Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
Earlier this week we told you how NSW harness racing trainer Tony Bertwistle had been hammered by Stewards with 2 x 2.5 year sentences after a pair of his horses returned positive swabs to cobalt. In the same week the decision in the case of a Victorian gallops trainer named John Pearson whose horse also […]
Hi AB The ongoing discussion about integrity highlights the general complacency around ensuring sound systems are in place. Regulators completely ignore the obvious signs of potential manipulation – i.e. incredible changes in a horses performance and abnormal strike rates. Strike rates are interesting – take the thoroughbreds – last year Maher – 14%, Waller 12%, […]
Hi Archie, I read with interest the article from HRNSW Stewards that Scott Hewitt received no penalty for his Levamisole positive swab. In talking to one of the stewards about the case, apparently Scott ran sheep on his property (which he treated with Levamisole) and although the horses and sheep were in separate paddocks, the […]
The unexplained delay in Harness Racing NSW dealing with a positive swab recorded by the Mark Callaghan trained The Cid, the winner of last year’s $100 000 Hunter Regional Champion, is to put it plainly ridiculous. Any horse that throws a positive swab is automatically disqualified from the race in question, regardless of the cause […]
Don’t you hate it when a short-priced favorite gets caught in a pocket that costs it all chance of winning, while the plunge horse in the race sails on by to victory? There was nothing James McDonald could do to get Cross Tasman out. He was stuck in a zip fastener with no gaps in […]
By a process of elimination we believe that we have identified the Luke McCarthy trained pacer that has thrown a positive swab to cocaine. The horse appears to be Kingmaker, which won races at Menangle on the 24th and 31st of May. (We had previously written that the positive occurred in QLD; that now seems […]
Watch the two horses at the rear of the field in this replay of the final race at Menangle last Monday. In particular watch the right hand of driver Josh Gallagher wearing the light blue cap. Go. Did you see it? Gallagher reaches his arm out and appears to grab the shaft of the sulky […]
The mail out of Menangle is that the Jason Grimson – Jack Callaghan trainer-driver partnership is over, and that Happy Jack will within the coming weeks be heading over to the United States to live and work for a while. How he was able to obtain a green card so quickly (if he has) suggests […]
General – Following the completion of Race 6 and prior to the declaration of All Clear, Stewards ordered the announcement of ‘Hold All Tickets’ to allow an investigation to be completed into the participation of CARRERA SUNSET NZ and BELLA DANZA. Following investigation which confirmed the identity of both horses and taking evidence from Drivers Mat […]
The mix-up in drivers for the Grimson horses in race 6 at Menangle last weekend raises an interesting question. What rule exactly did the stable representative and drivers breach? Julie Henman, Blake Jones and Matt Rue were charged with, and pleaded guilty to, a breach 0f rule 239A, which reads that: A person whose conduct […]
