By the Way, Happy New Year
When’s the first?
A Death at the Track on a Summer Saturday Afternoon
That’s not Orbisyn. But it is the crossing at which he fell. I was there at the Doomben track yesterday with my young child, having a family day out together at the races. Orbisyn got the green curtain treatment after sliding out at the corner, just after the crossing where the access to the track […]
The NZ Racing Integrity Board is a Tragic Joke
New Zealand has this whizz bang racing integrity system under which race day stewards no longer charge trainers and riders and hit them with a fine or suspension on the spot after they breach the rules. Instead the stewards lay a charge against a licensee, and a panel of ‘independent’ adjudicators who are paid thousands of […]
Nigel McGrath is the Darren Weir of NZ Harness Racing
Nigel McGrath is a repeat offending horse drug hitter and race cheat. He has never been done for using a jigger on his charges, but it doesn’t really matter in the context of this story. What matters is that McGrath, like Darren Weir, was a trainer who was willing to break any law in the […]
Snowy Fires Back – But Misses the Mark
Bruce ‘Snowy’ Clark, the author of the stories about Darren Weir that we dissected yesterday, has fired back with a further Racenet article in his own defence. It’s a good one too, real good indeed. All in one article Clark unleashes his vitriol on Peter V’Landys; Damian Oliver; the News Limited press and its journos; […]
Where Pete Goes, Smart People Follow
Four months ago we framed a betting market on when Racing Victoria CEO Andrew Jones would be sacked. The 100-1 we bet about it being in 2024 shows exactly why we shouldn’t be bookies. The coming year for Jones sacking is now the red hot $1.10 favourite in the betting market, after the owners association […]
Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind – Do You Remember, What Darren Weir and Co Did
Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line? If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we? Memories May be beautiful and yet What’s too painful to remember We simply to choose to forget Barbara Streisand Melbourne Cup-winning horse trainer […]
Ciaron Maher Memories – First Published 15 May 2017
The news that leading thoroughbred trainer Ciaron Maher and his stable manager Ben Connolly have been hit with charges by Racing Victoria for allegedly allegedly concealing conman Peter Foster’s ownership of a number of racehorses, including top class mare Azkadelia, comes as no surprise to this little brown duck, and I will go out on […]
Silent Night, Holey Night
This is the Stewards report from the Mackay meeting on Friday. There is not a word about the form turnaround of Nic Me Some from it’s last placing 6 days earlier when it was hooked. There is no supplementary report detailing anything about the ride of Dale Evans on that occasion either. Funny that. Silence […]
Vale Sue Harley
Racing is mourning the passing of Mrs Susan Harley on Friday, 22 December 2023. Mrs Harley and her husband Gary have been iconic figures, the Harley name synonymous with racing and sports media in NSW, particularly in the Hunter Valley and Newcastle regions. Sue was Gary’s backstop in the media business, assisting in prepping all […]