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Racing Talk / FOUR CORNERS HAS A RUN AT RACING
« Last post by gunbower on 6 minutes ago »Nemisis you make a good point about the need for a live animal on the arm. However I would argue (if that's the appropriate word ) ,is that it is no worse than giving a horse an electric charge eg the battery which has been happening for God knows how many years . I guess what I am saying is that they are both cruel acts , and how do you rate them.
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Racing Talk / Racing Website: letsgohorseracing.com.au
« Last post by Arsenal on 24 minutes ago »Very late putting this up thanks to NBN maintenance started last night at 11pm and supposed to finish at 6am today but not in my house service only restored thanks to Telstra guy named Prince.....not a lot some comments on voting for the most popular ...wouldn't draw too big a response IMO the golf club elections only attract a small number of voters so I can't imagine this popularity contest would be very exciting.
http://www.letsgohorseracing.com.au/
WELCOME TO THE NEWLOOK WEDNESDAY WHINGE
MAIN WHINGE THIS WEEK:
IF the response we received is any gauge the racing and punting public of Australia would welcome the opportunity to vote for the most popular jockey, trainer and horse each year.
There were some very tongue-in-cheek comments following the story that in Hong Kong, where the Jockey Club run an on-line poll combined with an extensive publicity campaign encouraging people to vote, Zac Purton was more popular than Joao Moreira and Pakistan Star streets ahead of Horse of the Year Beauty Generation.
It wouldn’t be as simple to run in OZ with the various States having to conduct their own polls ahead of a national final the best choice in the eyes of those who would like to see Australian racing follow the Hong Kong lead.
HERE are a couple of contributions that we chose to publish on the issue:
WHO WOULD PUBLIC VOTE ‘MOST POPULAR’ IN AUSTRALIAN RACING?
MERV AUSTIN of BRISBANE writes:
‘My mates and I support the suggestion by Nathan Exelby in The Courier-Mailthat the ‘most popular’ concept adopted in Hong Kong should be introduced in Australia.
Wouldn’t it be fairer to engage the racing and punting public in the decision-making process than have the Awards voted on by high profile officials and members of the mainstream racing media who always seem to have their own favorites and agendas?
The Most Popular Horse category in recent years would have been a no-brainer with Winx and Black Caviar arguably winning hands down.
One could also suggest that the men who guided their careers in Chris Waller and Peter Moody would have been voted Most Popular Trainers of those particular eras. But nowadays Darren Weir could beat them both.
When it comes to Most Popular Jockey it isn’t the two-horse race that emerged in Hong Kong with rivals the ‘Magic Man’ Moreira and ‘Aussie’ Zac Purton a furlong in front.
One would have to consider Willie Pike from Perth a genuine rival to the likes of Craig Williams, Hugh Bowman and even the ‘wonder woman’ of Australian racing, Linda Meech.
It’s all food for thought and would make for much more positive comment in racing than the usual ‘political favoritism’ claims associated with current voting system.’
PETER MOODY FAVORITE TO WIN MOST POPULAR PERSONALITY
ALAN THURSTON of GOLD COAST sent this email:
‘MIGHT I suggest that what Australian racing needs as much as a Most Popular Horse, Jockey or Trainer is a Most Popular Personality Award?
Peter Moody might no longer by involved in the training business but he is in demand as a keynote speaker on all things racing and one could argue would win this Award by streets. There are few more knockabout popular characters in Australian racing than Moods.
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne is in the same boat when it comes to popularity but her stocks are higher these days outside the racing spectrum. Michelle’s profile is set to sky-rocket even further with the release of the movie, Ride Like a Girl, early next year.
Darren Weir, the bush boy from Berriwillock, who has taken training success in this country to a new level, is a likeable larrikin who would attract a stack of votes. He features in a recent biography written by Bruce Clark – Weiry – the Rise and Rise of Darren Weir.
There are many others who possess the credentials but lack the overall appeal to be voted Australian Racing’s Most Popular Personality.
Chris Waller for instance, despite the fact that he is a Kiwi, isn’t every punter’s cup of tea. No-one questions his amazing training feats with the champion mare Winx but his penchant to cry when interviewed after most of his big wins is as un-Australian as it gets in the eyes of most hardened punters. And we haven’t mentioned the ordinary race days when those who follow his stable are blown out of the water on a regular basis by form reversals from second string runners in races where he saddles up the favorites.
There is always the ‘First Lady of Racing’ – Gai Waterhouse – but most see her as yesterday’s news these days. There are so many more women in racing attracting the spotlight like Michelle Payne, the likeable Linda Meech and the soon-to-be-retired Clare Lindop.
Meech has shown she can compete with the best of the men on the track and is currently vying for the Victorian riding premiership. Her statistics are amazing.
Michelle, on the other hand, attracts much more media spotlight – unfortunately not always positive from the day she created history winning the Melbourne Cup. There are times she shoots from the hip then has to eat her words.
Gai’s right hand man Robbie recently wrote of Payne:
MICHELLE Payne is a great asset to racing and I like and admire her very much. I want her to be successful. However, when you are publicly vocal on an issue (as she is), you must expect debate. Michelle had a lot to say about Sandown (recently). She has publicly complained about Flemington and other tracks in the past.
May I gently point out; Michelle’s ‘walk’ doesn’t match her ‘talk’? This is her record or ‘walk’: Acceptors 138: ran 95; on good 22, dead 58, slow 8, heavy 7. Scratched 43: on good 8, dead 24, slow 5, heavy 6.
This translates to: Payne scratching on good 36% of acceptors; dead 41%, slow 62% and heavy 85%.
This is typical of all the soft track-advocating trainers. Bart Cummings was the worst.
Lee Freedman and I were asked to discuss the tracks policy on Radio RSN late 2016. I stopped his argument quickly quoting his stats:
All F/G D S/H
Ran 5534 2859 1757 918
Scratched 902 293 311 298
14.0% 9.3% 15.0% 24.5%
In contrast to those that like good tracks, they are huge ‘scratchers’ – outrageous to me.
Gai just lets them run.
As I have said to death: Horses break down less on good tracks, punters bet more, turnover is higher, tracks stand up to racing better, and therefore costs race clubs much less. Good tracks are always much safer for jockeys. Should be an easy argument. Artificially soft tracks are the enemy of racing and its participants.
Hope Michelle thinks about it and realizes she should welcome good tracks and not scratch on soft!
THEN, of course, we cannot list jockeys in the Most Popular Personality category without mention of Hugh Bowman who lets his performance on the track do the talking but is always humble and a real gentleman when interviewed about his successes.
No doubt I have overlooked several who others will consider were ‘must includes’. There are those who might say that the training feats of Ben Currie in Queensland have been freakish but others who would put up an argument that it might not be best for me to mention.
Like everything in racing it comes down to a matter of opinion but makes for good healthy debate.’
THE TOP TIPSTERS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN ‘MOST POPULAR’ VOTE
LLOYD JENKINSON of MELBOURNE writes:
‘I would just like to say that if you are going to have Most Popular Horse, Jockey and Trainer Award categories voted on by the public why not let the punters decide who wins the Most Popular Tipster?
This would have to be made from those whose selections are available to the punting public through the media and not by subscription or sourced privately.
SKY Channel will no doubt be promoting some of their bus load spearheaded of course by veteran form analyst Tony Brassel who with all due respects is one of the worst in the land considering the number of venues he tips at. He’s in good company at SKY with Bernadette Cooper in Brisbane way in front of the also-rans when it comes to finding losers.
I’ve been a punter for years and seen all the supposed superstar tipsters come and go – probably the most notable being Dominic Byrne who is still called on for his form expertise even if time has passed him by these days.
Might I suggest that there are currently two media tipsters who the majority of punters believe stand head and shoulders above the rest and they are both Victorian-based in Dean Lester and David Gately.
‘Deano’ has been around for a long time and attracts a huge following on his main base at RSN out of Melbourne. ‘Gater’, the new kid on the tipping block, is building a legion of punting fans through Best Bets and Racing.com, especially its popular Thursday night preview show Get On. Lester has worn the crown of tipping king for so long it is hard to believe that he is under threat from Gately.
And on the subject of Awards one contender has to be Matt Hill for his race-calling. Who would have thought that a young man with such talent could already be compared to the likes of such great callers as Bert Bryant, John Russell, Bryan Martin and the irrepressible Greg Miles? As young as he is, Matty is already one of the ‘greats’ in the eyes and ears of many horse racing fans.’
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY SIDE OF RACING IN THE PAST WEEK:
THE GOOD
‘ZAC’ A DESERVED WINNER OF HONG KONG JOCKEYS’ TITLE
HIGHLIGHT of the weekend for many was the Hong Kong jockeys’ premiership win by Aussie Zac Purton.
Considering how Purton has to battle weight a lot more his win over the Magic Man Joao Moreira was a remarkable effort – and he virtually had the title won before Sunday’s final meeting of the season at Sha Tin.
It still played out very well for those glued to the Hong Kong coverage with Moreira making a late bid to peg back the Purton lead at his final day of riding there before moving to Japan.
VOODOO LAD WIN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND
THE return to form by Voodoo Lad, swooping from last on the turn to win the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield was arguably the performance on the weekend.
It was another training triumph for Darren Weir but continued the great association Brad Rawiller has had with Voodoo Lad, having won four races from four rides on the bay gelding.
“It was a terrific ride as he’s not easy to ride and Brad just clicks with him,” Weir said. “You’ve got to do everything properly on him. He gets him into his rhythm. His previous two rides weren’t any good as he was pulling and he was ridden too close. He’s a good horse on his day.”
Voodoo Lad took his record to four wins from five starts at Caulfield and proved Weir correct in his pre-race warning that the horse had genuine excuses at his two previous failures in Adelaide and Brisbane.
OUTSTANDING PROSPECTS PRODUCED IN QLD AND VICTORIA
SATURDAY racing produced two outstanding prospects in Zoustyle which won brilliantly at the Sunshine Coast and outstanding Caulfield debut winner Brutal.
Trainer Tony Gollan will spell the unbeaten Zoustyle and set him for the Autumn Carnival in Sydney. His time for the 1000m at Corbould Park was only slightly inferior to the Open winner on the day – Ringo’s A Rockstar.
The five length win by the O’Reilly colt Brutal was stunning. Team Hawkes have always had a big opinion of him but have been patient and that looks set to pay dividends.
THE BAD
VICTORIAN UNDER MICROSCOPE AMID WALLER FORM REVERSAL
VICTORIAN visitor Al Galayel attracted the lion’s share of stewards’ attention in the sixth at Rosehill on Saturday which featured yet another major form reversal from the Chris Waller stable.
Waller had five runners in the race, of which Raqeeq was the best fancied at $6 and charged home to be beaten a short neck by stablemate Vaucluse Bay which had been beaten 10th lengths into last place at his previous run at Randwick.
Amazingly the Racing NSW stewards’ panel, under the chairmanship of Mark Van Gestel, seemed more concerned about a change of tactics on the visitor Al Galayel from the Cairon Maher stable.
Their report reads that as the field was being loaded into the barrier stewards received advice from the Maher stable representative that Al Galayel would be ridden in a more forward position with the option to lead if possible. Due to the late notice stewards were not able to notify the change of tactics to the public. The stable was fined $500 for failing to notify within 30 minutes of the race with extenuating circumstances taken into account. Al Galayel again failed to negotiate the Sydney way of racing and tired to finish fifth.
While he was going backwards Vaucluse Bay pressed on to win and ran up to the better form he was showing prior to his dismal last at Randwick. But he was able to race wide and without cover for most of the trip and stewards did not bother to seek an explanation for the major form reversal which is punters complain is common place in Sydney racing when Waller has multiple runners.
Vaucluse Bay’s previous form to the Randwick flop was good and he dropped slightly in class but rose 4kg in weight to win at Rosehill where he firmed from $15 to $10.
Waller had four other runners in the race – the best fancied Raqeeq at $6 ran 2nd, Chatelard ($10, 7th), Monasterio ($21, 9th) and Mutarakem ($8.5, 12th).
Waller also had three runners in the third on Saturday. Prepost favorite Asterius blew like a gale from $3.8 to $5 and ran last while stablemate Jolly Honour backed from $6 to $4.8 bolted in. Stewards reported that Asterius over-raced, bled from both nostrils and incurred a mandatory three month ban.
THE UGLY
HOW BRAVE ARE JOCKEYS WHEN YOU WATCH THE SOCCER DIVES?
WHEN you watch the deliberate ‘dives’ taken by some of those dingoes during the soccer World Cup it makes you appreciate just how brave our jockeys are.
And now some in racing are complaining because they want another riding fee increase. Whatever they get they deserve every cent of regardless of how much they can earn in prizemoney percentages or slings.
Back to the soccer – some of these blokes are paid outrageous tens of millions of dollars in contract fees and the best they can do when beaten for the ball is to take a ‘dive’.
Watching them writhing around on the ground in ‘false’ pain made a mockery of what was otherwise a showcase world event.
Even tiny lady jockeys take more risks every day of their lives for far less money and a lot more bravery than these cowardly kings of the football castle.
BORIS THORNTON RIDE ON HOT FAVORITE IS BEST FORGOTTEN
APPRENTICE Boris Thornton has received some positive publicity since moving to Queensland but his ride on the hot favorite Privlaka in the opener at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday is best forgotten.
Somehow Privlaka, $1.6 to $1.5, managed to get into a bad pocket in the five horse field and didn’t get clear until the winner Yaba Dabl Doya $8 had established a winning break. Privlaka was beaten a short head but should have bolted in.
What didn’t help Thornton on Privlaka was Tegan Harrison’s mount Fast Arrow which sat three wide outside him and kept going when they straightened. The favorite had to ease back and around that horse to make his run which cost him victory.
Stewards inquired into his tactics and advised the apprentice that he had erred in not steadying Privlaka and bringing that horse to the outside earlier. Trainer Rob Heathcote agreed but said Privlaka would be sent for a spell.
Thornton was back in the room explaining the poor performance of Tan Tat Diamond ($3.5 to $4.
which beat only one home in the second but had a lucky escape in the eighth when he was found not guilty of a careless riding charge on Scrabble when The Overdraft and the Real Spiel were checked.
ALLEY & WEIGHT EXCUSES FOR ‘SLAUGHTER’ JOB ON SHOGUN SUN?
SOME punters believed Shogun Sun was beaten by his bad alley when well tried in the final race at the Sunshine Coast while others blamed the ride.
Top jockey Jim Byrne couldn’t get in or find cover and was parked four wide throughout on Shogun Sun which battled to finish 10th. That didn't stop some punters who backed the horse from bagging his ride in emails to the Whinge.
Byrne told stewards his mount was unable to sprint like he did winning at his previous start which he attributed to its 59.5kg although some might say the horrific run out wide was also to blame.
Giddy Up
http://www.letsgohorseracing.com.au/
WELCOME TO THE NEWLOOK WEDNESDAY WHINGE
MAIN WHINGE THIS WEEK:
IF the response we received is any gauge the racing and punting public of Australia would welcome the opportunity to vote for the most popular jockey, trainer and horse each year.
There were some very tongue-in-cheek comments following the story that in Hong Kong, where the Jockey Club run an on-line poll combined with an extensive publicity campaign encouraging people to vote, Zac Purton was more popular than Joao Moreira and Pakistan Star streets ahead of Horse of the Year Beauty Generation.
It wouldn’t be as simple to run in OZ with the various States having to conduct their own polls ahead of a national final the best choice in the eyes of those who would like to see Australian racing follow the Hong Kong lead.
HERE are a couple of contributions that we chose to publish on the issue:
WHO WOULD PUBLIC VOTE ‘MOST POPULAR’ IN AUSTRALIAN RACING?
MERV AUSTIN of BRISBANE writes:
‘My mates and I support the suggestion by Nathan Exelby in The Courier-Mailthat the ‘most popular’ concept adopted in Hong Kong should be introduced in Australia.
Wouldn’t it be fairer to engage the racing and punting public in the decision-making process than have the Awards voted on by high profile officials and members of the mainstream racing media who always seem to have their own favorites and agendas?
The Most Popular Horse category in recent years would have been a no-brainer with Winx and Black Caviar arguably winning hands down.
One could also suggest that the men who guided their careers in Chris Waller and Peter Moody would have been voted Most Popular Trainers of those particular eras. But nowadays Darren Weir could beat them both.
When it comes to Most Popular Jockey it isn’t the two-horse race that emerged in Hong Kong with rivals the ‘Magic Man’ Moreira and ‘Aussie’ Zac Purton a furlong in front.
One would have to consider Willie Pike from Perth a genuine rival to the likes of Craig Williams, Hugh Bowman and even the ‘wonder woman’ of Australian racing, Linda Meech.
It’s all food for thought and would make for much more positive comment in racing than the usual ‘political favoritism’ claims associated with current voting system.’
PETER MOODY FAVORITE TO WIN MOST POPULAR PERSONALITY
ALAN THURSTON of GOLD COAST sent this email:
‘MIGHT I suggest that what Australian racing needs as much as a Most Popular Horse, Jockey or Trainer is a Most Popular Personality Award?
Peter Moody might no longer by involved in the training business but he is in demand as a keynote speaker on all things racing and one could argue would win this Award by streets. There are few more knockabout popular characters in Australian racing than Moods.
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne is in the same boat when it comes to popularity but her stocks are higher these days outside the racing spectrum. Michelle’s profile is set to sky-rocket even further with the release of the movie, Ride Like a Girl, early next year.
Darren Weir, the bush boy from Berriwillock, who has taken training success in this country to a new level, is a likeable larrikin who would attract a stack of votes. He features in a recent biography written by Bruce Clark – Weiry – the Rise and Rise of Darren Weir.
There are many others who possess the credentials but lack the overall appeal to be voted Australian Racing’s Most Popular Personality.
Chris Waller for instance, despite the fact that he is a Kiwi, isn’t every punter’s cup of tea. No-one questions his amazing training feats with the champion mare Winx but his penchant to cry when interviewed after most of his big wins is as un-Australian as it gets in the eyes of most hardened punters. And we haven’t mentioned the ordinary race days when those who follow his stable are blown out of the water on a regular basis by form reversals from second string runners in races where he saddles up the favorites.
There is always the ‘First Lady of Racing’ – Gai Waterhouse – but most see her as yesterday’s news these days. There are so many more women in racing attracting the spotlight like Michelle Payne, the likeable Linda Meech and the soon-to-be-retired Clare Lindop.
Meech has shown she can compete with the best of the men on the track and is currently vying for the Victorian riding premiership. Her statistics are amazing.
Michelle, on the other hand, attracts much more media spotlight – unfortunately not always positive from the day she created history winning the Melbourne Cup. There are times she shoots from the hip then has to eat her words.
Gai’s right hand man Robbie recently wrote of Payne:
MICHELLE Payne is a great asset to racing and I like and admire her very much. I want her to be successful. However, when you are publicly vocal on an issue (as she is), you must expect debate. Michelle had a lot to say about Sandown (recently). She has publicly complained about Flemington and other tracks in the past.
May I gently point out; Michelle’s ‘walk’ doesn’t match her ‘talk’? This is her record or ‘walk’: Acceptors 138: ran 95; on good 22, dead 58, slow 8, heavy 7. Scratched 43: on good 8, dead 24, slow 5, heavy 6.
This translates to: Payne scratching on good 36% of acceptors; dead 41%, slow 62% and heavy 85%.
This is typical of all the soft track-advocating trainers. Bart Cummings was the worst.
Lee Freedman and I were asked to discuss the tracks policy on Radio RSN late 2016. I stopped his argument quickly quoting his stats:
All F/G D S/H
Ran 5534 2859 1757 918
Scratched 902 293 311 298
14.0% 9.3% 15.0% 24.5%
In contrast to those that like good tracks, they are huge ‘scratchers’ – outrageous to me.
Gai just lets them run.
As I have said to death: Horses break down less on good tracks, punters bet more, turnover is higher, tracks stand up to racing better, and therefore costs race clubs much less. Good tracks are always much safer for jockeys. Should be an easy argument. Artificially soft tracks are the enemy of racing and its participants.
Hope Michelle thinks about it and realizes she should welcome good tracks and not scratch on soft!
THEN, of course, we cannot list jockeys in the Most Popular Personality category without mention of Hugh Bowman who lets his performance on the track do the talking but is always humble and a real gentleman when interviewed about his successes.
No doubt I have overlooked several who others will consider were ‘must includes’. There are those who might say that the training feats of Ben Currie in Queensland have been freakish but others who would put up an argument that it might not be best for me to mention.
Like everything in racing it comes down to a matter of opinion but makes for good healthy debate.’
THE TOP TIPSTERS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN ‘MOST POPULAR’ VOTE
LLOYD JENKINSON of MELBOURNE writes:
‘I would just like to say that if you are going to have Most Popular Horse, Jockey and Trainer Award categories voted on by the public why not let the punters decide who wins the Most Popular Tipster?
This would have to be made from those whose selections are available to the punting public through the media and not by subscription or sourced privately.
SKY Channel will no doubt be promoting some of their bus load spearheaded of course by veteran form analyst Tony Brassel who with all due respects is one of the worst in the land considering the number of venues he tips at. He’s in good company at SKY with Bernadette Cooper in Brisbane way in front of the also-rans when it comes to finding losers.
I’ve been a punter for years and seen all the supposed superstar tipsters come and go – probably the most notable being Dominic Byrne who is still called on for his form expertise even if time has passed him by these days.
Might I suggest that there are currently two media tipsters who the majority of punters believe stand head and shoulders above the rest and they are both Victorian-based in Dean Lester and David Gately.
‘Deano’ has been around for a long time and attracts a huge following on his main base at RSN out of Melbourne. ‘Gater’, the new kid on the tipping block, is building a legion of punting fans through Best Bets and Racing.com, especially its popular Thursday night preview show Get On. Lester has worn the crown of tipping king for so long it is hard to believe that he is under threat from Gately.
And on the subject of Awards one contender has to be Matt Hill for his race-calling. Who would have thought that a young man with such talent could already be compared to the likes of such great callers as Bert Bryant, John Russell, Bryan Martin and the irrepressible Greg Miles? As young as he is, Matty is already one of the ‘greats’ in the eyes and ears of many horse racing fans.’
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY SIDE OF RACING IN THE PAST WEEK:
THE GOOD
‘ZAC’ A DESERVED WINNER OF HONG KONG JOCKEYS’ TITLE
HIGHLIGHT of the weekend for many was the Hong Kong jockeys’ premiership win by Aussie Zac Purton.
Considering how Purton has to battle weight a lot more his win over the Magic Man Joao Moreira was a remarkable effort – and he virtually had the title won before Sunday’s final meeting of the season at Sha Tin.
It still played out very well for those glued to the Hong Kong coverage with Moreira making a late bid to peg back the Purton lead at his final day of riding there before moving to Japan.
VOODOO LAD WIN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND
THE return to form by Voodoo Lad, swooping from last on the turn to win the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield was arguably the performance on the weekend.
It was another training triumph for Darren Weir but continued the great association Brad Rawiller has had with Voodoo Lad, having won four races from four rides on the bay gelding.
“It was a terrific ride as he’s not easy to ride and Brad just clicks with him,” Weir said. “You’ve got to do everything properly on him. He gets him into his rhythm. His previous two rides weren’t any good as he was pulling and he was ridden too close. He’s a good horse on his day.”
Voodoo Lad took his record to four wins from five starts at Caulfield and proved Weir correct in his pre-race warning that the horse had genuine excuses at his two previous failures in Adelaide and Brisbane.
OUTSTANDING PROSPECTS PRODUCED IN QLD AND VICTORIA
SATURDAY racing produced two outstanding prospects in Zoustyle which won brilliantly at the Sunshine Coast and outstanding Caulfield debut winner Brutal.
Trainer Tony Gollan will spell the unbeaten Zoustyle and set him for the Autumn Carnival in Sydney. His time for the 1000m at Corbould Park was only slightly inferior to the Open winner on the day – Ringo’s A Rockstar.
The five length win by the O’Reilly colt Brutal was stunning. Team Hawkes have always had a big opinion of him but have been patient and that looks set to pay dividends.
THE BAD
VICTORIAN UNDER MICROSCOPE AMID WALLER FORM REVERSAL
VICTORIAN visitor Al Galayel attracted the lion’s share of stewards’ attention in the sixth at Rosehill on Saturday which featured yet another major form reversal from the Chris Waller stable.
Waller had five runners in the race, of which Raqeeq was the best fancied at $6 and charged home to be beaten a short neck by stablemate Vaucluse Bay which had been beaten 10th lengths into last place at his previous run at Randwick.
Amazingly the Racing NSW stewards’ panel, under the chairmanship of Mark Van Gestel, seemed more concerned about a change of tactics on the visitor Al Galayel from the Cairon Maher stable.
Their report reads that as the field was being loaded into the barrier stewards received advice from the Maher stable representative that Al Galayel would be ridden in a more forward position with the option to lead if possible. Due to the late notice stewards were not able to notify the change of tactics to the public. The stable was fined $500 for failing to notify within 30 minutes of the race with extenuating circumstances taken into account. Al Galayel again failed to negotiate the Sydney way of racing and tired to finish fifth.
While he was going backwards Vaucluse Bay pressed on to win and ran up to the better form he was showing prior to his dismal last at Randwick. But he was able to race wide and without cover for most of the trip and stewards did not bother to seek an explanation for the major form reversal which is punters complain is common place in Sydney racing when Waller has multiple runners.
Vaucluse Bay’s previous form to the Randwick flop was good and he dropped slightly in class but rose 4kg in weight to win at Rosehill where he firmed from $15 to $10.
Waller had four other runners in the race – the best fancied Raqeeq at $6 ran 2nd, Chatelard ($10, 7th), Monasterio ($21, 9th) and Mutarakem ($8.5, 12th).
Waller also had three runners in the third on Saturday. Prepost favorite Asterius blew like a gale from $3.8 to $5 and ran last while stablemate Jolly Honour backed from $6 to $4.8 bolted in. Stewards reported that Asterius over-raced, bled from both nostrils and incurred a mandatory three month ban.
THE UGLY
HOW BRAVE ARE JOCKEYS WHEN YOU WATCH THE SOCCER DIVES?
WHEN you watch the deliberate ‘dives’ taken by some of those dingoes during the soccer World Cup it makes you appreciate just how brave our jockeys are.
And now some in racing are complaining because they want another riding fee increase. Whatever they get they deserve every cent of regardless of how much they can earn in prizemoney percentages or slings.
Back to the soccer – some of these blokes are paid outrageous tens of millions of dollars in contract fees and the best they can do when beaten for the ball is to take a ‘dive’.
Watching them writhing around on the ground in ‘false’ pain made a mockery of what was otherwise a showcase world event.
Even tiny lady jockeys take more risks every day of their lives for far less money and a lot more bravery than these cowardly kings of the football castle.
BORIS THORNTON RIDE ON HOT FAVORITE IS BEST FORGOTTEN
APPRENTICE Boris Thornton has received some positive publicity since moving to Queensland but his ride on the hot favorite Privlaka in the opener at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday is best forgotten.
Somehow Privlaka, $1.6 to $1.5, managed to get into a bad pocket in the five horse field and didn’t get clear until the winner Yaba Dabl Doya $8 had established a winning break. Privlaka was beaten a short head but should have bolted in.
What didn’t help Thornton on Privlaka was Tegan Harrison’s mount Fast Arrow which sat three wide outside him and kept going when they straightened. The favorite had to ease back and around that horse to make his run which cost him victory.
Stewards inquired into his tactics and advised the apprentice that he had erred in not steadying Privlaka and bringing that horse to the outside earlier. Trainer Rob Heathcote agreed but said Privlaka would be sent for a spell.
Thornton was back in the room explaining the poor performance of Tan Tat Diamond ($3.5 to $4.
which beat only one home in the second but had a lucky escape in the eighth when he was found not guilty of a careless riding charge on Scrabble when The Overdraft and the Real Spiel were checked.ALLEY & WEIGHT EXCUSES FOR ‘SLAUGHTER’ JOB ON SHOGUN SUN?
SOME punters believed Shogun Sun was beaten by his bad alley when well tried in the final race at the Sunshine Coast while others blamed the ride.
Top jockey Jim Byrne couldn’t get in or find cover and was parked four wide throughout on Shogun Sun which battled to finish 10th. That didn't stop some punters who backed the horse from bagging his ride in emails to the Whinge.
Byrne told stewards his mount was unable to sprint like he did winning at his previous start which he attributed to its 59.5kg although some might say the horrific run out wide was also to blame.
Giddy Up
3
Racing Talk / CAUTIONS FOR FLEMINGTON
« Last post by wily ole dog on 52 minutes ago »Give it up Pete you’ve been consigned to irrelevance 
Follow Darwin races, they have what you want
Follow Darwin races, they have what you want
4
Racing Talk / CAUTIONS FOR FLEMINGTON
« Last post by Peter Mair on 1 hour ago »Midwinter muddle
Capacity fields with runners of widely different ability is not quality racing.
The last two weeks in MN have been 'good' and 'almost good' -- Saturday could see the better runners prevail but inflated fields become a minefield of random interference.
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Racing Talk / FOUR CORNERS HAS A RUN AT RACING
« Last post by nemisis on 2 hours ago »On drugs,cheating, wastage and welfare they probably would run parallel.
But the dogs were bought undone by the people who believed that greyhounds need a live animal on an arm to get them to chase....it is a major difference.
The wastage issue will be the problem for horse racing in the future.....it's why P. V'Landys brought the farm.
I had a greyhound licence for 5 years.
But the dogs were bought undone by the people who believed that greyhounds need a live animal on an arm to get them to chase....it is a major difference.
The wastage issue will be the problem for horse racing in the future.....it's why P. V'Landys brought the farm.
I had a greyhound licence for 5 years.
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N.S.W Gallops / Racing NSW News
« Last post by wily ole dog on 2 hours ago »You’ve been consigned to the trash bin Pete
Your hopelessly, poor thought out brain farts have been pushed aside.
A peg is on everyone’s nose when thy are around you thought bubbles.
Time you move away to try and secure an income from another industry
Your hopelessly, poor thought out brain farts have been pushed aside.
A peg is on everyone’s nose when thy are around you thought bubbles.
Time you move away to try and secure an income from another industry
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Racing Talk / The end of Mair
« Last post by wily ole dog on 2 hours ago » Great announcements from the leadership today and it will finally shut the self-centred Mair up
The jury has spoken.
1. A great result For owners
2. A great result For country racing
3. A great result For trainers
4. A great result for punters
5. A great result For breeders
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N.S.W Gallops / Country and Provincial NSW
« Last post by wily ole dog on 2 hours ago »A great bunch of announcements today’s, I’ll certainly be buying some sweepstakes and so will my punters club
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Racing Talk / FOUR CORNERS HAS A RUN AT RACING
« Last post by wily ole dog on 2 hours ago »Hem
Having been involved with thoroughbreds as an owner, breeder and observer since the early 70s I can assure you that our game has had as many strikes as the puppies have.
As Gin has said, one has been exposed and the other swept under the carpet
Not sure of your involvement in the sport mate but if you’ve had any I can’t see how that point can be dismissed
Having been involved with thoroughbreds as an owner, breeder and observer since the early 70s I can assure you that our game has had as many strikes as the puppies have.
As Gin has said, one has been exposed and the other swept under the carpet
Not sure of your involvement in the sport mate but if you’ve had any I can’t see how that point can be dismissed
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Comps & Clubs / THE WEEKDAY TIPPING COMP
« Last post by specialweek2 on 4 hours ago »SW has a win at the Farm.
SW 286
Rat 142
JWH 80
Media 80
BMac 76
RH 70
Westie 62
PP 26
500 out
SW 559
PP 406
RH 369
Media 352
JWH 310
BMac 304
Rat 284
Westie 233
SW 286
Rat 142
JWH 80
Media 80
BMac 76
RH 70
Westie 62
PP 26
500 out
SW 559
PP 406
RH 369
Media 352
JWH 310
BMac 304
Rat 284
Westie 233