Thread reconstruction

Heard a rumour that CW is heading off to HK now that his two horses are no longer racing.

Anyone else heard this one?

Whilst I have always acknowledged that Winx is a good horse and better than anything else she has beaten, I have always maintained that the standard of middle distance weight for age racing in Australia is at its lowest in history.

The QE yesterday was a total and utter embarrassment. The Japanese horse came to Australia to race our no hopers in the Doncaster and was to return to Japan, but apparently Tommy Berry convinced connections to stay for this race. Now this Japanese horse is a real third rater. He has not won for over three years and is Group Three at best. Yesterday he towelled the opposition that Winx usually flogs and ran her to just over a length.

Winx was set for this race. It has been her swan song for months. This bloke, it was an afterthought and he flogged the remainder of the field. Aren't they supposed to be our best wfa horses?

Unfortunately, Winx is a very good horse that has had a career of beating rubbish. Now she has been retired you can all sit back and just watch this rubbish run for millions of dollars unless a few shrewd Japanese owners choose our races over the knackery for any of their non performing no hopers.

I think the Ranvet Stakes pretty well sums up the standard of weight for age racing in Australia.

The import that nearly won the race has not won for a couple of years and his best being a restricted Group Two. He has never won at weight for age, his best result being a third placing.

The horse that won had a win in listed company before coming here but that is all you need I think.

The beaten brigade were those same no hopers that Winx beats up for a pastime. Not a weight for age horse amongst them.

If that was not depressing enough, look at the Ryder field. Take Winx out and just another load of no hopers.

The Autumn Sun is way unders here. He won a pretty ordinary Caulfield Guineas in slow time, just look at the place getters to get an idea of the standard.

His two wins back have not been very convincing. He just got to Fundamentalist in the last few strides in his latest race. Fundamentalist was being beaten in Melbourne and came to Sydney for easier races. If you watch his last run, Madison County was three lengths behind him when he made his run and finished up two lengths off him at the post.

He is presently at $1.33 on fixed odds. Should be about $3.00 at least.

I will be laying him.

I wonder if this explains anything!

Moody: "Black Caviar basically lived on altrenogest"
Shane Anderson@Globalgallop 10 September 2018

Peter Moody, trainer of legendary mare Black Caviar, has questioned whether the use of altrenogest gave her and other mares in his care an added advantage during their careers.

The four-time Melbourne premiership winning trainer saddled horses that won 53 Group 1 races and trained two of the best mares in Australian racing history, Black Caviar and Typhoon Tracy.

Altrenogest is a synthetic hormone that appears in the popular product Regu-Mate, which is used to manage the oestrous cycle in mares, stopping them from coming into season.

Moody posed the question as to whether, unwittingly, fillies and mares on altrenogest have been getting an unfair advantage.

"Is this one of the reasons why fillies and mares have dominated the last couple of decades," Moody asked?

"We have always blamed the fact that our smart young colts have gone off to stud and better performed horses have been sold to Hong Kong for big money.

"But maybe this anabolic make up of Regu-Mate, maybe it has given the girls some benefit? I don't know."

Victorian trainers have been urged to stop using products that contain the substance altrenogest with testing continuing to show varying levels of the anabolic steroids trenbolone and trendione, which are substances that are banned under the Australian Rules of Racing.

Racing NSW took a different approach to Racing Victoria, enacting a NSW local rule of racing 44A which provides stewards the discretion to dismiss ‘nonconsequential’ levels of trenbolone or trendione.

Moody told Racing.com that he used Regu-Mate with the fillies and mares in his care.

"Regu-Mate has been a widely used product for many years now and trainers have used it as a tool to help control the cycle of fillies and mares," Moody said.

"I would suggest that it has benefitted them greatly.

"There have been jurisdictions around the work, mainly Europe, where it is banned, I went through that with Black Caviar and she basically lived on it.

"When we went to the UK, she had to go off it."

From May 1, 2014 Racing Australia has banned the use of anabolic steroids on horses in and out of training for all racehorses aged 6 months or older, taking a zero-tolerance policy with heavy penalties for those that breached the rules.

The use of altrenogest has become an important tool for trainers in treating mares, helping them race consistently while alleviating work, health and safety issues. It has not been assessed as a performance-enhancing substance.

While not being used by all, many stables have used altrenogest during the training process in varying degrees especially in being able to manage the behavioural traits of fillies and mares when in cycle.

"All of my better mares were on it, we tried to control their cycles, we didn't want them going to the races in season because it certainly influences a lot of mares," Moody said.

"With some mares it wouldn't worry them, but I would say that they are in the minority.

"Other mares, when they are in season, it does have performance effecting abilities on them."

Moody questioned the claims that the banning of altrenogest could create a workplace health and safety issue.

"I think horses are always a workplace health and safety issue, I think trainers will learn to work around it," Moody said.

"Rules are made all of the time, they are going to have to learn to live with it if that is the case.

"There seems to have been studies on it, there are traces of anabolic (steroids) in it, it has got to go as they are against the rules of racing.

"I do applaud the way that they have gone about it. I think that they have handled similar scenarios in a very bad state in previous years.

"But at least they are giving the trainers the information that they need to work around this."

Moody said it is unclear whether testing procedures had improved or whether the make-up of Regu-Mate had changed.

"Is this the day and age when they wind up the machines, they are looking harder for things and it has just come to light," Moody asked?

"Or has the make-up of Regu-Mate changed? I don't know.

"I would suggest that they are looking harder and have found traces of and it has probably been there the whole way through."

According to Moody, the spring season will be problematic for mares who may have been taking altrenogest.

"It will be hard for mares that are on it to come off it, leading into spring, but in time it will just be another thing that we have got to go without," Moody said.

"We are looking at drug free racing and I do congratulate that, we are going to have to be careful with oats and water soon."

However, Moody believes that it is problematic that Racing NSW and Racing Victoria have different approaches to dealing with positives to anabolic steroids while being treated with altrenogest.

"We need a national approach for all rules and regulations of racing," Moody said.

"I know that we are a vast country, we have our regulatory bodies in each state, but surely they can work together and have one set of rules particularly when we have people travel so often.

"You don't need to be checking the rule book everywhere you go.

"It is probably where Racing Australia needs to step in and get everyone on the same hymn sheet."

Here we go again. After weeks of hearing every minute detail regarding the horse, the trainer and the jockey, the only horse that ever gets a mention is ready to commence another campaign.

It will all commence with gushing and fake anticipation by the moronic media, several interviews with the trainer and the jockey's family, friends, gardener and someone who lived next door to the strapper's uncle fifteen years ago. We will be informed that it is "picture perfect"

Next we will be given the time until race start every two minutes. All this fake concern about the crack field the great horse will be facing, what is going through the jockey and trainer's mind, the direction of the wind and a few D grade celebrity interviews.

After this, the seven stable mates and two other complete duds will assemble at the gates ready for the big show. They will all roll out of the gates into formation taking up their respective positions for a slow jog and canter. At the 200 metres, the only wfa horse in the race will roll past and then the floodgates will open.

When this is all over, the media, trainer and assembled sycophants will all sob away for the next thirty minutes. Every one then has to feel "humble" and as far as finding out what race she will next to contest, you guessed it, " the horse will tell us".

Just imagine this. Instead of these slow, one paced handicappers who could not run out sight on a dark night, imagine if we had something like Sunline, Vo Rogue or God help us, Manikato out in front setting the pace. This lot would be spread out over 400 metres before the race was half over. There would be no chasing, no sprint left, just horses completely run off their legs.

As has been said a thousand times. A good horse flattered by continually competing against complete no hoping, duds!