More Bad Feedback on the Sandown Meeting on Saturday
Never fear, Saint Gil will fix it. If he ever gets there. His tram must have been delayed.
Gil’s First Job – Open the Bloody Bar
The new at Sandown that was part of the six million dollar refurbishment plan to attract punters back to the desolate, windswept racecourse on the two Saturdays a year they actually race there. The messiah Gillon McLachlan’s first job is to make sure that it is open on race day. His next step is to […]
A Hearing Without Particulars
This is the reasoning that QCAT Member Richard Oliver applied in hearing – and ultimately dismissing – horse trainer George Sitel.s appeal against a $1500 fine imposed on him by the Stewards for improper conduct, and upheld by the QRIC internal reviewer. Senior Member Oliver is a barrister whereas I am just a mug punting […]
When Thinking About Vince Tullio, Remember the Words of Martin Niemoller
Greyhound racing identity Vince Tullio (pictured above) is a man of rather questionale repute, there can be no doubt about that. Over the years he has been embroiled in controversies about the export of dogs to China for the illegal racing trade, the kidnapping of greyhounds from local Chinese connected trainers who hadn’t paid their […]
Court of Appeal judgment upholding Danny Nikolic exclusion order should matter to all of us
In the last week, Rolling Stone magazine has said about Donald Trump that he has become the mother of all pop-culture villains, a globally despised cross of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Charlie Sheen and Satan. No one wants to be seen as some kind of cartoon villain. Is it any wonder then, that Danny Nikolic has sought to explain his own […]
Eagle Farm These Days Sure is One Weird Cat
Gee Eagle Farm is a funny track. It raced like a Soft 7 yesterday when it was only a Soft 5, with horses throwing up clods almost the size of bowling balls. Yet winners were running Good 3 type times. Mishani Lily is only a 2YO, but she won in just 3/4 of a second […]
Ooh Ah – Ciarion Maher Pulls the Oldest Weight Trick in the Book
The chances of Stern Idol ever running in the Grand Annual Steeple at the ‘Bool today were always 100-1, for the reasons that we wrote about early in the week, namely that the champion middle-distance jumper couldn’t get the 5.5km over 33 jumps trip of the Annual running down a well on roller skates. Ciaron […]
Thoroughbred Alliance Letter to Racing QLD and the QRIC re Track Ratings
“The Thoroughbred Alliance met today to discuss the ongoing concerns the participant associations have with our grass tracks in S.E.Q, highlighted by recent questionable track ratings where downgrades have happened on race-days. These are certainly not isolated instances, it’s been an ongoing problem for many years. We fully understand how difficult it is for clubs […]
The Age Has a Crack at the ‘Bool – They Can Go and Stick It in Their Caboodle
There is a curious glitch in the video of a hurdle trial at Warrnambool racecourse on April 19 – less than a fortnight before the coastal town’s famous three-day jumps racing carnival. The footage shows a six-horse field start the 2800-metre event on Warrnambool’s inner track. But only five of them finish. During the trial, […]
Buy Backs are the Scourge of Yearling Sales – If You Don’t Want to Sell Them, Then Keep Them at Home
I have been to many a greyhound or trot sale where a large chunk, if not most, of the lots on sale are just there for show and to gain entry to sales eligible races, and quite frankly it gives me the Edgar Britts. Why waste potential buyers valuable time studying the catalogue and trekking […]