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PUNTER and brothel owner Eddie Hayson has confirmed himself an official scratching from tomorrow's More Joyous inquiry.
In his first interview since the Gai Waterhouse-John Singleton fallout, Hayson told PHIL ROTHFIELD of the SUNDAY TELEGRAPH that he has no information to help stewards.
"I have no idea why the horse ran well below its best," Hayson said.
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JOHN Singleton is set to be the odd man out in a room of lawyers when Racing NSW stewards re-open the More Joyous inquiry on Monday.
Gai, Rob and Tom Waterhouse had made application to be accompanied by their legal representatives, but by late on Friday Singleton had declined to seek permission to attend with a lawyer.
"Mr Singleton has made no application to have his legal representatives at the inquiry as yet," chief steward Ray Murrihy said. "We have correspondence from Eddie Hayson's lawyer and certainly from the Waterhouses, who will have legal representatives there to advise them."
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SYDNEY's bitter racing scandal has a forgotten player - the horse. We've heard about the bookie, the Immortal, the brothel owner, Gai and Singo.
PHIL ROTHFIELD reports that The Daily Telegraph understands a Racing NSW investigator interviewed Andrew Johns yesterday.
But what about poor old More Joyous? She's wandering around a sprawling property at Mt White, unrecognisable among the scores of other horses on John Singleton's Strawberry Hill complex. It's the heartbreaking story of the Waterhouse-Singleton feud that has rocked Sydney racing.
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RACING NSW will consider new license conditions to counter a perceived conflict of interest between trainer Gai Waterhouse and her bookmaker son Tom in the wake of the More Joyous racing scandal.
ADAM SHAND reports in THE AUSTRALIAN that it’s understood Racing NSW is investigating whether it can compel the Waterhouses to swear statutory declarations that the trainer will not share sensitive inside information on horses trained at Ms Waterhouse’s Tulloch Lodge stable with her bookmaker son and husband.
Tom Waterhouse’s father, Robbie, who is a director in the family’s bookmaking business, would also be asked to sign a statutory declaration.
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UNDER-fire former jockey Allan Robinson had reassured race officials he would attend Monday's More Joyous inquiry only for his lawyer to reveal last night that he would be calling in sick.
"Without going into his health issues I can assure you he is not up to the task in his current condition," Chris Murphy said, reports RAY THOMAS in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
"He soldiers on.
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WHEN John Singleton dropped the bombshell that he would be ending his association with Gai Waterhouse, he reopened criticisms levelled at Waterhouse before she even became a trainer.
"It's too much. It's a conflict of interest," Singleton said, referring to the possibility information had been passed from trainer to bookmaker.
ANDREW WU and CHRIS ROOTS report in the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD that while this time it was Waterhouse's connection with bookmaker son Tom with which Singleton took issue, it echoed fears that were first raised 24 years ago over the relationship between Gai and her bookmaker husband, Robbie Waterhouse.
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RUGBY league immortal Andrew Johns has emerged as one of the people Tom Waterhouse is believed to have told about More Joyous' fitness concerns before her stunning flop at Randwick on Saturday.
ADAM PENGILLY reports in the SUN-HERALD that Fairfax Media understands the mare's high-profile owner, John Singleton, confronted the bookmaker's mother, Gai, More Joyous' trainer, in an ugly spat after the betting ring drifter ($2.50 out to $3) finished seventh in the group 1 All Aged Stakes. Singleton told a stewards inquiry into the matter he grilled Waterhouse prior to the running of the All Aged Stakes about advice he had received ''from friends of mine who I trust implicitly'' that More Joyous was not fit to run on the final day of the Sydney carnival.
Read more: ANDREW JOHNS LINKED TO TOM WATERHOUSE & MORE JOYOUS CLAIMS
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TOP female jockey Nikita McLean has been suspended for five months for assaulting her sister Jackie Beriman at the Hamilton races on Sunday.
MATT STEWART reports for the HERALD SUN that McLean provided a dramatic account of a domestic situation involving her and her 18-year-old sister Jackie as well as McLean's estranged husband, jumps jockey Brad McLean before pleading guilty to refusing a steward's order and assaulting her sister.
Stewards heard at times contradictory statements from the warring sisters.
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RACING Victoria’s (RV) desire to maintain its position as a national leader in sports integrity has been affirmed through further enhancements to its integrity program announced today.
The RV Board has approved the following initiatives which strengthen the policing of and compliance with the Rules of Racing and afford RV stewards with greater powers:
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ABOUT three years ago I received a phone call on my way to the Caulfield races.
MATT STEWART reports in the HERALD SUN that the mail had arrived that Tinkler had gone bonkers at Crown Towers after reading a reference to him in an article, even though "whale" was a description of his big spending at horse sales, not his girth.
The mail, also, was that the big fellow and his half-dozen aides, easily recognised in dark glasses on a gloomy day, would be looking for me.
There was no suggestion of a hip and shoulder, just icy stares - and that's what happened. The always sullen Tinkler stood in the mounting yard with his flunkies, spotted me near the tunnel and just stared.
It was a bizarre few seconds, just as Tinkler's foray into horse racing - and sport - has been a bizarre few years.
With Tinkler, "whale" could have referred to many things. The cheap shot would have been as a reference to his ample girth.
More poignant would be a reference to his gluttonous approach to his new venture.
Tinkler, fleetingly Australia's richest person under 40, attempted to barge into racing,
a sport and industry too complicated and unforgiving to allow for the creation of overnight kingdoms.
Racing is littered with beaten-down billionaires.
Wadham Park, with its $1 million gates and elevator to its viewing deck, burst on to the scene when unknown Dale Sutton, backed by retired Toll chairman Peter Rowsthorn, nervously signed a $1.3 million cheque for a Sadler's Wells colt at the 2006 Gold Coast Magic Millions sale.
The colt never amounted to anything and nor did Wadham Park, which built two overnight kingdoms - one on the Gold Coast hinterland, the other near Woodend.
The $10 million facility near Woodend is now a virtual ghost stable. Sutton is gone, stable jockey Steve Baster is long gone and Wadham's three big barns now house a trickle of pre-trainers.
Tinkler barged on to the scene hot on the heels of Wadham Park and his indulgence made Wadham appear careful.
Flush with mining money, Tinkler first appeared in 2008 at the Gold Coast Magic Millions sale. Sale after sale, he just kept spending.
Far richer yet far more seasoned campaigners, such as the global Darley and Coolmore from Ireland, opted out of bidding duels with Tinkler, who appeared, to them, a crazed young man on a suicide mission.
Tinkler bought farms and created stables -in three states - at a rate Coolmore and Darley might cautiously assign to the purchase of a single colt or broodmare.
Tinkler embarked on a sponsorship spree across three codes of sport.
In five years he spent more than $200 million on his equine addiction.
The cracks started appearing some months back.
Race clubs were not being paid, at least not without constant reminders to Tinkler.
Private trainer John Thompson revealed last spring that he was training Tinkler's horses on the smell of an oily rag.
Tinkler sold a swag of racing and breeding stock at the Magic Millions Gold Coast sales complex some months back for just a few million.
In 2008 he bought 58 yearlings at the same complex for $18.5 million.
Tinkler did not enter the racing world with a racing pedigree. He attracted hangers-on who saw him as a temporary gravy train.
He seemed to trust no one. Employees never lasted long and his empire was dubbed "Pat and Sack".
Mostly, he was a sullen figure.
He demanded racing reward his indulgence instantly. He refused to play in real time.
The Ingham chicken empire started with just one chook; its racing empire with one horse.
At lunches, the late Jack Ingham - a man who always smiled, was always grateful - would serve up lobster and duck.
But a humble chook would always be front and centre on the dinner table as a tribute and a reminder.
The Inghams built both their empires with care and caution. It took the brothers 30 years of toil before Octagonal, the gift horse, came along.
John Singleton is lavish by nature, but his racing indulgence was always carefully plotted and mindful of pitfalls.
Singo mauled and kissed Bob Hawke after Ha Ha won the 2001 Golden Slipper, just as he wiped genuine tears as he hugged Clarry Conners, his mate on a long racing journey, after Dear Demi won last year's VRC Oaks.
Long, lonely roads led to these great Singleton celebrations.
Tinkler demanded a short cut. In racing, there are none.
STORY SOURCE: MELBOURNE HERALD-SUN - NEWS LIMITED.
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