VCAT announced on 26 October 2018 that it had found both trainers guilty of administering a prohibited substance to three horses - Windy Citi Bear, Best Suggestion and Choose - for the purpose of affecting their performance or behaviour in a race,.
The Hopes have until Monday, January 28 to rehouse racing horses currently under their care.
Racing.com report
Giddy Up
Andrew Eddy@fastisheddy 3:02pm
Shannon Hope has had his five-year ban reduced but he and his father Lee must still serve three-year disqualifications at the conclusion of their cobalt appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The Hopes' cobalt case was the first in Victoria under the new cobalt rules but the pair have had to wait more than three years to get a final determination after a series of appeals against the original verdict.
The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board initially found both trainers guilty in November 2015 of administration of cobalt to three horses - Windy Citi Bear, Best Suggestion and Choose - but laid more of the blame with Shannon, who was given a five-year disqualification, two more years than his father Lee received.
VCAT had announced on October 26 last year that it had found both trainers guilty of administering a prohibited substance to the horses for the purpose of affecting their performance or behaviour in a race, in breach of Australian Rule of Racing AR 175(h)(i).
VCAT only recently released details of the new sanctions over the past few days and Racing Victoria released a statement on Tuesday, confirming the penalties.
"Racing Victoria has been informed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal of its decision regarding the penalty imposed on Victorian trainers Lee and Shannon Hope in relation to cobalt charges," the statement began.
"Lee and Shannon Hope have each been disqualified for a period of three years, with the periods of disqualification commencing at midnight, Monday, 28 January 2019."
VCAT announced on 26 October 2018 that it had found both trainers guilty of administering a prohibited substance to three horses - Windy Citi Bear, Best Suggestion and Choose - for the purpose of affecting their performance or behaviour in a race,.
The Hopes have until Monday, January 28 to rehouse racing horses currently under their care.
Racing.com report
Giddy Up
9
Comps & Clubs / THE WEEKDAY TIPPING COMP
« Last post by westie on 6 hours ago »Unexplained delay at Cairns 1st now at 3.00pm DST. Further news an international jockey has been stood down for the day due to heat stress.
Update: The heat stressed jockey being ferried to hospital - awaiting another ambulance.
Update: The heat stressed jockey being ferried to hospital - awaiting another ambulance.
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Harness / WTC Address by John Schreck on stewards
« Last post by Arsenal on 6 hours ago »Discovered this 2007 address by John Schreck to the World Trotting Conference in 2007 quite by accident a very interesting and well prepared paper it deals with the Rules.... the role of stewards... the conduct of inquiries... procedural fairness and natural justice ..at one point he refers to a case in the NSW Court of Appeal Rafter V Schreck which despite an exhaustive search I've been unable to find.
https://www.harness.org.au/hra/papers/2007%20WTC%20-%20Stewards2.pdf
Giddy Up
https://www.harness.org.au/hra/papers/2007%20WTC%20-%20Stewards2.pdf
Giddy Up