Dear Archie, The great smouldering pile of decay that is the state of integrity management and administration of Queensland Racing ticked a new box this afternoon at Townsville’s Cluden Park. When acceptances for Tuesday’s (today) Townsville meeting closed at 9am last Friday, 11 April, a gelding named ELLEVES was a 46 rated horse and was […]
RQ Put an End to the Great Rock n Roll Redcliffe Yearling Sales Rort – And Good on Them Too
Two days before the Darren Ebert run Redcliffe Standardbred Yearling Sale earlier this month, Racing Queensland pulled its funding for the $104 000 sales race series final and associated auction linked races. No reason was given by RQ for its last minute jump from the ship, but it only took 48 hours for it to […]
Meet Fugly – the Lowest Priced Yearling in the Wide Brown Land – And the Ugliest Too
Have you ever seen a worse looking yearling than this one by Jilliby Kung Fu out of Coralie Joy? This thing looks like a back-blocks mule. It is as ugly as hell. Someone too pity on it. W. Kent threw in bid of $250 to win the right to take it home to make all […]
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned – Or the Woman She Was Scorned For
They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but we say equally that hell doesn’t have any fury like the woman that the woman was scorned for either, at least not if what went on in race 5 at Marburg is any indicator anyway. The two women involved were drivers Danielle McMullen, […]
It’s Time For Standardbred Breeders to Set Aside Their Differences and Decide on Just One Sales Company
Yesterday’s Nutrien yearling sale in Melbourne will no doubt be trumpeted as a success, with three lots topping the $200 000 mark, a further three bringing over $100 000, a gross sale volume of $3.3 million, and an average of $33 040. That’s the good news. Now for the bad. The lots that attracted a […]
The Intelligence Analyst Whose Experience Was Working in the Photo Lab at Big W
The hearing of a raft of charges against Victorian greyhound trainer Ivan Chircop – most of them dismissed – lifted a veil on the capacity (or lack thereof) of Greyhound Racing Victoria to effectively employ an intelligence based approach to integrity management. It may also have shone a light on potential nepotism within the organisation. […]
Spare Us the Birch
Archie, Kristian from Coogee here peeped Mr Wade Birch at Randwick on Saturday for the big day at races (pictured above). Peeped him filming horses in the parade yard for someone. And having a Rex Hunt on them as well. Mr Birch seems perfectly placed for a job at the QLD Racing Commission (note no […]
A Drive For (and Between) the Ages, Hope Reigned Supreme
Ben Hope had the eye of the tiger in the score up It was a case of old v new in the Group 2 Lyell Creek Stakes at Alexandra Park on Friday night when rising star NZ reinsman and rookie trainer Ben Hope with Muscle Mountain took on the multiple premiership winning Aussie driver Chris […]
Reflections on Honor Among Thieves
Our mail out of the BRT is that two one-time bosom buddies are not so pally-pally anymore. The pair, who a few years back were convicted of defrauding Racing QLD, were inseparable in the days when one was a dirt digging contractor and the other a contract manager and they were pulling tender rorts, but […]
The Big Go That Went Astray
Shoeless in race 6 at Werribee on Saturday was probably the biggest go of the day anywhere in the country. $14.00 into $3.50 it was backed. Someone forgot to tell its jockey Jackie Berriman however. Or maybe they did, I don’t know. There are only two things for sure. One is that J. Berriman didn’t […]