SCHRECK AND HAYES MAKING HEADLINES ON VASTLY DIFFERENT ISSUES
THERE are two good stories in the turf pages of today’s Sydney newspapers which are a 'must read' for all followers of horse racing. One is the angry response from long-time steward John Schreck to suggestions that ‘criminal activity in racing is rampant.’ The other relates to the shock announcement by David Hayes of plans to sell Lindsay Park in South Australia.
These are two excellent interviews by Racing Editors Craig Young of The Sydney Morning Herald and Ray Thomas of The Daily Telegraph. Below are excerpts but the full stories can be read by hitting the media icons for each newspaper on the right hand side of the Home Page on this website.
“HAVE YOU EVER HEARD SO MUCH CRAP IN YOUR LIFE?” ASKS SCHRECK.
JOHN SCHRECK, the long-time steward better known as ‘The Sheriff,’ has blasted suggestions from Victoria that ‘criminal activity in racing is rampant.’
In an interview with Craig Young in today’s racing section of the Sydney Morning Herald, Schreck poses the question: “Have you ever heard so much Crap in your whole life?”
“Of course criminal activity in racing is not rampant, never has been. I wouldn't try and pretend to tell you or your readers that everything that happens on the racetrack is perfect, of course it is not, but everything that happens in society is not perfect.
“When you tell me society is generally squeaky clean and lily-white then I will tell you horse racing is squeaky clean and lily-white.”
Schreck, a high profile steward in Australia and Asia for many decades, was largely responsible for banishing those involved in the infamous Fine Cotton scandal and, more recently, the Jockey Tapes affair.
He was quick to criticize reports that Victoria is about to introduce a unit to examine links between racing and organized crime.
It stems from a report commissioned by the Victorian Government in the wake of former Racing Victoria chief executive Stephen Allanson being busted for placing bets under a false name. Allanson was run out of town with the government calling in former Victorian County Court Judge Gordon Lewis to compile a report into the integrity of racing down south.
Lewis described criminal activity in racing as ‘rampant’, prompting Schreck to recall a comment made by Judge Eddie Broad when chairman of the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club.
“Eddie Broad said there was more honesty on the racecourse then there was in the legal system,” Schreck said. “People like Judge Lewis would laugh at that, say it was wrong, but they just make these wild, broad, sweeping statements, without presenting any facts at all.”
READ the full story of Craig Young’s interview with John Schreck by hitting the SMH icon in the media list on the right hand side of the HOME PAGE ON THIS WEBSITE.
‘THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO PLAN FOR IT,’ SAYS DAVID HAYES
IN AN equally interesting read in the turf pages of today’s Sydney Telegraph, Ray Thomas talks to David Hayes about the shock decision to sell Lindsay Park in South Australia’s beautiful Barossa Valley. It reads, in part:
David Hayes is in his usual place, the trainer's hut, surveying the gallops. He's been doing this for most of his life, once sharing the same spot with his father, Colin, and brother, Peter, who have both passed away.
As some of the nation's best racehorses gallop by, Hayes made an announcement that will shock the racing world - he is selling the family's famous racehorse training complex at Lindsay Park in preparation for a full-time move to a new property in country Victoria.
The Hall of Fame trainer plans to scale down his Flemington stable base and operate his training business almost exclusively from a state-of-the-art facility at Euroa where he intends to have more than 100 racehorses in full-time work.
Hayes will race his team primarily between Sydney and Melbourne, using Euroa as his ‘half-way house’. But it is his decision to sell the racing side of the magnificent Lindsay Park that will surprise many.
This is the racing facility his visionary father, the late Colin Hayes, built more than 40 years ago, providing the blueprint for the development of all future training complexes.
“It has been a heart-felt decision to sell part of Lindsay Park, considering my father masterminded and developed the entire facility,”' Hayes said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph. “However, my dad was always open to change with a vision for the future. He was famous for that. ‘The future belongs to those who plan for it’, was his catch cry.
“So in that respect I am following his philosophy. He would have fully understood the reasons for my decision. I have the blessing of my family on this move and that has made it easier for me.”
Lindsay Park has been integral to the Hayes family's dominance of Australian racing. Colin Hayes carved his legend from the Angaston property, David's late brother Peter continued the tradition before David returned from Hong Kong five years ago to take over the reins again.
All the great racehorses the Hayes family has trained have been developed out of Lindsay Park, including Better Loosen Up, Zabeel, Dulcify, Jeune, At Talaq, So Called, How Now, Desirable, Our Paddy Boy, Special, Almaarad, Rory's Jester, St Covet, Military Plume, Mahaasin, Istidaad, Nadeem, Fields Of Omagh, Tawqeet, Miss Finland and Niconero.
The Hayes family has used Lindsay Park to win 46 Adelaide trainers premierships, 25 Melbourne titles, 168 Group One races and nearly 10,000 race wins. Lindsay Park has produced the winners of three Melbourne Cups, three Caulfield Cups, six Cox Plates, two Golden Slippers, 10 Blue Diamonds, a Japan Cup, the Singapore KrisFlyer International Sprint and virtually every major race on the Australian turf calendar.
So why is David Hayes selling a training complex with such a proven track record?
READ MORE of the Ray Thomas interview by clicking on THE DAILY TELEGRAPH icon in the media list on the right hand side of the HOME PAGE OF THIS WEBSITE.