tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-183735982024-03-14T10:17:53.949+11:00Turf Confidential…the colorful world of horse racing…Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-73781650218811722392019-10-19T22:42:00.044+11:002020-07-14T00:07:59.227+10:00Slaughterhouse outrage warns of racing's judgement day <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-19/racehorses-slaughter-melbourne-cup-the-everest-racing-industry/11618590" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="1920" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctQTOyd9l_uizVbfqBf1KbvSPQ9tEl6JctY0N3xTRkHy8TpwahuOKDypJPpj06ONXZK4NEhEQs9tDxR3oAy8zI_MBNPcYpX_exCOZp6En_iaabG2HVO2vIqjLI_iW2pIRoAu-Lg/w256-h63/1920px-Abc2018.svg.png" width="256"></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-19/racehorses-slaughter-melbourne-cup-the-everest-racing-industry/11618590" target="_blank"><br></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div>It wasn't supposed to be this way.</div><div><br></div><div>As the week unwound, marketing for The Everest went into overdrive. When the barrier draw on Tuesday used the Harbour Bridge — absent the outrage of last year's Opera House fiasco — Racing NSW supremos got busy crafting an entirely different narrative for today; one where The Everest, in just its third running, would cast aside the sclerotic, centuries-old Melbourne Cup and assume the mantle as Australia's greatest horse race.</div><div><br></div><div>Then <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-17/racehorses-sent-slaughterhouses-contravention-racing-rules/11611688" target="_blank">Thursday night's 7.30</a> went to air, sweeping away all this facade to lay a repellent, despicable truth in the shape of a procession of abused, tortured and finally dead racehorses at the feet of racing regulators.</div><div><span></span></div></div><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2019/09/bad-blood-racings.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-90035098005588141022019-04-11T11:51:00.000+10:002019-05-23T12:43:14.885+10:00How Winx made racing great again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="100%" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCZq9Jepidcij06jURAREn24yhJ6EakRRyGL82blab0VPLT8Mzs5X0hKx1d9QkyR8CWQMs1QbzcFgDLIiZKoHGIHgzTPToZtJXKniUK1lxtCwd9WmrreNsbWyU6oK7aGXlJxF/s640/guardian-winx.jpg" width="100%"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/apr/11/winx-prepares-to-ride-off-into-sunset-in-a-class-all-of-her-own#img-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jockey Hugh Bowman will ride Winx for one final time at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Saturday. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP</span></a></div>
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Win or lose on Saturday, the great mare has given so much over her career, she has nothing left to prove</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODBMLgvxSCeq7SVso-4mPF8etvIHa7NATmQyl3oQ_pSIVlXdbd4TXqh69y-5s-oRUv8zDbANgZV1GSyDsZFGeX4Zf89E-rhENbN5SPTCfCBnqM-qpS9_UvZhdDtZWAm-CH_mv/s1600/Guardian+logo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODBMLgvxSCeq7SVso-4mPF8etvIHa7NATmQyl3oQ_pSIVlXdbd4TXqh69y-5s-oRUv8zDbANgZV1GSyDsZFGeX4Zf89E-rhENbN5SPTCfCBnqM-qpS9_UvZhdDtZWAm-CH_mv/s200/Guardian+logo.JPG"></a>The swansong takes its mythical meaning from the solitary and beautiful cry that a swan allegedly makes as it dies, a wail made more poignant by the fact that swans glide silently through their lives, leading to that final moment of reckoning. It is an ancient notion that was already well established among the Greeks of the third century BC.<br>
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And so it is we anticipate poetry in motion from Winx on Saturday, a send-off equal to her unmatched career, a swansong full of grace and beauty and power, as she puts a space between herself and the also-rans down the Randwick straight one last magnificent time, just as she has done in no less than 19 of her 36 career wins. But, to paraphrase national treasure Bruce McAvaney, this is more special than special. The racing public expect an archetypal fairytale finish; even after all she has given us, we need the Queen of the Turf to leave us with one final indelible record of her greatness, that of the greatest thoroughbred athlete to take breath since the rum corps staged the first Australian horse race around Hyde Park in 1810.<br>
<a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2019/05/how-winx-made-racing-great-again.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-19934112335458761212018-11-05T21:01:00.000+11:002019-05-23T12:44:41.184+10:00The Guardian | Melbourne Cup 2018: waning locals open door to foreign raiders<i>The Cup’s international status has grown this century and 11 of the 24 runners this year are trained in the northern hemisphere...</i><br>
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A roll call of racing’s global elite and a bevy of exceptional thoroughbred talent will collect on Tuesday to cap a vintage year with the 158th running of the $7.3m Melbourne Cup. After another winter of discontent, spring has sprung in all its glory, supercharged again by wonder mare Winx, and so a skittish nation turns its eyes and smartphones to Flemington. While “community attitudes” to horse racing are polarising in the social media era, Cup Day, a public holiday in Victoria since 1873, still signals party time in Australia, an end of year imperative to down tools, gather in groups, overindulge, and “get on the punt” in the best antipodean tradition.<br>
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</div><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2018/11/melbourne-cup-2018-waning-locals-open.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-30985697834118599282017-11-06T13:25:00.000+11:002019-08-03T15:49:38.120+10:00The Guardian | Melbourne Cup 2017: cream of world racing descends on Flemington<i>From hangovers to foreign raiders, 2017 promises more of the same against the backdrop of stellar Spring racing...</i><br>
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Can Frankie finally do it? Can Aiden O’Brien finally do it? Can Sheikh Mohammed finally do it? Yes, it’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/melbourne-cup">Melbourne Cup</a> time, when the land down under goes over the top for a horse race and when the world’s racing elite ply their annual quest, before going home wondering what the hell happened, again. This is that peculiar Australian festival of wanton abandon to the punt and the plonk; a hangover from another era, that gives annual licence to a national hangover. No other national event can so conjure Australia’s historic and reckless will to party.</div>
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</div><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2017/11/the-guardian-melbourne-cup-preview.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-58868402111267084802017-02-02T15:14:00.000+11:002017-02-09T15:14:48.555+11:00ABC Sport: 'The Everest'... peaking too soon?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The marketing maxim is any publicity is good publicity. But the brains-trust at Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club (ATC) must be concerned at the mixed reaction to yesterday's bombshell announcement that Sydney will stage the Australia's richest-ever horse race in the middle of Melbourne's marquee Spring Racing Carnival.<br />
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<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-02/everest-sydney-horse-racing-michael-hutak/8236246" target="_blank">... read more of our story at ABC Sport Online</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-31993626755979187472017-01-28T03:50:00.000+11:002017-03-26T03:54:51.785+11:00Edgar Britt (1913-2017)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JkwR7JBlDQ-QsMwckOlvj2-R1q9a2vICU_M6936p9RAwKMRfdvYnl0Ekj9PQlUxmuOFfymq9JgR83U3FcfVuVRG4tw1wXTtBC3wOolL2UwdG9KXbjTy-kZHGDfakvoDH4reO/s1600/edgarbritt1930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JkwR7JBlDQ-QsMwckOlvj2-R1q9a2vICU_M6936p9RAwKMRfdvYnl0Ekj9PQlUxmuOFfymq9JgR83U3FcfVuVRG4tw1wXTtBC3wOolL2UwdG9KXbjTy-kZHGDfakvoDH4reO/s320/edgarbritt1930.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
One of the first of many Australian jockeys who came to ride in Britain after World War II, <b>Edgar Clive Britt</b> rode his first winner at Canterbury, in Sydney in 1930, before riding for the Maharajah of Baroda in India for a decade from 1935. Britt moved to Britain to ride for the Maharajah, when his horses were trained by Sam Armstrong, winning the Cesarewitch Handicap on Kerry Piper and the substitute Manchester November Handicap on Oatflake in his first season in England. The Maharajah's Sayajirao provided his first classic winner in 1947 in the Irish Derby and St. Leger. In 1948 Britt lost the retainer with the owner, but found a job with Marcus Marsh and when Harry Carr broke a leg, Britt came in for a number of rides for Cecil Boyd-Rochfort's yard, winning the St. Leger on Black Tarquin. He rode Musidora to win the 1949 1,000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks, Frieze (horse) in the 1952 Oaks, Nearula in the 1953 2,000 Guineas and Honeylight in the 1956 1,000 Guineas, all for Charles Elsey's stable. Britt retired in 1959 and returned to Australia. <br />
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On 10 June 2004, aged 90, Britt was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to horse racing as a jockey, commentator and journalist. and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in the same year. Britt died on 28 January 2017, aged 103. -- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Britt" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-13591302838198544842016-11-02T14:34:00.000+11:002019-05-23T12:48:00.453+10:00The Guardian | Melbourne Cup 2016: Our compulsory day of distraction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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WE'VE got our first piece up about horse racing for The Guardian...<br />
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AUSTRALIA'S compulsory day of distraction is again upon us as they line up on Tuesday for the 156th running of the $6.2m Melbourne Cup, the world’s richest handicap and in recent years the subject of scandal, intrigue, tragedy and even feminist fanfare. Once-a-year punters are scouring the form guide, pins poised, hoping to fluke another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/03/prince-of-penzance-wins-melbourne-cup-as-favourites-are-upstaged">100-1 pop like last year’s Prince of Penzance</a>. The professional punters meanwhile are prepping for their most lucrative payday of the year, when the huge betting pools are awash with mug money and “the overs” are theirs for the picking.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">—</span> Read the full article at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/31/latest-edition-of-melbourne-cup-set-fair-to-build-on-last-years-publicity-coup">The Guardian</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-66307470700821902202016-09-15T10:29:00.000+10:002016-11-03T15:21:26.145+11:00ABC Online: Racing on notice: will racing go to the dogs?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The thoroughbred industry has watched on in horror as the greyhound industry failed to reform and paid the price.</i><br />
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In the 1990s, when the NSW TAB was privatised and floated, all three codes of racing negotiated deals with the then Carr government to become self-regulating.<br />
Now Premier Mike Baird has shown there is no going back; his government will shut down rather than re-regulate.<br />
Baird will actually forgo wagering revenue rather than put a cent into enforcing existing animal welfare laws.<br />
They will see businesses and clubs close and jobs lost before they will ensure bodies like the RSPCA, with a statutory duty under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, have enough resources to do more than just rely on public complaints and covert media footage.<br />
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-- Read the full story at <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-15/michael-hutak-will-racing-go-to-the-dogs/7847502" target="_blank">ABC Online</a></div>
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UPDATE: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000" target="_blank">NSW Premier Mike Baird admits he 'got it wrong' after backflip on greyhound racing ban</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-52328428060098375472015-11-03T15:07:00.000+11:002016-11-03T15:14:04.788+11:00ABC Online: Our Melbourne Cup runneth over with love<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle Payne and the Cup. AAP: Julian Smith</td></tr>
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<i>Held under the dark clouds of drugs, corruption and drive-by shootings, this year's Melbourne Cup turned out to be even beyond the horses. A history-making winner and her family showed us racing's capacity to be inclusive, accepting and empowering, writes Michael Hutak.</i><br />Did the Australian turf just get the shot in the arm it so desperately needs? Racing showed its human face this afternoon, as Michelle Payne became the first woman to ride the winner of racing's godhead, when she saluted on Prince of Penzance with one of the great the Melbourne Cup rides. In a complete boilover, bookies got the lot as the 100-1 outsider from the bush overcame the world's best thoroughbreds to write the proverbial fairytale in this 155th running of the event.<br />But it wasn't the race that won the crowd's heart; it was what happened directly after, as Payne and Prince of Penzance were led back to scale by the horse's strapper, her brother "Stevie". The joyous display by Steven, who has Down's syndrome, leading his history-making sister back to scale, were indelible images of a racing game that despite all the problems it faces, has a capacity to be inclusive, accepting, and empowering. <div style="text-align: right;">
-- <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-03/hutak-our-melbourne-cup-runneth-over-with-love/6909088" target="_blank">Read our full story at ABC Online</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-42312971924718827042015-11-02T16:25:00.001+11:002015-11-02T16:30:03.736+11:00ABC The Drum: Melbourne Cup 2015: Half Full, Half Empty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="font-weight: normal;">IT MAY have serious ethical issues, but racing is so embedded in the vernacular of Australian social and public life, many of us are happy to look the other way in the Spring sunshine.</i></h4>
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TEAM AUSTRALIA has been usurped by our newly-minted innovative agile esprit de corps. As a popular leader takes the reins, an exhausted electorate is ready to party before bolting for the holidays. And so the festival of forgetting that is the Melbourne Cup is again upon us.</div>
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But as the oracles know, appearances can deceive. If you follow the Australian turf, you know that Winx has been the star of the Spring, capturing the spotlight with stunning wins in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhhLVTKOVU4" target="_blank">Epsom at Randwick </a>and last Saturday's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiqJn1iAGOE&feature=youtu.be&t=1m28s" target="_blank">Cox Plate</a> that have marked her the greatest mare since Sunline. If you follow the daily news, you know the home of Victoria's chief steward, Terry Bailey, was sprayed with six shots from a semi-automatic weapon on the eve of racing's biggest week of the year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-02/hutak-melbourne-cup/6899734" target="_blank">Read the rest of our story over at ABC's The Drum</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-28412182451155277262015-09-23T12:58:00.000+10:002015-09-23T14:04:39.417+10:00Did Vic Police rewrite the rules for Danny Nikolic?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Under the banner "Natural Justice Denied?", Costa Rolfe has given Danny Nikolic free rein in a <a href="https://www.punters.com.au/news/Danny-Nikolic-blasts-racing-authorities_139737/" target="_blank">"news" story on punters.com.au</a>. Rolfe quotes him thus:<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcqDcSEhqNG4NXgLDUBVp2U0nZqHFVNNYW7EmVReIdth7CJAVB9JTTUGDN-BasugaS68-fYXqFLQ1TNyeGMTm-puJZ03D_ffgBoAj8xZ8PeSx-QLjwEBKbGbt6E119cNYk9LT/s1600/natural+justice+denied.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcqDcSEhqNG4NXgLDUBVp2U0nZqHFVNNYW7EmVReIdth7CJAVB9JTTUGDN-BasugaS68-fYXqFLQ1TNyeGMTm-puJZ03D_ffgBoAj8xZ8PeSx-QLjwEBKbGbt6E119cNYk9LT/s320/natural+justice+denied.JPG" width="320"></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“The Police Commissioner has given me no reason for the exclusion order except that it's in the public interest. If he has any proof that I am of poor character, why doesn't he produce it?” Nikolic said. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“This exclusion order is a clear attempt to hinder any future license application under racing jurisdictions. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“I believe it's a clear abuse of his discretionary powers and a tactic to further negatively affect public perception of me by linking me with organised crime figures without justification or rationale.”</span></blockquote>
Rolfe then paraphrased Nikolic, asking "<b>how Racing Victoria and Victoria Police could essentially rewrite the rules in order to extend his ban beyond its original term</b>."<br>
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Huge claims.<br>
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<a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2015/09/did-vic-police-rewrite-rules-for-danny.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-25140035973458095782015-09-01T11:52:00.000+10:002016-11-03T15:19:59.505+11:00ABC Online: Bart Cummings: Farewell to the Australian turf's last household name<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrQc1Lt7YL0ufev5_8tgHFpLcjnCOwbA1tox3dkn1evwdMDjxfgIuZHlxRZZYIfYjms7V6N5TKgXX4SUpJGp47wjP4sRDqjg_7rUgBIwblKvO63XEBMWIqdp-M8PlSdYAHDw9/s1600/kingston-rule_620826-bart-cummings-039-melbourne-cup-winners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrQc1Lt7YL0ufev5_8tgHFpLcjnCOwbA1tox3dkn1evwdMDjxfgIuZHlxRZZYIfYjms7V6N5TKgXX4SUpJGp47wjP4sRDqjg_7rUgBIwblKvO63XEBMWIqdp-M8PlSdYAHDw9/s320/kingston-rule_620826-bart-cummings-039-melbourne-cup-winners.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
We all know there will never be another <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYt2Qeh6XjE">James Bartholomew Cummings</a>.<br />
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We knew that by the <a href="http://www.britishpathe.com/video/thrilling-finish-to-1965-melbourne-cup">mid-60s</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9UrGKMD8Y">late 70s</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpkNeon_qQU">late 80s</a>, and at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbWPGVElKEM">turn of the millennium</a>. We knew it every Cup day for over five decades, as we scanned the field looking for Bart's runner to place our once-a-year flutter. We knew it in 2008 when Viewed, a 40-1 outsider, won Bart his 12th Melbourne Cup to the surprise of precisely no one, some 50 years after he'd saddled his first runner in the great race.<br />
Just as we knew it yesterday when his son Anthony took to Twitter to tell the world his father had gone. I say "we" with confidence, because Bart was the Australian turf's last surviving national figure, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-30/bart-cummings-a-legend-of-his-time/6735314">its last household name</a>.<br />
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-- <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-01/hutak-bart-cummings-farewell-to-the-turfs-last-national-hero/6738102" target="_blank">Read the rest of our tribute at ABC's <i>The Drum</i></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-36624815243831917542015-07-29T13:16:00.000+10:002015-07-29T13:25:58.640+10:00ABC The Drum: "Cobalt five" called by RV Stewards to show cause <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuzteSjYUj4kikuyLxr8mda6Y3euMc_Y-Ibx3BhxjDP7YB1SKU34L4oNfhJfwEnV1LbEqxSYwbcLLtRiFu6QROJW0RUEII4LTKZMYWxUEqT_ul3iI6sHt3Ni80H715Yv8rMB_/s1600/dinkus%253D33333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuzteSjYUj4kikuyLxr8mda6Y3euMc_Y-Ibx3BhxjDP7YB1SKU34L4oNfhJfwEnV1LbEqxSYwbcLLtRiFu6QROJW0RUEII4LTKZMYWxUEqT_ul3iI6sHt3Ni80H715Yv8rMB_/s320/dinkus%253D33333.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The frayed and fragile reputation of Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival hangs on the outcome of hearings in Melbourne today into the "Cobalt five", writes Michael Hutak.<br />
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Cobalt, the meteoric element the smarties swear can send a racehorse past its rivals like a hurtling comet, continues to cut a swathe through the ranks of the Australian turf.<br />
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A recent rash of charges, hearings and detections related to the apparent cobalt doping of racehorses has left a stench of corruption hanging over the game's already ragged reputation. It's been a busy time of late in cobalt world:<br />
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-- <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-29/hutak-the-fate-of-horse-racing-to-be-decided/6654138" target="_blank">Read the rest of our article over at ABC's The Drum</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-14239383062026437062015-06-02T04:14:00.000+10:002015-07-30T04:15:57.459+10:00ABC The Drum: Sadistic side of greyhound racing must change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEdlu5vv2oe4k7iGxnK1_s_ay3jlUn84cfVDJZdS25iVAZa-5hgcGsRHp-diahrTMUDvaOIZSEnOiIZmCGzRoM7cyXUszHRuQ4VQf8NyeNZMqp_fK7e_hJZh9YmI9XYRGCIBg/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEdlu5vv2oe4k7iGxnK1_s_ay3jlUn84cfVDJZdS25iVAZa-5hgcGsRHp-diahrTMUDvaOIZSEnOiIZmCGzRoM7cyXUszHRuQ4VQf8NyeNZMqp_fK7e_hJZh9YmI9XYRGCIBg/s320/IMG_0094.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A Queensland inquiry has offered the greyhound industry a last gasp chance to survive after accusations of "animal cruelty on a scale never seen before". But there's reason to be sceptical things will change, writes Michael Hutak.<br />
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Some time around 1015AD King Canute was such a greyhound fan he introduced laws in ye olde England that rendered the breed exclusive to nobility, banning his celtic subjects, serfs and commoners from using them for hunting and gaming. Thus the "sport" of coursing emerged, whereby gentlemen owners of two greyhounds would wager on whose dog could best chase and catch a live hare. Apparently, this is a noble and pleasurable pursuit.<br />
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-- <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-02/hutak-sadistic-side-of-greyhound-racing-must-change/6513564" target="_blank">Read the rest of our story at ABC's The Drum</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-4910379742284780162015-01-20T13:23:00.000+11:002016-11-03T15:32:32.981+11:00ABC The Drum: Cobalt from the blue: time to register racing's vets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The horse racing industry is facing yet another doping scandal, so if the main players are serious about cleaning up this mess and their reputation then it's time to register the vets, writes Michael Hutak.</i><br />
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Like all organised sports, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/30/1099028257853.html?from=storylhs">doping scandals are nothing new in racing</a>. Go fasts, go slows, "elephant juice", EPO, steroids and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4162325.htm">now Cobalt</a> - the headlines of the last week have been both <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/questions-linger-in-racing-drug-bombshell/story-fni0fiyv-1227185069530">breathless</a> and <a href="http://www.racing.com/news/2015-01-14/trainers-get-head-start-in-cobalt-drama">curious</a>. ...</div>
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This is the shadowy end of the racing game, where the perps dress in lab coats rather than silks. Returning home, he would administer the latest fad to his select group of clients - trainers who consistently showed remarkable talent for turning average types into winners. Horses that would return from a spell "jumping out of their skin". Horses said to have "grown a leg" after staging form reversals.<br />
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-- <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-20/hutak-cobalt-from-the-blue-time-to-register-racings-vets/6026658" target="_blank">Read the rest of our article over at ABC's The Drum</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-49318646648960761162015-01-20T03:05:00.000+11:002015-07-27T03:20:23.999+10:00ABC The Drum: Cobalt from the blue, time to register racing's vets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The horse racing industry is facing yet another doping scandal, so if the main players are serious about cleaning up this mess and their reputation then it's time to register the vets, writes Michael Hutak.<br />
<br />
Like all organised sports, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/30/1099028257853.html?from=storylhs" target="_blank">doping scandals are nothing new in racing</a>. Go fasts, go slows, "elephant juice", EPO, steroids and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4162325.htm" target="_blank">now Cobalt</a> - the headlines of the last week have been both <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/questions-linger-in-racing-drug-bombshell/story-fni0fiyv-1227185069530" target="_blank">breathless </a>and <a href="http://www.racing.com/news/2015-01-14/trainers-get-head-start-in-cobalt-drama" target="_blank">curious</a>.<br />
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The stories around the abuse of cobalt chloride, first in harness racing and now in racing, both here and abroad, have been ongoing for more than two years. The difference this week is three of the country's highest profile trainers now have prima facie cases to answer.<br />
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...<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-20/hutak-cobalt-from-the-blue-time-to-register-racings-vets/6026658" target="_blank">read the rest of our story over at ABC's The Drum.</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-55597345218562104492013-11-11T23:13:00.003+11:002014-02-22T01:50:27.674+11:00All The Pretty Horses: "Wastage" in the thoroughbred industry<i>From the winner's circle at Royal Randwick to "the doggers", the fate of thousands of thoroughbreds every year is a grim tale, writes <b>Susan Chenery*</b></i><br>
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Oh what a swell party. Diamonds catch the sun as glossy women in heels sink into the grass. Across the the emerald lawn they come bringing convivial laughter and champagne. Flaunted wealth and high fashion. Feathers, sequins and furs. Men in sharp suits and expensive sunglasses. Evening wear in the afternoon.<br>
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The bright brilliant colours of the jockeys' silks. The sleek shining horses coming down the straight. The thrill as the members at Royal Randwick gather at the finish line to watch them pass. So elegantly social; such easy entitlement. In the mounting yard the gleaming horses prance; muscular elite athletes, polished to perfection. The afternoon wears on, the bets are laid, the horses come thundering, the champagne keeps flowing. Fortunes are made and lost on days like this. But all this glamour in the members enclosure at Randwick's new $152 million grandstand masks racing's darkest secret.<br>
<a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2013/11/all-pretty-horses-wastage-in.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-30643263750697224562013-11-01T11:47:00.000+11:002014-03-12T23:35:59.361+11:00ABC The Drum: This Spring, it's about the horses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc5zZaUOdsW8rm8Rv3qGfGdDTqV5LaerqN6whjxWrdO-u6hUMcMo4DLUKt1puLEaQmq7uipQombZ7NYmziWgxwQG7-bzbRULfYV_tzgFDIAG8nXQBUJq59NFO7mK-fiWFYMNas/s1600/turftalk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc5zZaUOdsW8rm8Rv3qGfGdDTqV5LaerqN6whjxWrdO-u6hUMcMo4DLUKt1puLEaQmq7uipQombZ7NYmziWgxwQG7-bzbRULfYV_tzgFDIAG8nXQBUJq59NFO7mK-fiWFYMNas/s200/turftalk.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>"After all the chaos, scandal and sensational headlines, after the breaches of public trust and disappointment, allegations of corruption, intimidation and worse, comes a sense of relief born of exhaustion. Not exactly calm, more an absence of tumult. We're not just talking about the lucky country and its brave new government. We're talking about a punting nation and its Spring Racing Carnival..."<br />
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...<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-01/hutak-melbourne-cup/5062916" target="_blank">read the rest of our story over at ABC's The Drum.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-64699454511916413292013-05-09T13:30:00.001+10:002014-03-12T23:37:33.510+11:00ABC The Drum: Singogaite saga: say hello to the 'bad guys'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1pjy7MtKgbJkrpc8Ugs2TT439mqQ8c7wZX602gfqjTPpu3OEsZsJlmGYCJzBTDrj3aNrzOFI8_Xxp5fMKe1HjE4dNgoVKFY7L3arvHzN0DNjsBxcE_qKxrA3ekf5t-fDTtpP/s1600/dinkus6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1pjy7MtKgbJkrpc8Ugs2TT439mqQ8c7wZX602gfqjTPpu3OEsZsJlmGYCJzBTDrj3aNrzOFI8_Xxp5fMKe1HjE4dNgoVKFY7L3arvHzN0DNjsBxcE_qKxrA3ekf5t-fDTtpP/s1600/dinkus6.JPG" /></a></div>"Gambling and horse racing has always been a mass-subculture in Australia. This is why the Waterhouse-Singleton saga has struck such a chord; it is a story that defines Modern Australia... "<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">...<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4678902.html" target="_blank">read the rest of our story over at ABC's The Drum</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-33046887802135403002013-04-30T16:21:00.002+10:002014-03-12T23:36:54.002+11:00ABC The Drum: Where is the joy?<blockquote><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kKi-RSjRLtg/TV6P5yEY_yI/AAAAAAAACAw/1dz9_IXbbQg/s1600/DAMORE-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kKi-RSjRLtg/TV6P5yEY_yI/AAAAAAAACAw/1dz9_IXbbQg/s200/DAMORE-1.jpg" width="142" /></a>Spat, fracas, brouhaha - whatever colourful epithet you choose - Saturday's spectacular public bust-up of John Singleton and Gai Waterhouse, horse racing's "odd couple", has been hugged by the media like a long-lost friend...</blockquote><span style="text-align: right;"> .<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4660376.html" target="_blank">..read the rest of our article over at </a></span><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4660376.html" target="_blank">the ABC's The Drum.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-4939639811679393252013-04-29T02:47:00.000+10:002013-04-29T11:00:10.858+10:00Singleton-Waterhouse brouhaha recalls the famous case of Fair Patton.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The <b>Singleton/Waterhouse</b> <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/john-singleton-removes-horses-from-gai-waterhouses-stables-as-tom-waterhouse-threatens-to-sue/story-fn67siys-1226631129968" target="_blank">brouhaha</a> jogged our memory and had us trawling <i>The Gadfly</i> archives from <i>The Sun-Herald</i> for this article from 1992:<br>
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"THE sad death of veteran trainer <b>Vic Thompson Snr</b> revived memories of one of the most famous episodes in Australian turf history. When <i>Fair Patton</i> won the 1964 Brisbane Cup, owner <b>Claude Hawke</b> strode into the winner's circle and declared what a wonderful trainer Thompson was. But only a matter of minutes later, he walked up to an elated Thompson and declared he was taking the horse from Vic and would, henceforth, train it himself. The reason for the shock move was not publicly revealed for another nine months, until it finally exploded into a major court case. In a nutshell, Hawke had discovered that Thompson tipped <i>Fair Patton</i> to a man later described in court as "a punter named Tyler." Hawke not only immediately took the horse from Thompson, but then refused to pay him a 10 per cent trainer's commission of 1,000 pounds for the nag's victory - and Thompson duly took Hawke to court over it. <br>
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</blockquote><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/1992/01/singleton-waterhouse-brouhaha-recalls.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-53387116436442035912013-04-26T16:06:00.000+10:002013-04-26T16:13:36.373+10:00Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni banned 8 years for administering steroids<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7-O49rs36MBI6WZ-gMdkHpT9JWfwOqpTn55AYBJTlGDzqVYPWcRL6sgtHA2jugb2WgxRzgp-jH7wXCMbn3BpniPfJxq4z_ocWjY9fYdTXuqpFv7O0kzFKU_8AEyRBk6HD6qn/s1600/MahmoodAlZarooniBHAHQApr252013PA_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7-O49rs36MBI6WZ-gMdkHpT9JWfwOqpTn55AYBJTlGDzqVYPWcRL6sgtHA2jugb2WgxRzgp-jH7wXCMbn3BpniPfJxq4z_ocWjY9fYdTXuqpFv7O0kzFKU_8AEyRBk6HD6qn/s320/MahmoodAlZarooniBHAHQApr252013PA_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newsmaker: Al Zarooni</td></tr>
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Former trainer <b>Mahmood Al Zarooni</b> has been suspended for 8-years by the UK's British Horseracing Authority's (BHA) disciplinary panel after being found guilty of administering anabolic steroids to horses at Godolphin's Moulton Stables, reports <i>racingpost.com</i>. As a result, "15 horses have been suspended from racing for six months as it emerged that Al Zarooni administered the banned substances with two foremen and a vet's assistant." Godolphin racing manager <b>Simon Crisford</b>, speaking on behalf of Al Zarooni, issued an apology "to Sheikh Mohammed, all at Godolphin and fans of British racing". Australian-born BHA chief executive <b>Paul Bittar</b> commented in a press release: "The panel has determined that the drugs were administered on Al Zarooni's instructions. This case has shown there is no place for performance-enhancing drugs in our sport and we have a robust testing system." Bittar praised the cooperation by Godolphin's head Sheikh Mohammed to ensure a "rapid resolution" to the saga which has the potential to tarnish British racing's reputation. Australian racing luminary, <b>Richard Freedman</b>, <a href="https://twitter.com/R1CHARDFREEDMAN" target="_blank">commented on Twitter</a>:<br />
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"Under current Australian racing policies regarding non-raceday steroid testing, Al Zarooni would not have been charged."</blockquote>
Racing NSW Chief Steward <b>Ray Murrihy</b> responded to the news by calling for a debate on the use of Anobolic Steriods in Australian Racing. WITH SOURCE: <a href="http://breedingracing.com/news/2013/04/26/trainer-mahmood-al-zarooni-banned-for-8-years/" target="_blank">Breedingracing.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-76522144002656055702013-04-23T10:58:00.002+10:002013-04-23T10:58:25.682+10:00Godolphin in damage control after "catastrophic error" on steroids<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Following yesterday's dramatic 'positive' to anabolic steroids by 11 horses trained by <b>Mahmood Al Zarooni</b> at Moulton in the UK, the powerful Godolphin stable in England is undergoing an urgent internal procedural review at the instruction of <b>Sheikh Mohammed</b>. "This is a dark day for Godolphin. We are all shocked by what has happened," stated Godolphin racing manager <b>Simon Crisford</b> in a press release. "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed was absolutely appalled when he was told and this is completely unacceptable to him. We will await the outcome of the BHA inquiry before taking any further internal action. Sheikh Mohammed has instructed me to begin an urgent review of all of our procedures and controls. That is already underway and we will take advice from the BHA in completing it." In a further blow to Godolphin, among the 11 'positive' horses banned "for an extended period of time" is Gr1 winner <i>Certify</i>, who will be unable to take part in May's Gr1 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket. According to the British Horse Racing Authority's <b>Adam Brickell</b>, "Al Zarooni will be called to a disciplinary hearing at the first available opportunity." The trainer has accepted responsibility, stating in a press release: "I deeply regret what has happened... I have made a catastrophic error. Because the horses involved were not racing at the time, I did not realize that what I was doing was in breach of the rules of racing. I can only apologize for the damage this will cause to Godolphin and to racing generally." SOURCE: <a href="http://breedingracing.com/news/2013/04/23/sheikh-mohammed-orders-urgent-godolphin-internal-review/" target="_blank">Breedracing.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-12192680073249659302013-04-22T13:52:00.001+10:002013-04-22T17:13:51.170+10:00No evidence, no findings, no comment, no worries.<div>
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Despite all the lurid claims and bold predictions that the racing game was crook and police action was imminent, it appears no clutch of jockeys has been arrested and/or charged with anything more serious than traffic offences.<br>
And now Victorian Premier <b>Denis Napthine </b>has refused to repeat his demand for answers over RVL's conduct of the Oliver affair during the 2012 spring carnival. </div>
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The Premier, who remains fully <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-04/economic-impact-of-racing-carnival-grows/4609300?section=vic">embedded</a> as Minister for Racing, said through a spokesperson that he:</div>
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"has confidence in <b>Sal Perna</b> as the Independent Victorian Racing Integrity Commissioner and there is no doubt Mr Perna is the appropriate authority to investigate the handling of the Damien Oliver investigation."</blockquote>
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If you remember, on November 20, 2012, after months of controversy, Napthine finally emerged from his bunker to declare he "was very concerned about allegations of mishandling and delays into resolving the Oliver inquiry". So concerned he put out a release headed:</div>
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"<i>Minister seeks independent investigation of Damien Oliver Inquiry</i>"</blockquote>
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in which he asked Perna to investigate:<br>
</div></div><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2013/04/no-evidence-no-findings-no-comment-no.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18373598.post-62544814051678263872013-03-06T04:06:00.003+11:002013-10-31T22:45:08.955+11:00Public interest derailed by Perna's process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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More than three months after <b>Damien Oliver</b> was disqualified by Racing Victoria for betting $10,000 on a rival runner, the man charged with investigating the affair<b> </b>is yet to interview a single participant.<br>
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"I've been working with RVL to get all the documentation together," Racing Integrity Commissioner <b>Sal Perna</b> told <i>Turf Confidential </i>last Wednesday, exactly <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horseracing/napthine-wants-oliver-case-investigated-20121120-29ni4.html" target="_blank">100 days since</a> <a href="http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/denis-napthine-wants-review-of-racing-victorias-inquiry-into-damien-olivers-ten-month-suspension/story-e6frfkp9-1226520624024" target="_blank">Racing Minister</a> <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/opinion/minister-froze-when-the-heat-turned-up/story-e6frg7uo-1226520698642" target="_blank">Denis Napthine</a> called on him to investigate Racing Victoria's dismal handling of the matter. </div>
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"I've examined the bulk of the information but there's still a couple of items I still need to get from RVL.</blockquote>
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<u>"I should be able to start interviews next week."</u></blockquote>
Blow us down with a feather. This farce, which dragged the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4384542.html" target="_blank">2012 Melbourne Cup Carnival</a> through the mud and left an ugly stain where Victorian racing's good name used to be, is being interrogated with all the rigour of rigor mortis.<br>
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Process is clearly strangling this Commissioner's sense of urgency.<br>
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</div><a href="http://www.turfconfidential.com/2013/03/public-interest-derailed-by-pernas.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0