What a grand old game this racing business is:
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horseracing/cummings-in-64m-fight-over-brokendown-racehorses-20100224-p3k1.html

If you peruse this article it brings to light just how little Mr Tinkler really knows of the racing game.

He is seeking $6.4 Million dollars from Anthony Cummings, a man who "knows" a "good" thing when he sees it, for, wait for it, the value of horses Mr Cummings bought on its behalf and trained until they were broken down or lame, preventing them earning winnings.

This is a counter claim to Mr. Cummings seeking almost $180,000 in unpaid training fees, because Tinkler stated Mr. Cummings didn't perform the tasks he was supposed to.

I don't think anyone has ever explained the phrase "inherent risk" to Mr. Tinkler when it comes to racing horses.

I hope Mr. Tinkler may read the following statements for clarification:

WHEN you buy a Racehorse, you place it with a trainer who TRAINS it for you.

For this TRAINING, you must pay the trainer "training fees" if your horse is in work, regardless the horse making a success on a racetrack or not.

This is known as "inherent risk" in racing.

In the article they highlight two horses in particular that Mr. Tinkler is angry about, Metallurgical and Sidereus.

Sidereus has a race record of 8:1-1-1. Patinack purchased this horse after it won the Pago Pago stakes for $2.5m and ran it in the golden slipper, then at it's last start it ran 13/14 in the William read Grp1 530 days ago.

Metallurgical race record of 6:0-1-2. A half brother to a dual group winning 2yo with a stallions pedigree, who mind you Patinack purchased, yet they wanted this one to be a carbon copy of the other one, mind you A Cummings never raced this horse, he had it as a young horse. But no pressure from the owner here??

I don't think he had also done his statistical research on the chances of a horse becoming a racetrack superstar! 19,000 foals to hit the ground yet only 8,000 of them were registered and only 4,000 of them were sold at an auction.

What it does prove is the contempt the industry holds trainers in by allowing such a bill to be accumulated. $180,000 is a black hole in anyone's business and as any trainer will tell you a slow payer is almost common place.

I think we need to look at this situation very closely, what it does highlight is the fact that the peak administrative bodies have come no closer to fixing this slow payer mentality of owners.

This would never have gone to court if Racing N.S.W upon disclosure of Patinack owing $180K to Mr Cummings banned nominations, country wide, until this debt was fixed up. It is a matter for the racing powers to look at, but again would never rock the boat, in case it stopped the turnover juggernaut.

Smokin………

Upon reviewing the weights for this weekends big sprint race at the heath I am starting to wonder what Greg Carpenter is smoking at RVL headquarters.

This Years Field:
1 Weekend Hussler 58.5
2 Lucky Secret 55.0
3 Here de Angels 54.0
4 Eagle Falls 52.5
5 Swift Alliance 52.5
6 Starspangledbanner 52.0
7 Wanted 52.0
8 Headway 52.0
9 Gran Sasso 52.0
10 Grand Duels 52.0
11 Arinos 52.0
12 Avenue 52.0
13 Tickets 52.0

and for historical reference:

2003 Choisir 55.5 4kg spread (River Dove 51.5kg) (1 grp 1)
2004 Super Elegant 57 5kg spread (Reactive 52kg) (2 Grp 1’s)
2005 Fastnet Rock 57Kg 4.5kg spread (Won) (no grp 1’s)
2006 Takeover Target 57kg 5.5kg spread (Snitzel 51.5kgs) (2 Grp 1’s)
2007 Undue 57kg 4kg spread (Won) (1 grp 1)
2008 Mentality 57 6kg spread (Weekend Hussler) (2 Grp 1’s)
2009 Scenic Blast/Typhoon Zed 57 4.5kg Spread (Swiss Ace) (1grp / 2 grp 1’s)


I want to know looking at the historical reference, as Gai Waterhouse has quite rightly pointed out, How on earth as Weekend Hussler only been given 58.5kgs??

He has been given only 1.5kg's above the historical top weight for this race yet has won upwards of 5 more group 1's than any other runner.

Even with a fluctuating bottom weight over the years he has been pitchforked into this race. He should of been given 61kgs at least.

To me it looks like getting the horse to run as opposed to weighting him on his merit, to the detriment of all other runners.

smokin.......

Mr Denham.

Well Jack never liked it, he much prefered Boss to be honest, but I have never met a more humble or talented trainer in my life yet a man who knew where everything in his life came from, the horse.

A lot of people saw the gruff exterior, the curled bottom lip and assumed that because you only heard a couple of negative things in the press that he was a hard man with a hard edge.

Mr Jack Denham was an absolute gentleman.

I never knew Jack when he was in his prime, trying to cut down the mighty Tommy Smith Stable with the support of Stan Fox and later winning the premiership a couple of times.

I first met Jack Denham in the tie up stalls at Randwick, only 15 mins after a little horse, Might and Power and won the Queen Elizabeth by a staggering 10L.

Leaning over the fence I asked Mr Denham if I could take a photo with the champ, he obliged with a smile and asked me if I wanted to pat the champ.

When I started working at Rosehill, Mr Denham was a little older, it took a couple of months, but after sitting next to him week after week at the races, I eventually got to see him open up a little and I listened enthralled on every word he ever said.

He was a master at training his horses, they were exactly that, His Horses. He never threw a rug on his animals, they weren't born with one. Is that bridle sitting right in its mouth, Ol' Jack would say "Make em smile!"

He was razor sharp with an assessment of an animals performance, but twice as harsh on a jockeys waste of one.

He loved his horses and what they provided him. Might and Power obviously topped the list, but I won't comment on what horses I never knew.

He loved watching Alan become a successful trainer in his own right and held much fear for the future of an industry he dearly loved.

He loved it because it provided him everything he had in his life. His family were always part of what happened at the track, until a couple of snide remarks from a couple of uneducated journo's about his daughter caused him to reasses the way the media would have access to his life.

Ol' Jack was a mate of mine, and that seat right near the entrance to the mounting yard at rosehill will be sorely empty for evermore. I will miss you mate, you are a champion.

smokin........

It might just be me, but one of sydney's "premier" trainers has been in the practice of farewelling some very classy 2yo's of late.

Tickets and Wanted go to Moody down south, the No. 1 horse in his yard, Fist of Fury was a huge success in the autumn as the successor to Racing to Win, and even the old warhorse with broken suspension managed a grp 1 placing.

Something on the nose or is everything O'Shea???

smokin......

In an attempt to try and make sense of what the paper pushers are bleating about at the moment, I've decided to try and launch a constructed, viable, plausible solution to a growing problem.

Racing's Revenue Streams.

For a while now the upper echelon of racing's power base have been starting to grow the tree of how racing's funding base is being eroded by the growth of coporates and betting exchanges, by acting in direct competition to the TAB.

I guess we could go way back to the day the industry decided to sell the Jolly Green Giant, seeing it as being the silver lining to getting racing out of the funding conundrum them found themselves in.

Now further down the track we find ourselves in a similar situation and again the rear-garded backwards nature of racing administration in this country really only have themselves to blame.

In sydney press this morning Bagdad Bob Bentley (racing's new can do man) was quoted:

"The time for politicians, both federal and state, to act is now. There is no time for navel gazing or procrastination. Consigning the issue to the too-hard file is not acceptable.
Stripped down, the problem is not complicated and the solution is not rocket science. All that is required is for the industry to be united for once and demand our politicians have some backbone and take their head out of the sand.
Racing faces the greatest challenge in our lifetime due to the rapid growth of new types of Australian wagering providers, corporate bookmakers and betting exchanges.
If the new arrivals do as they please without due regard to the industry, there will be a devastating effect on racing's viability"

Upon reading that I shook my head and thought that this is just what racing needs, another head of industry who wants to unite the industry around another lost cause.

Most Wagering operators have publically stated that they are not opposed to paying fees for the products they wager on, but they opposed a turnover tax. To which I can sympathise with them.

Mr V'Landys, another of the white knight brigade, stated on radio during the week that in NSW, Prizemoney levels were under serious threat due to the Race Fields Legislation challenge being held up through the courts and that he held $20Mil in an account in case they had to hand it all back.

He then started on his usual rant of protecting industry participants jobs and that if this challenge was successful that racing's prizemoney would be terribly erroded.

However, whilst this is an interesting challenge, why on earth are they not taking pro-active steps to allow different revenue streams that would lift the strain that Racing NSW finds on itself.

The best move would be the most obvious, welcome ALL COMERS to bet on the product and charge a general fee for all of them.

However, when NSW politicians hold a terribly backwards view on wagering restrictions and operators here face an uphill battle to be on a level playing field, why would they want to bet here.

Remember the fear and scare campaign when Betfair announced they were going to operate in Australia? It would now be like telling Mary you NOW have room at the inn!

How stupid is the agreement of Racing NSW's in exclusivity of promotional advertising? It is not condusive to ensuring the playing feild is a level one.

Sponsorship is another avenue that is a backwards step. If Trainers and Jockeys want to obtain coporate sponsorship, what is stopping them from doing it??

The Jockeys have just successfully taxed 1% of the national prizemoney pool ($30 Mil) for the National Jocks Association fund, yet if the individuals were able to find sponsorship that a levy was paid to the fund, do you not think they could fund it themselves?

What Racing NSW needs to recognise is they need to leave the strangle hold of the TAB behind and make the product open to all and sundry.

They rely on the 97% of funding that comes from the TAB to push the industry forward. In a climate of wagering downturn, it means that only 1 business that operates on your product still provides you with your income, when there are players out there knocking on the door to come and play!

So the question becomes what is the best way forward???

I think it is simple.

1st: End all exclusivity agreements with the TAB's across the nation and only allow these operators back when the TAB pools are nationalised and All STATE rules are uniform, on taxation and betting regulations.

2nd: Coporates are no longer allowed to offer TOTE divi (maxidiv, best tote) products, as these are the domain of the national tote pool, coporates are allowed to offer fixed prices only, unless they pay two lots of fees (fixed and totes).

3rd: Charge a uniform Product fee across the nation. If the wagering operators want to operate on the Racing Industry in this country, they are charged the same fee, across the board.

It is said that the TAB currently pays $6 or close to then wouldn't it makes sense to reduce that fee but charge more operators for it??

4th: Abolish the rediculous interstate wagering rules and make the rules federal. Then it makes NO difference where the operators are based.

5th: Enjoy all facilites on track. Betfair is allowed to operate on track. The coporates are allowed to operate on track.

6th: Racing NSW enters into Wagering Agreements with all comers and opens RACING NSW Betting Shops, which operates the TAB, Betfair, Corporate Bookies and whoever else wants to pay in and become a 1 stop shop for all wagering, where without compromise punters have the choice of where and how they bet.

I'm sure there are those of you that have a greater understanding of this issue, however I think that there needs to be a defining move forward. Use your head as opposed to stopping the revenue opportunities that exist.

smokin......

In a Major and unprecedented announcement, Bob Ingham has sold all of his racing and breeding interests to Darley.

The deal will be a few weeks off yet as there needs to be approval from the investments and securities commission, however this comes as a major shock to the racing and breeding industry in this country.

I think this may mean the famous cerise after this autumn carnival may never blaze our racetracks anymore.

I know ol' Jack was the driving force behind Woodlands, but for Bob to take the money and run is a very very sad day for the australian industry indeed.

More will come to hand on this breaking story over the next few days

smokin......

As of 4pm this afternoon, the AJC has notified trainers based at Randwick that trackwork will be finishing at 8:15am and no horse related activities on the mile side of the track will be allowed until after 1.30pm in the afternoon due to WYD geotechnical drilling operations.

So much for the AJC and State Government not reaching agreement that the event could still be held elsewhere.

My thanks to the Iemma Goverment, you just got yourself voted out of office.

smokin.....

Fact from fiction

Fiction
If vaccination program had been commenced as soon as outbreak started many horses would have been protected.

FACT
If horses were vaccinated on day one of this outbreak they would only now have sufficient anti bodies to give them some protection if they were vaccinated with a suitable vaccine. Every horse affected up to now would have the same EI disease scenario it has endured, as no horses affected to date would have achieved protective antibody levels by now.



Fiction
Vaccinating horses stops the spread of the EI virus.

FACT
In an outbreak vaccination does not stop the spread of the virus it does however reduce the symptoms of the disease. Vaccinated horses still get EI and shed virus and as such can spread the virus just as effectively as non vaccinated horses.



Fiction
Vaccinating horses means horses can travel without spreading the virus.

FACT
Vaccinated horses are in fact the best way to spread the virus in unvaccinated populations because they can be infective and show no symptoms.



Fiction
After 8 days, horses no longer shed virus.

FACT
At Centennial Park horses that were tested on the 24th August 2007 were still shedding virus on the 13th September 2007. Their horses were infected and incubating at least 3 days before 24th August 2007, so the 8 days is in fact 23 days.



Fiction
Vaccinating horses around an outbreak would create a barrier around the affected horses and stop it from spreading.

FACT
The virus would travel through a vaccinated population as quickly as a non vaccinated population, albeit under the radar, and burst out on the other side of the vaccinated perimeter into a naïve population.


smokin....

A few statistics that might give an indication to whats faced here:

When the breakout stopped Japanese racing, on JRA properties the infection rate was only 37% of horses, which was above the threshold consistent with a defined 'outbreak'. This was an outbreak in a horse population that is vaccinated to this virus. Racing resumed after 7 days when the outbreak was back under the threshold which was 9%.

It is now apparent that the imported stallions from Japan are indeed the source of EI into the country.

The outbreak in the Centennial Park is now at 100%. Every single horse in this complex is infected and there were horses that left this complex on thursday morning.

These Horses travelled to places including Maitland, Parkes, Dubbo and Nowra. The horses that left the park complex are indeed positive. Every horse in these locations are now under quarantine. The event in Parkes in under a 30 day quarantine.

The one day event that happened in Maitland had ceased before Centennial Park was shut down. The horse that was there is positive and horses that had interacted with it have left the site. Horse movements are attempting to be mapped and these participants are being tracked down to quarantine these horses.

Does anyone get the scale of threat here yet??

If any of the Maitland horses go back into the Hunter Valley, the scenario gets worse, where the mortality of foals will start at 40%, thats not where it ends.

Make no mistake and be under no Illusion, this is the SINGLE BIGGEST threat ever faced by the industry, hobbiest, racing and breeding.

What is needed is vigilance. If you see someone with a horse on a float ring the police. If your in the industry, now is the time to become as careful as you have ever been. Check your temps, check your feeds and monitor your horses. Decontaminate and remind those around you.

If you love your sport, if you love your animals, don't dismiss this as something that will pass.

From my understanding, Racing in NSW will be gone for 30 days if there is any outbreak in thoroughbreds in any form.

I want it to be a bad dream, but this is turning into a nightmare

smokin.......

Excites is to be transferred from Guy Walters Stable possibly heading to the stables of Paul Perry.

apparently the owner is looking for a 'colt' trainer

heard it here 1st

smokin......