Since When Do Trainers Try This? – When They’ve Got a Real Good One, That’s When
We have said it before and we will say it again. They do things differently in New Zealand. We’re not talking here about Orchestral, the 3YO filly who is $1.50 favorite to beat the boys in the Derby. What we are interested in is the 2nd starter Irish Whisper, a filly who has had one […]
Orchestral in the NZ Derby – Has This Ever Happened in History?
I’ve been a racing man for almost half a century now, and never in that half long life have I seen a filly start as the 2-1 on ($1.50) favorite in a Derby, not in the southern hemisphere anyway. Not until now anyway. The superstar filly Orchestral at this stage looks like being the first. […]
The Most Stupid Inquiry in Racing History Ends the Wat it Began – With Jimmy Orman Totally Innocent
Why on earth did the Stewards waste their time and put undue pressure on James Orman by inquiring into this ride? What the hell could they possibly have imagined that Orman did wrong? Putting a horse on the fence at the mile mark of a middle distance race run on a tight turning track is […]
You’d Have To Be Kidding Wouldn’t You?
You can see the Steward report about race 2 at Townsville yesterday. Now look at the race. And tell me that Amanda Thomson didn’t ride this second placed grey horse the $1.80 favorite dead. Puh-lease. Gimme a break.
New Steering Committee Set to Guide Cairns Amateurs
February 27, 2024 The time-honoured Cairns Amateurs Carnival will take on a new twist this year after celebrating its Sapphire Jubilee. Over the past 65 years, Cairns Amateurs has served as one of the state’s most iconic regional events under the auspices of the Far North Queensland Amateur Turf Club. With hundreds of thousands of […]
Whatever Happened to the Korean Apprentices?
Ten years ago the then QLD Racing Minister Steve Dickson – the man who famously declared that QLD racing was half a furlong in front of the southern states – announced this worthy initiative to integrate young riders from Korea into Australian racing. Sadly like a lot of Minister Dickson’s grand ideas it faded away […]
Who is Really Funding the Hard Hitting New Racing Website thestraight.com.au?
Many in the racing industry are wondering how the Tasmanian based former Asian Racing Journal columnist Bren O’Brien has managed to fund his immediately prodigious start-up racing website the straight.com.au, and how he has obtained the funds to employ and pay a suite of staff that includes racing journalists, website designers, accountants, and admin workers. […]
Racing Buddies*
RACING SYNDICATES AMONG BUSINESSMEN CEMENT FRIENDSHIPS AND SEAL DEALS That the rich and powerful approach the turf with cutthroat ambition is clear when Melbourne property developer Lloyd Williams confides that the only time he ever disagreed with his closest friend, Kerry Packer, was over a bunch of highly pedigreed hayburners. It was the late 1980s […]
Do You Reckon the Racing Authorities Knew What a Queman Was When They Approved the Name of the Oakleigh Plate Winner?
You can see above what the slang term for cue means. So what do you reckon a Cueman does? Or a Queman, if you are spelling it to avoid the obvious. The Oakleigh Plate is run over 1100m. Get the symbolism? I don’t think the racehorse naming authority did. If you backed them out, then […]