THIS website continues to listen to what our readers have to say and has introduced a ‘Wednesday Whinge’ where you can express your feelings on racing industry issues of the past week. Try to keep them objective. Just e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
THE focus of our new theme – THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY side of what has happened in racing over the past week continues in the new-look Wednesday Whinge which feedback suggests has been well received by our readers. It gives us an opportunity to provide some of the racing news that is now harder to access or simply isn’t run in the mainstream media because of space restrictions. That doesn’t mean we are steering clear of allowing our readers their weekly whinge on racing topics. This week the key topics of discussion are concerns that Racing Queensland will only negotiate with Tattersall’s for a new TAB deal; the revelation that there has been a resolution to the long-standing problem between Steve Hogno and Queensland Racing and a host of other topics. We also continue our ‘News That You Might Have Missed During the Week’ section which has proved popular with readers.
RESOLUTION IN STEVE HOGNO SAGA BUT AGREEMENT COVERED BY CONFIDENTIALITY 
WE wanted to start this week’s column advising of some terrific news in the on-going saga between Steve Hogno and Racing Queensland stemming from the infamous ‘fun day’ at Kooralbyn 15 years ago.
Confidentiality agreements between the parties prevent them from commenting publicly on the outcome of discussions. But it seems that the new RQ Board has seen fit to right a wrong that stems back to the days when stewards, headed by Steve Railton, started the nightmare that all but destroyed Hogno financially.
Hogno cannot talk to us about what has occurred and all that RQ will confirm is that there has been a resolution. Our understanding is that Hogno will not be required to fork out the high six-figure legal expense package that RQ had been seeking.
If our mail is right all we can do is endorse the action of RQ, congratulate them on resolving the issue that bankrupted Hogno and his partner, Deb Lee and congratulate colleague Terry Butts who played no small role in his fight through the columns of Silks & Saddles in the North Queensland Register, and on this website, which finally struck pay-dirt.
INDUSTRY CONCERNS THAT TATTERSALL’S HAVE A MONOPOLY ON NEW TAB LICENSE
WE have received several e-mails in recent weeks from industry stakeholders claiming strong inside mail that Tattersall’s are the only player in the market for the new TAB deal in Queensland.
If that is the case it would seem that Racing Queensland is determined to shoot itself in the foot. Surely lessons have been learnt from the current arrangement, the main one being that never again should the industry do business with Tatt’s.
If, as some are suggesting, there has been political interference in this process it would be extremely hypocritical of an LNP Government to push for a renewal of the Tatt’s license when they have used the previous agreement undertaken by Labor to highlight how racing has gone backwards in Queensland.
The only way the racing industry in the north can claw back some of the lost ground with NSW and Victoria is for the powers-that-be to negotiate the best possible deal and the last thing they need is a TattsBet monopoly.
The scene could be set for a national tote if Queensland was to go with one of the big two TABs in the south and show TattsBet the door.
No matter how good the new agreement is, if Tattersall’s get the nod racing in the north will never be in a competitive stage and will continue to remain the poor relation in the prizemoney stakes with more and more owners heading interstate.
Here are two e-mails which voice the concerns of stakeholders and hopefully gets the general message across, not that it is likely to make much difference:
SURELY THE LNP GOVERNMENT HASN’T INSTRUCTED RQ TO ONLY NEGOTIATE WITH TATT’S 
DM of BRISBANE wrote:
‘SURELY the reports are incorrect that Racing Queensland has been told by the LNP Government that it can only negotiate a new TAB agreement with the Tattersall’s Group.
In the opinion of most the reason the industry in Queensland is in such a parlous financial state – especially prizemoney-wise – is because of the dud deal that was imposed on the industry back in the era of Racing Minister Bob Gibbs and the Beattie Labor Government.
Are they that asleep at the wheel under new Racing Minister Steve Dickson and the LNP Government of Campbell Newman that the best possible financial arrangement is not being pursued by the new powers that be at Racing Queensland?
Anyone who follows racing closely would realize that Tattersall’s are more interested in the profits generated by gaming than racing. The fact that they relocated from Victoria to Queensland should not influence the process when it comes to a new TAB agreement.
TattsBet is so far behind the rival TABs in New South Wales and Victoria that the holds are an embarrassment. And it is not as though it is restricted to Queensland punters – with South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tote Tasmania also part of their equation.
They are a standing joke when it comes to Fixed Odds, not interested in exotic forms of betting that prove so popular – especially with the smaller punters interstate – and are not even regarded as competition to the corporate operators.
Complaints continue to arrive that they are changing the goal posts where Fixed Odds betting is concerned with their only interest the profit margin and they could not care less about the punters. It’s time they gave horse racing away and stuck to the pokies.
God help Queensland racing if the reports are true that the industry will be told to accept another TAB agreement with Tattersall’s. If they aren’t forced to compete to stay in the game then one could argue that the north will not achieve the best possible result.’
WHY ARE THE POWERS-THAT-BE IGNORING THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR A NATIONAL TOTE? 
AND this one from BM of the GOLD COAST:
‘WHY are Racing Queensland and the LNP Government turning their backs on the perfect opportunity to create a national TAB pool to fight the corporate bookmakers?
The chance is there to repay Tattersall’s for the disgraceful deal that the industry in Queensland was forced to accept when the TAB was originally privatized. The time has come to walk away from Tatt’s (or UNiTAB as it then was) and go with one of the big TABs interstate.
That is the only way there is going to be a national tote in Australia which will stop the corporate agencies from bleeding the industry dry and sending the profits offshore. If Racing Queensland goes with Tattersall’s again the industry is condemned forever to chasing its tail in the prizemoney race.
How can RQ negotiate a better deal for racing if they are allowed to negotiate with only the current holder of the TAB license? That not only lacks business sense but also smacks of political interference.
Having read last week where Tatts Group profits have dived 22.5 per cent in the last year as a result of losing its Victorian poker machine business (one of the reasons I believe that they relocated to Queensland), one has to question how they will be keen to provide a better or more equitable return to racing under a new TAB agreement.
Their after tax profit of $24.7 million was down from $319mn in 2012 yet managing director Robbie Cooke still insisted that the company had enjoyed ‘an outstanding year’ with continuing operations ‘performing ahead of expectations.’
If that’s the case they should be open to a far better deal with racing when it comes to what is apparently a monopoly of the TAB courtesy of some behind-the-scenes sweetheart deal with the LNP Government. Weren’t they the ones who were bleating about the arrangement Labor did when Bob Gibbs was Minister?
It is also interesting to note that Tatts Group has entered into an unconditional $8 million contract with Watpac to buy its Joule development site which is located at the heart of the urban renewal precinct in Newstead and Fortitude Valley. This is set to occur next month and one would assume that means they are vacating the TAB building in Albion.
If the new TAB deal has been turned into a ‘one horse race’ the only hope for the industry is that whoever is negotiating holds out for the best possible deal or tells the Government that racing in Queensland is being held to ransom.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: WHILST there is no official confirmation from the Government or RQ, I am assured that the Tatts Group is the only party being negotiated with which is an absolute farce. If racing in Queensland is to get the best possible deal then there needs to be some competition – and what better chance to move a step closer to a national tote than this? It’s shades of the SKY Channel fiasco and it would seem that the more things change in racing in Queensland, the more they stay the same.
WHAT ABOUT PARLEZ AND RUNNING DOUBLES INSTEAD OF A DOUBLE TRIO? 
WE also received quite a few e-mails concerning the new betting option introduced by TattsBet last Saturday – the Double Trio. These were unanimously uncomplimentary of the TAB in Queensland, accusing the bosses of being out of touch with what the punters really want and here is an example:
AR of BRISBANE wrote:
‘BEFORE they start cheating off Hong Kong and introduce exotic forms of betting like a Double Trio (trifecta on the last two races), one would have thought TattsBet would get more pressing issues of their house in order.
What about Parlez betting or Running Doubles – which are extremely popular on the TAB in NSW and Victoria and even some corporate bookies are now offering them?
Is the reason that TattsBet introduced a Double Trio because they only want to cater for the bigger punters and promote the massive dividends and jackpots and profits that this sort of betting can result in?
And by the way I didn’t mention their second rate Fixed Odds service which offers prices after most of the business has been done by the southern TABs and corporate agencies.
TattsBet won’t win any more friends by simply introducing a Double Trio. Until it starts to operate as a competitive entity in the horse race betting market the majority of punters – big and small – will regard it as a non-event. You only have to look at the comparative holds.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the TattsBet website the Double Trio attracted an investment of $45,756 for its debut. That compared to $73,538 on the treble. If they want to compete with the other betting outlets TattsBet needs to consider running doubles and parlez betting.
RING-IN AT THE BEACH RACES IN MACKAY – EVEN A ZEBRA MIGHT GET A START NEXT YEAR 
THERE was a ring-in – of sorts – at the recent beach meeting in Mackay but because they are not required to adhere to any rules you won’t read too much about it.
As Terry Butts reports in his ‘Silks & Saddles’ column this week it all started when Suzie Fearon, an accomplished Townsville-based horsewoman, rang to nominate her speedy quarter horse, Vicky, for the Mackay event.
According to Suzie, promoter Mick Pope told her nominations had closed and the official program had been printed.
However, Suzie said that Pope had told her there was a scratching and that if she was prepared to call her horse Savannah Secret (the one that was scratched) and had it ridden under the name of Savannah Secret’s nominator, Kate Benedict, then it could run.
So she did and won the heat. She then finished fourth in the final but connections of the third placegetter protested that the first two over the line were registered as Racing Quarter Horses and therefore ineligible.
It has since been ascertained that the beach races are open to all horses of all shapes and sizes whether they are registered or not.
So it’s open slather on the beach from here on in unless someone steps in and and requires some form of rules to be adopted. That isn’t likely to be the Queensland Government which is promoting the Mackay Beach Races as an annual tourist attraction and even subsidizing the event.
One year we might even have a starter similar to that in the movie block-buster Racing Stripes where an abandoned zebra grows up believing he is a racehorse and, with the help of his barnyard friends and a teenage girl, sets out to achieve his dream of racing with the thoroughbreds.
IF THE COURTS RULE AGAINST ‘DAN THE MAN’ IT’S TIME RACING SHOWED HIM THE DOOR 
AS has become the norm when Dan Nikolic is back in the headlines – for all the wrong reasons – the e-mails flow thick and fast – most of which we cannot use for legal reasons.
HERE is one that hopefully gets the general message across:
MJ of ADELAIDE had this to say:
‘SO the courts have finally got around to hearing the assault charges against the man himself, Dan Nikolic.
And now his lawyer wants the magistrate hearing the case to stand herself down – things must be going really bad for Dan the Man.
Everyone is entitled to their day in court but if Nikolic is found guilty of any of these assault charges one would assume that Racing Victoria would then step in and take necessary action as well.
I will repeat what I have written on many occasions before – and most times you don’t seem interested in running my point of view – the sooner they punt this bloke out of racing the better the industry will be for all concerned – especially the stewards.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: MJ made reference to Dan Nikolic’s lawyer wanting the magistrate to stand down. Here is an AAP story that explains the situation:
THE lawyer defending banned jockey Dan Nikolic against assault charges has asked for the magistrate hearing the case to stand herself down.
Lawyer Sandy Robertson made the application after a police officer referred in evidence to issues involving Nikolic and racing officials.
Mr Robertson described Sergeant Dave Eadie as a "disgrace" for mentioning Nikolic allegedly had anger management issues that had become apparent during a stewards inquiry that resulted in him being banned from racing.
Mr Robertson asked Magistrate Angela Bolger to discharge herself on the grounds the comment would cause her to be biased in her assessment of the case.
Ms Bolger denied the application.
Nikolic is charged with assaulting fellow jockey Mark Pegus in January 2011 and Pegus's girlfriend Ricky-Lee Hull two months later.
He is also charged with assaulting Detective Senior Constable Julio Salerno during an interview relating to those assaults.
The hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard Det Sen Const Salerno was a member of the elite Purana Taskforce that investigated Melbourne's gangland killings.
Purana also investigated the unsolved murder of Nikolic's former father-in-law Les Samba in Melbourne in February 2011, only a month after the alleged assault on Pegus.
The hearing heard Det Sen Const Salerno was present at the interview at the request of the Purana Taskforce.
It has also heard that the alleged assault on the police officer did not involve any physical attack and neither party was injured.
THE PITFALLS OF PUNTING WERE NEVER MORE EVIDENT LAST WEEKEND 
WE had a couple of interesting e-mail from a punters’ perspective after racing on the weekend, the first from HJ of MELBOURNE:
‘THE pitfalls of punting are evident every week. Horses that fall into the ‘plunge’ catergory and shorten from long odds in early Fixed Odds betting rarely win. Statistics would suggest that short priced favorites in Brisbane have next to no hope.
Even the corporate bookies tips on race eve of their ‘best’ and ‘lays’ of the day can prove way off the mark.
That is without mentioning the pre-race interviews with some of the top trainers when, with all due respects, on some occasions punters would be better off making up their own minds.
And, by the way, I haven’t mentioned the most useless of all – the media ‘expert’ tipsters who boast when they get it right – especially on SKY and TVN – but say little when they are wrong, which is 90 per cent of the time.
There was a time when you could be guaranteed that a third of the favorites would win over three states on a Saturday. Last weekend that figure was down to a quarter. There were three in Melbourne, two in Sydney and not one in Brisbane.
We had second stringers for Chris Waller upstaging their more fancied stablemates (Hidden Wonder beating Royal Descent) and Gai Waterhouse criticizing anyone who dared to suggest the win by War in the Up & Coming was a form reversal when its stablemate Pitcrew was backed for plenty and could finish only fourth.
Now with the pending arrival of spring we have the return to the media spotlight of Mark 'the Narc' Kavanagh – he and his horses apparently hibernate in the winter to dodge the wet and cold.
And the first thing he tells the punters is to be wary of unbeaten mare Atlantic Jewel at her comeback. Perhaps he's right, only time will tell, but history shows it is better to listen little to what Kavanagh says about the chances of his runners.
From a punting perspective it’s a minefield. That’s why I have now found that making up my own mind and listening to none of the 'experts' is the best way to go. That way if I lose then the only person I can blame is myself.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: I like the logic of your day on the punt HJ. And by the way Michael Rodd recently declared that Kav has some very nice youngsters coming through so expect him to burst back into the spotlight in a big way in the weeks ahead. Here’s the story about Kavanagh’s warning concerning Atlantic Jewel by MICHAEL MANLEY in the HERALD SUN:
MARK Kavanagh has again warned punters that superstar mare Atlantic Jewel will be vulnerable when she resumes in Saturday’s Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.
Kavanagh stressed that keeping her seven start undefeated record intact was not the be all and end all.
“She’s not screwed right down for this. I want to keep her intact as her main goal is in October,” Kavanagh said.
“If she was going to salute it’s going to be a massive effort her to win as she hasn’t raced in 18 months. She’s going to be vulnerable.”
“Where I sit right now she doesn’t have to win to please me. She could still run a big race and finish close-up.”
“I’m a horseman and I am leaving her with a lot of improvement to come as that’s how I train with my horses improving during their preparation.”
Kavanagh believes the Memsie Stakes is the right kick-off point for Atlantic Jewel’s return to racing.
“It just gives me more options after the race. If I waited for the Let’s Elope Stakes it just restricts where I can go afterwards,” he said.
Sportsbet.com.au opened a market on the Memsie Stakes and opened Atlantic Jewel at $2.40 which was quickly snapped up by punters who backed her into $1.90.
Atlantic Jewel has been sidelined since April last year when she won the All Aged Stakes at Randwick.
Second favourite is It’s A Dundeel ($5.50) and third favourite Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon ($9.00). Atlantic Jewel’s stablemate Super Cool is next at $11.
“Atlantic Jewel deserves to be at the top of betting. She’s unbeaten in seven starts and by all reports she is flying. Her 16 month lay-off has not bothered the punters, backing her almost exclusively to all other runners, ” sportsbet.com.au’s Ben Hawes said.
Kavanagh said Super Cool would also start in the Memsie was a fair bit behind Atlantic Jewel in fitness.
The four-year-old gelding hasn’t started since he won the Australian Cup in March.
“I don’t think he’ll be suited by the Memsie as he normally takes a run or two to find form,” he said.
HEADQUARTERS DEGENERATES TO A JOKE WHILE MILLIONS WASTED ON WHITE ELEPHANT 
GL of BRISBANE wrote:
‘AS if it isn’t hard enough backing a winner in Brisbane they serve up a track at Eagle Farm that was nothing short of joke status last Saturday.
It must have gone to the pack while Bill ‘The Oyster’ Shuck was enjoying his junket at some conference in Asia.
How can punters expect to get a fair go when runners back in the field have no chance? Seven of the races were won by those who settled in the first three – and a couple of them were legless according to the form.
Reports suggest that Eagle Farm will undergo an upgrade. That should have been done before they wasted millions on Clifford Park. The majority of punters aren’t interested in betting on racing in Toowoomba, whether the surface is dirt, grass or bitumen.
When horses that finished down the track at Eagle Farm on Saturday come out and storm to victory at their next start – in what is seemingly a form reversal – of course we know what the excuse will be.
Brisbane racing is the absolute pits. I had to laugh when I read a report from one leading fielder that bookies finished ‘just on the wrong side of the ledger on the day.’ Who’s he kidding? When some bookies aren’t laying the favorites that lose, they’re backing the ones that win the races in Brisbane.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: I am not sure about your last comment but work certainly is overdue on Eagle Farm and perhaps as an ‘expert’ far more learned than I am suggested maybe the sectionals told the tale in several of the races. The sad aspect on Saturday was the hardness of the track which led to the unfortunate loss of Latin News and our sympathy goes out to all concerned. I am also told that maintenance staff has been cut by the BRC who are apparently feeling the pinch like everyone else in racing in Queensland. Until they dispense with this farcical TAB agreement which prevents them from taking on valuable sponsors, who are rivals to TattsBet, then officials will be working with their hands tied. How RQ can be dictated to by the LNP Government when it comes to a new TAB deal being done solely with Tattersall’s is not only unbelievable but downright dumb. And if you're wondering why there was little said about the state of the Eagle Farm track in the mainstream media the former respected Sunday Mail racing journo who once described it as a 'goat track' went on to lose his job.
CRACKS WERE QUICK TO APPEAR IN ‘DELUSIONAL’ PLAN TO UPSTAGE CUP CARNIVAL 
AS interstate racing rivalry heats up, JS of MELBOURNE WRITES:
‘IT didn’t take long for the cracks to appear in the delusional plan by Racing NSW to upstage the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Fortunately for the organizers full details of the super carnival for Sydney have not been revealed – that say there is a confidentiality agreement – others reckon it is to save any embarrassment.
Let’s face it the international visitors are only interested in making one visit Down Under and that is for the spring carnival in Melbourne. Sydney has no appeal for them.
As someone said last week Racing NSW should worry about getting their domestic house in order before trying to steal some of the thunder from Victoria.
Here’s hoping what one racing columnist wrote isn’t write. He said: Sadly, the Breeders Cup-type autumn carnival WILL happen. With the NSW State Government committing to putting money into this ill-judged and ill-conceived piece of ego-driven marketing narcissism, yet another golden opportunity to fix up the mess that is the NSW racing industry will go missing.’
EDITOR’S NOTE: HERE is a column item that the above e-mail obviously refers to:
CHRISTIAN NICOLUSSI reports in the SYDNEY TELEGRAPH that there appears to be one small problem with the running of the $6 million Sydney International Champions Cup (2000m) next autumn - there won't be any internationals.
At The Track has been told the odds of a foreigner taking part in the new Breeders' Cup program next year continue to drift.
Details about the Breeders' Cup remain super hush. The tip is there will be up to 12 Group 1s run over two Saturdays at Randwick.
At worst, part of the Breeders' Cup will be rolled out next autumn.
But any sight of a top-line international won't happen.
Another reason overseas trainers might be thinking twice about the Breeders' Cup is the stabling issue.
Canterbury was expected to get a $5m facelift to house the internationals, with the track already put off limits during March and April.
But there won't be a penny spent on the inner-western Sydney track. Instead, the overseas horses will be put up more than 1000km away - Werribee in Victoria.
How many overseas trainers would want to make the long flight with their horses, only to board another flight, just to get to Sydney?
As a Canterbury tragic, the decision to not spare any cash for Canterbury is a concern. Spending no money on Canterbury can only mean the Australian Turf Club is resigned to selling the joint.
TOWNSVILLE’S LOSS IS SYDNEY’S GAIN AS CHRIS ROOTS WINS TURF WRITING AWARD 
THE sports journalistic working life of CHRIS ROOTS has turned the full circle since his days with the Townsville Bulletin in North Queensland.
Roots, whose style of race writing did not suit the northern daily where the Turf Club now pays to get weekly coverage, wound up with the Illawarra Mercury where another old Queensland boy in Mitch ‘the I’ve been Everywhere Man’ Murphy was the boss and recognized his talents.
Before too long Roots was working with the turf team at the Sydney Morning Herald and when Craig ‘Stinger’ Young took a redundancy he wound up the Turf Editor and has slotted in well in an extremely competitive environment.
Fitting into an environment where interlopers are not readily accepted cannot have been easy but he has made the grade and for that we congratulate Chris and now even officialdom is recognizing his talents and ability.
Last week Roots won the Rod Allen Racing Writer of the Year Award (named in memory of a great jouno who tragically lost his life a few months back in an accident) and colleague Max Presnell saw fit to applaud his efforts in a column this week which read, in part:
‘THE Agony and the Ecstasy’ of Stathi Katsidis, by my Fairfax Media colleague Chris Roots, is placed to advantage in More Important than Life and Death.
Roots was voted the Rod Allen Racing Writer of the Year recently but his great work on Katsidis came previously. “Stathi Katsidis admits he took ecstasy - he served a nine-month ban for testing positive to it in 2008. He also insists he wasn't the only sportsman to take the party drug, claiming about half the jockeys and footballers take it.
“It's a claim that sends tremors through the football and racing industries. But Katsidis is not bitter. Instead he credits the whole episode with helping him turn around his life.”
Later in the ‘Turbulent death and life of a gifted sportsman’' Roots eulogized: “At his best, Stathi Katsidis could ride like an angel, but he had his demons, too. The jockey had a troubled past … Now just days out from what promised to be another career highlight … Katsidis is gone. He was found dead by his partner, Melissa Jackson, at his Eagle Farm home.”
Perhaps the Katsidis chapters are more macabre than colorful, as is a contribution by Craig Young, formerly a Fairfax Media scribe and now driving buses on the central coast, regarding champion jockey Darren Beadman. It emphasises the extent of injuries and was the first indication Beadman's career was in jeopardy.
“It seemed like a simple fall. I was knocked out for like two hours,” Beadman said. “I've had race falls, been involved in them. I've been conscious all the way through. Sometimes I've been knocked out. It feels like you're going in slow motion, everything slows down. This one I don't even remember going down.
“'They sent me home from hospital a couple of days later but the room at home kept spinning. I'd get up to go to the toilet and I'd fall over.”
Young, known as ‘Stinger’ since birth, and Beadman had a fine rapport, producing columns in The Sydney Morning Herald. When he first started as a columnist and was told he could choose his ghostwriter, Beadman replied: “Do you mean I can engage my own writer?” The champ asked and plumped for Stinger, a lower-order batsman at the time.
But More Important Than Life And Death - Inside the Best of Australian Sport (Fairfax Books - Allen and Unwin) edited by Peter FitzSimons and Greg Growden, is a fine testimony to all the gamuts of Australian sport written with insight and humor. The big names are there as well as up-and-coming talent, but don't miss ‘The View of Viewed’', a chapter by Phil Wilkins, who for decades has been a great all-rounder. My wife Coleena's favorite was Jessica Halloran's ‘Jelena Dokic’.
“'Pearls fall down Jelena Dokic's back where bruises once tarnished her caramel skin. She idles on a tennis court in a ball gown, diamantes decorating the nape of her neck. She's laughing now, where hours earlier she was soberly explaining how she'd escaped the physical rage of her father, Damir … Once you know and hear more about her darkest days, you realize how remarkable this young woman is.”
SECTIONS OF OZ RACING QUALIFY FOR MEMBERSHIP OF MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 
WE spotted this interesting item in the latest widely-read Racing Bitch column out of Hong Kong, which is worth reproducing:
TODAY in Australia, three race meetings were ‘indefinitely delayed’ for a variety of reasons, one being having no vet on course at Ipswich and, at Hawkesbury, a spooked horse jumping a fence, running off and getting lost in the bushes in the process.
Sure, it’s ‘only’ a Thursday race meeting, but must there be this Mickey Mouse approach to the sport?
Oh, and at Port Augusta, the gates didn’t open at the same time – for the second time in one day – but the race was still run to the bewilderment of the race caller – and then declared a no-race. And then, the entire race meeting was abandoned.
Saying, but it’s only Port Augusta is not the point. It’s to do with a lack of professionalism and gawdawful hires.
All together now: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
TRAINER STILL AWAITS RESPONSE FROM RACING NSW ON LEGAL PROTEST LETTER 
OUR ‘News You Might Have Missed’ from the past week feature is spearheaded by an interesting article by TONY WHITE in the SUNDAY SUN-HERALD:
SEVERAL months after a legal letter was sent to Racing NSW over the contentious result of the Albury Gold Cup on March 22, Benalla trainer Peter Donnelly is still waiting for a reply.
Donnelly sought legal advice from numerous parties including a Wangaratta lawyer who drafted the letter after Donnelly's horse Fabriano, which he part-owns, was relegated from first to third following a successful protest by connections of Coliseo (third past the post).
A further protest by Coliseo's rider, Jeff Penza, against eventual winner Niblick, trained by Brett Cavanough, was dismissed. The margins were a nose by a nose.
Donnelly remains bitter over the result and Racing NSW's inaction.
“'If I was P. Moody and not P. Donnelly, a one-horse trainer, it might have been different,”' Donnelly said. “I got copies of the stewards’ transcript and film, which I had to pay for, and a legal letter was sent to Racing NSW a couple of months back.
“I still haven't heard anything back from them. I don't mind getting beat fair and square but we got absolutely robbed. I’d like to hear someone explain to me where we’ve gone wrong, where our horse went wrong.”
After speaking with his legal advisers, Racing NSW CEO Peter V'landys said (last) Friday a letter regarding the matter had been received.
“It's in the hands of our legal team,” he said. “Until we have explored all avenues and receive the proper legal advice, we’re not in a position to respond. Sometimes these things do take time.”
THEY’RE ALL PULLING TOGETHER DOWN IN VICTORIA TO MARKET THE SPRING 
RACING Victoria and Melbourne Racing Club have announced a marketing partnership for the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival and 2014 Melbourne Festival of Racing.
The partnership will see RV and MRC combine forces with a joint campaign to promote and encourage greater participation in thoroughbred racing’s peak periods.
RV has historically marketed the Spring Racing Carnival and Melbourne Festival of Racing brands, whilst the metropolitan race clubs, including MRC, have undertaken separate campaigns promoting their key race days within.
The joint RV and MRC campaign is an important trial as the industry seeks marketing initiatives to foster new and renewed engagement with the sport.
The partners launch their Spring Racing Carnival campaign today which takes a bold new approach designed to rouse Victorians from their weekend activities and urge them to ‘Get Back on Track’.
Stage one was last week’s launch of www.springracingcarnival.com.au, which will be followed closely by an extensive advertising campaign that will encompass traditional and new media.
The Spring Racing Carnival commences on Carnival Preview Day, Saturday, 21 September at Caulfield and continues through to the Ballarat Cup meeting on Sunday, 24 November.
AUSTRALIAN JOCKEYS’ ASSOCIATION EVALUATION OF SYNTHETIC TRACKS
THE Australian Jockeys’ Association has undertaken an evaluation of synthetic tracks.
This evaluation was undertaken by the AJA’s OH & S Officer, Mr. Kevin Ring, who is also the General Manager of the Tasmanian Jockeys’ Association.
The need to undertake this review was borne out by the concerns of Australian jockeys who had ridden on these surfaces and was discussed at the International Conference for the Health, Safety and Welfare of Jockeys in New Jersey last September.
There were a number of concerns raised at the discussion including the potential carcinogenic ‘fall out’ from some types of track and also the indication that jockeys involved in falls on these surfaces incurred more significant injuries than on comparable turf tracks.
“This is a landmark study which essentially allays fears that synthetic tracks increase the number and severity of injuries to jockeys,” AJA CEO Paul Innes said.
“The AJA through Kevin Ring has examined the issue in the Australian experience drawing on available statistics and data although the study will be of great interest to international jurisdictions.
“We will continue to monitor synthetic tracks but are glad to acknowledge that the situation is satisfactory from a jockey safety point of view at this time.” Innes added.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in the above e-mails should not be interpreted as those of JOHN LINGARD, the owner-editor of the letsgohorseracing web-site. That is why he has added an ‘EDITOR’S NOTE’. Every endeavor is made to verify the authenticity of contributors. We welcome any reasonable and constructive responses from parties or individuals.
