Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
Emma Stewart had six runners in the Breeders Crown 3YO Colts and Geldings final. Only one of them – Some American – was owned by her Dad. Some American was allowed to stroll to the front early after its stablemate the $1.70 favorite and initial leader Bay of Biscay took hold and allowed it across. […]
Anything HRV can do, Harness Racing NSW can do better. Or worse, depending on which lens you are looking at the Menangle pre-race swab (PRS) regime from. Only 1 of the favorites on the 8 race card in Sydney was PRS. That Seaton Grima trained runner was also the only 1 of the 4 odds-on […]
There is no better illustration of how the dominance of the Emma Stewart stable has negatively impacted Victorian harness racing than in the number of 2yo and 3yo pacers contesting the Breeders Crown. Since 2020 the total number of runners from those age groups in the heats had plummeted from 148 down to just 56. […]
Ultimate Geejay and Arklow are a pair of rating 36 and 37 horses, which is about as low as a horse can go, meaning that neither of them are much chop. Horses of their class can’t run fast early splits and keep going at the winning end, because they are just not good enough. So […]
Unless a miracle happens greyhound racing in Victoria as we know it will be dead in 3 years time. The sport’s already on life support. Its only a matter of time until the doctor turns the machines off. Spending has outstripped income by $30 million in the past two years, and if continues at that […]
Those of us with long memories will remember the days when the Sydney races on Derby Day were shite. Nothing sort of affairs with no particular interest to anybody except the connections of the runners.\ It wasn’t that long ago. Rewind to Rosehill on Derby Day in 2014. There were eight races on the card, […]
Many good judges rate Nick Ryan back in his riding days as the best apprentice of his generation, an elite class kid in his riding days who would have been a Melham or Williams if he hadn’t grown big so fast and got too heavy. That may be well true, but to me Ryan’s just […]
A nonnie in the pink and white There is nothing more frustrating in racing than the horse with a world of ability who has a seeming fear of greeting judges and a phobia about crossing the finish line first. Non-winners we call them, or nonnies for short. Verdad is one of them. This horse has […]
The Steward’s don’t agree with me, but they couldn’t write a coherent report if their lives depended on it, so who’d listen to them? Craig Williams dropped his hands on Growing Empire in the final few strides of the Manikato on Friday night, and it arguably cost him the race. Even if it didn’t, it […]
In a highly unusual move, Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) is requiring every registered participant in the State to undergo a National Police Check (NPS) and provide them with the results. Of particular note is that owners have to provide one too. That might stir the possum a bit, for there are more than a couple […]
