TRAINER Tony Vasil has been fined $10,000 of a charge of illegally administering a substance that saw the late withdrawal of Classic Elle from a race at Moonee Valley in January.
In other items on the Racing Victoria News Bulletin, SKY Channel will show live the Hall of Fame inductions in Melbourne on Thursday night and Black Caviar heads the entries for the William Reid Stakes.
Stewards Inquiry Result – Tony Vasil
Racing Victoria (RV) stewards have today completed their inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the late withdrawal of Classic Elle from the Aquanas Foods Premium Handicap (2040m) at Moonee Valley on 25 January, 2013.
Stewards found trainer Mr Tony Vasil guilty of breaching the provisions of AR 178E(1) which state:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of AR 178C(2), no person without the permission of the stewards may administer or cause to be administered any medication to a horse on race day prior to such horse running in a race.”
The particulars of the charge were that Mr Vasil on the day of 25 January, 2013, prior to the Moonee Valley meeting in which Classic Elle was engaged, administered or caused to be administered Diurex and/or other unknown substances to Classic Elle by way of an injection.
Stewards fined Mr Vasil the sum of $10,000 for his breach.
Hall of Fame on Sky Racing
The countdown is on to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame 2013 induction ceremony which will be held at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt this Thursday night, 21 February.
Whilst a capacity crowd will attend the dinner, racing fans nationwide can share in the colour and emotion of the induction ceremony with the news that it will be broadcast live on Sky Racing World.
The one-hour coverage on Channel 520 will span the announcement of the inductees from 8.30pm with 10 new members to be welcomed into the Hall Of Fame and one existing member elevated to Legend status.
Caviar tops William Reid entries
Champion sprinter Black Caviar is likely to farewell Victorian racing fans at Moonee Valley on 22 March after she was among 34 nominations for the $400,000 Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m).
While no program has been cemented for the mare, connections are believed to be favouring the William Reid, a race she won in 2011, over a start in the $1 million Group 1 Lexus Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington where Black Caviar is likely to be asked to lump 61.5kg.
Should she contest the William Reid, it would be her last start in Victoria, at least for this preparation, with possible targets interstate and abroad being considered by trainer Peter Moody and her owners post the Melbourne Festival of Racing.
The mare, who extended her unbeaten streak to 23 when winning the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington on Saturday, is one of 10 Group 1 winners nominated for the Moonee Valley Racing Club’s (MVRC) feature Melbourne Festival of Racing sprint.
Cup hero heads nominations
Melbourne Cup champion Green Moon heads a high class list of 12 nominations for the $500,000 Group 1 Cathay Pacific Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Should the Team Williams-trained import line up on Saturday, it would be his first appearance on the track since his famous Melbourne Cup victory at Flemington in November.
While the 1400m Futurity may prove too short for Green Moon, it appears an ideal second up target for last start C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) victor All Too Hard who is also among the nominations following Team Hawkes’ announcement yesterday the colt would take his place in the race before backing up a week later in the Australian Guineas (1600m).
Should the half-brother to superstar mare Black Caviar wish to add a third Group 1 to his already impressive resume, he could have to defeat the likes of New Zealand champion King Mufhasa, Peter Moody’s Caulfield Cup placegetter Lights of Heaven and the Mike Moroney-trained Mackinnon Stakes winner Glass Harmonium.
Ortensia heads Plate weights
Triple Group 1 winning mare Ortensia will carry the number one saddlecloth in Saturday’s $400,000 Group 1 Sportingbet Oakleigh Plate (1100m) after she was assigned top weight of 58kg.
The seven-year-old daughter of Testa Rossa arrived in Melbourne today with trainer Paul Messara saying Saturday’s Black Caviar Lightning was actually her original first up target.
“She missed a gallop and the Lightning just came a week too quickly for her. I needed to get one more piece of work into her before she was ready to race,” Messara said. “She’s travelled down OK. She’s a little dehydrated but she’s fine.
“I hope it’s run at a genuine clip, most good races with a field this quality are so I’d expect them to run along a bit. It can be a difficult track to make up ground so she’ll need a bit of luck in running and the barrier draw will play a big part also.”
Diamond dream alive for Theodore
After a hiccup last Wednesday, Stephen Theodore was all smiles after Crack A Roadie confirmed a $1 million Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes start on Saturday, with an impressive workout at Cranbourne this morning.
Crack a Roadie, ridden by Craig Williams who will partner him on Saturday, worked on his own over 1000 metres, running home his last 400 metres in 23 3/4 seconds.
“Craig said he got a bit lost working on his own but really towed him into it from the 600 and felt just perfect and that's what I wanted to hear,'' Theodore said. ''He's at his best when he's got something to chase.
“He's not a jump and run horse, he's a chaser and when a chaser works well on their own, you know they are going well,” Theodore said.
Kent's Diamond decision
Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes contender Godiva Rock, ridden by Craig Williams, worked nicely at Cranbourne this morning but trainer Mick Kent will wait until tomorrow morning before deciding whether to start the promising filly in the Group 1 event.
The filly which has only had one start, when running third in a Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Prelude, was scheduled to work with fellow Blue Diamond aspirant Crack A Roadie, before Kent elected to work her over 800 metres rather than 1000 metres.
''She worked really well over half a mile (800m) , home three (600m) and ran some nice time,'' Kent said.
Kent said that Godiva Rock had come through her debut run behind Diamond favourite Guelph very well but he wanted to see how she did over the next 24 hours, before making a decision on a Blue Diamond start.
Healesville given green light
Racing Victoria (RV) has today announced racing will resume at Healesville on Saturday, 2 March following the successful conduct of jump-outs at the track last week.
The Club will hold two picnic meetings including the 2012-13 season’s ultimate event, Healesville’s Cup meeting on Saturday, 6 April
RV stewards and the Victorian Jockeys Association (VJA) gave the racing surface their tick of approval following jump-outs on Thursday as part of Healesville Amateur Racing Club’s return to racing program.
Persistent flooding saw the abandonment of a number of meetings at Healesville over recent seasons and ultimately a delayed start to the Club’s participation in this picnic season.
Repairs to the racing surface, including reconstruction of a flood-affected section of the back straight, commenced in the autumnbut were delayed as a result of further inclement weather throughout winter.
RACING VICTORIA NEWS BULLETIN COMPILED BY SHEENA COFFEY.
