THE WEDNESDAY WHINGE has a new look but won’t be dispensing with the theme and focus on the THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY side of what is happening in racing. The Whinge will continue to provide an opportunity for The Cynics to Have Their Say. Thanks again for your support for the most read column on this website and one of the most read on racing websites in the country. Our popularity continues to grow despite the bagging it cops from some high profile officials, especially in Queensland, who cannot cope with constructive criticism of any kind. We encourage supporters – and critics – to continue to contribute but plan to restrict the Whinge to less than 10 of the best items each week. Our message to those who continually bag us is simple: IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT YOU READ, THEN DON’T REVISIT THE WHINGE.

 

ONCE IT WAS ‘WE RUN AS ONE’ NOW RQ CONVENIENTLY WANTS TO CUT THE DOGS ADRIFT 

ALBERT WILLIAMS, of REDCLIFFE, a regular and valued contributor to the Wednesday Whinge, sent this thought-provoking email:

‘ONE would think that Racing Queensland would have only one goal in the wake of the greyhound scandal – and that would be to bring once and for all an end to ‘live baiting’ whilst determining how it was allowed to go undetected for so long.

Instead the message from little King Kev and his cronies – delivered by their favourite ‘Spin Doctor’ in an opinion piece in the mainstream daily – is the almost desperate need to cut the greyhound code adrift from the thoroughbred industry.

Yes, when things get too hard or too hot for the hierarchy at RQ to handle what is the simple or easiest solution to the problem? If you can’t simply sweep it under the carpet, you walk away from it!

Whatever happened to that wonderful ‘We Run as One’ philosophy that cost the industry hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote when the three codes gathered as one behind the little King in that Cow Paddock out the back of nowhere?

I can still see them all now marching to the same drum behind their fearless leader almost akin to the scene from that famous movie as the ‘hills come alive with the sound of music’. Now they’re all dancing to the beat of a different drum – the tom toms from the Deagon Bunker are beating ‘cut the dogs adrift’.

Of course the thoroughbred participants wouldn’t blink an eye at a reversal of the code merger. They never wanted to jump into bed with the lowly trots or dogs to start with. That was forced upon them by that dastardly Bentley Board under the banner of cutting costs.

Now that the greyhounds are on their knees – struggling for existence – give them another kick in the guts while they are down. Would the fearless gallops leaders do the same and dare to insult another King Kev from harness world? I doubt it.

Little Kev might be brave when it comes to kicking defenceless ‘dogs’ in the guts but he certainly wouldn’t be keen to enter into a political battle with Big Kev – a racing identity with far more business and political clout that he has in his little toe.

The opinion piece (whether it be the author’s opinion or that of his good mate from RQ) was quick to declare there is no need to stand down the All Codes Board or, heaven forbid, even sack them.

‘Hypocrisy’, he declared, ‘is alive and well in greyhound racing.’

Hey pal, have a look in the mirror when you start pointing the finger of hypocrisy. In the opinion of many those you are defending are equally as responsible as the low-life’s responsible for ‘live baiting’. They allowed it to go undetected for so long, something hard to defend considering the warnings that were delivered by Animal Liberation Queensland and the RSPCA that apparently fell through the cracks.

And talking of that hypocrisy it took you a week to even report the fact that your little buddy at RQ had been asked to stand down almost unanimously (there was one abstainer) by an industry meeting of greyhound stakeholders. Those despised websites – and even The Sunday Mail – beat you to the punch on that story. Then again there were no Brownie Points to be earned in writing something objective or critical about the RQ hierarchy, are there?

Sadly, the fact still remains that the only one who has suffered a slap over the wrist in this whole greyhound debacle in Queensland – while many heads have rolled in Victoria and NSW – has been Head of Integrity, Wade Birch, who is on an ‘all expenses paid holiday’ until things get sorted out.'

 

PARLIAMENTARY DEBALCE THROWS A LIFELINE TO AILING RQ

BILL PETERS of GOLD COAST sent this email:

'PERHAPS those running the show at RQ might be sleeping a shade better now that Laurence the Three Time Loser looks set to have another shot at the big job in Queensland politics.

In the eyes of many who follow racing in this State, not even a change of Government should save Little King Kev who should have been shown the door long ago and hopefully will be soon – even if it as a Last Hurrah by Bill (I’m still finding my feet) Byrne.

Hopefully the outcome of the Labor-ordered Review into Greyhound racing in Queensland will have been delivered by then and heads at the top of RQ will have been lopped.

Not that anyone is expecting the Government to change if a by-election is required in Cook where Labor has dominated for decades even if it means they are going to have to awaken their legion of supporters on the reservations and get them to the polling booths in the deep north for the second time in a few months.

That’s apart, of course, from the dreamers at Queensland Newspapers who have revived their Labor bashing pre-election editorial attacks. What was Rupert promised by the LNP in his pre-Christmas visit to Brisbane?

If you want an unbiased and objective coverage of what is happening in racing and politics in Queensland don’t waste your money buying The Courier-Mail, simply log into the Fairfax owned brisbanetimes.com.au. It’s not over-priced. In fact it’s free.  

Now that We Run As One is dead and buried – what a short life span at an obscene cost that was for the industry – greyhound bashing has become a convenient past-time and why wouldn’t it be encouraged by RQ?

Let’s have a look at the overall picture and it’s a great diversion from the unanswered questions being asked as to why there aren’t more Cobalt positives in the gallops in Queensland where form reversals can be blamed more for the drop in turnover on the local product than the tracks.

Then again the state of the tracks is another dismal blot on the Kevin Dixon copybook. These are a disgrace – from the newest at Toowoomba to the oldest at Eagle Farm where no-one seems to know what is happening.

But don’t go blaming the new Government for the problems there that now suggest racing may not resume at Eagle Farm until next year. It was RQ’s good mate, Treasurer Tim Nicholls, who promised – and one might suggest failed to deliver – in some areas because of protests from residents near the track in his own electorate about the high rise aspect of the BRC development plans.

One also has to ask about the finances at RQ and just how they are travelling at present since Dixon took control. Could this be one of the reasons we don’t see prizemoney from lost wet meetings throughout the state being returned to stakeholders?

A furlong in front as that forgettable Racing Minister once said racing in Queensland would become. More like a furlong behind mate. We Run as One was once the motto. We All Sink Together seems a more appropriate motto now – no matter who’s running the show in racing or politics in Queensland.’

 

IN RACING AND POLITICS QUEENSLAND IS THE BUTT OF MORE INTERSTATE JOKES

BARRY ADAMIS of BRISBANE writes:

‘THERE’S not much difference between racing and politics in Queensland and it explains why in both arenas the Sunshine State is the butt of so many jokes interstate.

In racing we have an industry leader clinging to control at all costs. In politics we have a desperate three-time loser prepared to do just about anything to secure power.

In a twist of unbelievable fate – some might say luck – the embattled Kevin Dixon hierarchy has been thrown a survival lifeline by under siege MP Billy Gordon, as has Laurence ‘the Loser’ Springborg in his battle to become Premier.

Dixon has a record book paved with potholes since taking control of RQ. He dines out on  positive coverage from his ‘mates’ in the mainstream racing media and chooses to ignore any other turf writers or websites that dare to be objective or ask the tough questions.

Springborg has a history of hypocrisy with a preparedness to make promises paved with gold for any organization or individual willing to help him achieve his goal of becoming Premier. He accuses Labor of failing to do the right thing by alleged tax cheat and woman basher Billy Cook but grew up admiring grubs of a different colour from the Joh era.

But let’s forget about the political side of the fence – we all know that the LNP has a close connection with Little King Kev and will support his ‘my way or the highway’ philosophy and perceived favouritism to those who support him at the racing coalface.

The fact remains the industry – under his leadership – is in a far worse state now than what it was when the Labor-backed Bentley Board was virtually shown the door when the LNP swept to power.

Dixon and his cronies continue to dine out on this wonderful TAB deal of which we still have not heard the full explanation as to why two prominent All Codes Board members suddenly resigned sighting a lack of consultation on what they believed could have been a far better return for racing.

The track situation has reached a farcical stage as has the redevelopment of Eagle Farm and one might ask: What is Mr Dixon doing about it? The answer to that can be read into the fact that the Brisbane Racing Club has started to fire a few political bullets of their own and why shouldn’t they when both major political parties are in a state of uncertainty forming a Government?

Greyhound racing gets too hard for RQ to handle so they suggest the merger of the three codes should be reversed. Let someone else worry about the ‘live baiting’ scandal that reports would suggest they did nothing about. Sorry Kev this is another headache that isn’t going to disappear even if your CEO is emerging as a convenient scapegoat for everything RQ didn’t manage to do to police this disgusting practice that it took a young woman from Animal Liberation Queensland to expose.

I won’t dwell for too long on integrity or the failure of Wade Birch or Allan Reardon to even provide long suffering punters who bet on the Queensland races with even a glimmer of hope heading forward. The fact remains that Cobalt has been distributed in mammoth proportions. Most trainers know who the ‘go to’ man is. What has RQ done about this? SFA!

When it comes to punter confidence backing some fancied runners in Queensland – well there is none. Too many horses perform like Phar Lap one week and Radish the next. It is common practice for well backed runners to miss the start or to be ridden upside down. No questions are asked or if they are, the all too common result is ‘explanation noted’ or ‘explanation accepted’. Little wonder punters continue to desert Queensland gallops betting in droves adding to the turnover slump that is becoming quite alarming.

I could go on with an endless list of the failures of Dixon and his cronies. The answer is a new broom through the industry from the control boards, to the administration and especially the integrity and stewards’ sections.

The time for change is NOW. Labor was the glimmer of hope the sport had in Queensland. If the LNP returns to power expect more of the same and the roller coaster ride will continue as racing in Queensland continues to hurtle downhill and out of control with one man in the cockpit at the controls like the German plane that crashed into the Alps.’

        

'DOES ANYHONE HAVE THE SLIGHTEST CLUE WHAT IS GOING ON WITH EAGLE FARM?

FROM a HIGH PROFILE LICENSEE, who asked not to be identified for OBVIOUS REASONS:

‘WHAT is going on with the Eagle Farm redevelopment?

I thought I read a response to questions on your website a few weeks ago from RQ CEO Darren Condon suggesting that the re-opening of Eagle Farm was still on schedule for August.

This week I read in The Courier-Mail – the RQ Bible – where Eagle Farm may not return to racing until next year. Are people playing political games? If they are spare a thought for those of us caught in the crossfire.

They are saying the digging of tunnels has been put aside until after the carnival so that the training tracks can be fully utilized by local and visitors without any disruption.

I thought that the second stage of the development had nothing to do with the return to racing at Eagle Farm in August or at least that was what I interpreted Mr Condon to have told your website.

Does anyone know exactly what is going on at Eagle Farm? The word is that things aren’t travelling too well and that there is some dissent among the BRC directors at present which has seen some resignations.

It was reassuring to read BRC Chairman Neville Bell quoted as saying: “The carnival is so important to the industry and we need to ensure Eagle Farm trainers and those that arrive from interstate can prepare their horses under the best conditions possible under the current circumstances.”

What is of concern to some of us stakeholders was his other comment that there is ‘no way’ racing will return to Eagle Farm BEFORE the tunnels are completed. Isn’t that dependent on a financial arrangement involving the Government (whatever that may be)?

So much for the LNP and Kevin Dixon’s close colleague former Treasurer Tim Nicholls who announced on Stradbroke Day last year that the redevelopment would be completed by April this year. That was obviously an April Fool’s Day joke from Tim the Toolman.’

Unlike Dixon, who seems beholding to the LNP, Bell does not seem to favor any side of politics when it comes to the best interests of the BRC and racing. I can recall him giving the LNP a nice serve in an interview on Victorian radio and now he seems to be firing another broadside and taking advantage of the parlous political state in Queensland at present. He deserves bouquets from the industry for his stand. What a pity we didn’t have a few more like him running RQ instead of that pitiful bunch sitting behind the control table there at present.

It was also interesting to see the story in The Courier-Mail conceding that ‘punters don’t bet as confidently at Ipswich on a Wednesday as they do at Eagle Farm or Doomben’ and ‘similarly on a Friday at Kilcoy or Beaudesert than they do at Ipswich.’

What the story forgot to say is that punters – big and small – have lost confidence in betting at Doomben on a Saturday – and for a reason other than the at-times track bias. They have little hope of winning there or at the Sunshine Coast on a Sunday (which needs a strong no nonsense steward to check a few things out, including why a punter for a big bookie up there had a punch up near his stand at a recent meeting without a mention in any stewards’ report) and why rank and file and off-course punters despise betting on Toowoomba and Kilcoy (two of the teachers’ pets which aren’t fit TAB venues and little more than goat tracks to race on – that’s when Toowoomba isn’t in recess after the millions that were spent there. By the way who is paying the staff  - much, much bigger than the days when Neville Stewart was running the show there – to sit on their backsides and do nothing. Here’s hoping it isn’t coming from industry funds and a cash-strapped RQ or even from the prizemoney they are saving with all these wet cancellations that aren’t being re-run).’

EDITOR’S NOTE: IN relation to fears that RQ is not pouring prizemoney lost due to abandoned meetings back into the industry coffers, CEO Darren Condon told me this week that this wasn’t the case. “We intended running more that the eight races at Doomben last Saturday but there were insufficient acceptors,” he said.

 

BLAME IT ALL ON THE DOGS – THE POOR RACETRACKS, THE COBALT ISSUES, THE LOT!

MURRAY DEAN is only an occasional contributor to the WHINGE but when he has something to say he doesn’t hold back:

‘I am amazed that the chief scribe from Mr Murdoch’s esteemed gazette thinks that the poor old dish-lickers are dragging down the good name of Racing Queensland.

This beggars belief.  How dare they?

It comes at a time when our racetracks are the greatest joke since we separated from NSW.

In summary: Eagle Farm remains a complete shambles with racing likely to not return until 2016. Then we have RQ’s ‘love child’, Toowoomba, millions spent on it, but also closed. Moving right along to Ipswich - more millions spent and meetings transferred. Not to mention a Gatton meeting abandoned at the last moment. Now the hoops don’t want to ride at Home Hill which was being used in place of the also closed Townsville. Then the other Saturday we had Sunshine Coast looking like they had dumped half of King’s Beach on the course proper. 

This together with other assorted matters like Cobalt positives must be the fault of all those evil individuals in the greyhound world.

Please!!!

To many of us, it sounds like the over-paid and over-rated looking to deflect their own incompetence.’

 

IT SEEMS THAT RQ HAS HIT THE PANIC BUTTON SINCE THE ‘LIVE BAITING’ EXPOSE

JIM MUNRO, of BRISBANE, sent this email:

‘SINCE the 4 Corners expose on live-baiting RQ has hit the panic button.

First (Head of Integrity) Wade Birch was forced to stand aside while an internal review of the Integrity Department’s processes was being undertaken that was shortly after the 16th February.

Since then RQ media releases have dealt with the number of trainers suspended and or disqualified. 

The industry meeting where CEO Darren Condon outlined a seven point plan to take the industry forward has not surfaced on RQ’s website. RQ has not issued any statement since. The only report on that meeting was due to Phil Purser (of the justracing website) making the effort to attend.

RQ has had more than enough time to complete the internal review into the Integrity Department and to release the results for public dissemination.

Down in Victoria, Racing Integrity Commissioner Sal Perna is more media savvy than the brains trust at Deagon......on 11th March he submitted an interim report and recommendations to the Government.

This was in less than one month after becoming aware, like the rest of us, about live baiting.

Here nothing but silence from RQ.

It's high time for RQ to come clean on their internal review and tell us what they discovered and what if anything they intend doing.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: MANY people that I have spoken to – and some of them are very high profile in the racing industry – regard the Internal Review as a waste of time. The Courier-Mail was on the front foot after the greyhound live baiting expose on 4 Corners but its Racing Department obviously wasn’t interested in covering the greyhound industry stakeholders meeting, especially the Turf Editor after the ‘vote of no confidence’ and ‘call for sacking’ of his mates on the All Codes Board. And as for Phil Purser, who deserves an award for racing media excellence in having the balls to take them on at RQ on all sorts of issues through his wonderful website justracing, well guess what his reward could be? Emails flooding in suggest that the All Codes Board and its weak-kneed Chairman are threatening to take his media accreditation from him. That’s how Kevin Dixon operates. If he can’t stop you from writing objective criticism of the job he and his cronies are doing, then he tells anyone prepared to listen not to read your website (which only has the reverse effect) or tries to shut you down (which only makes you more determined to see his control of racing diminished) along with that of his major supporters, many of whom jumped ship when they saw there was going to be a change of Government and the Bentley Board would not last. Loyalty is not their long suit.    

WILL RQ ACCEPT THE NEW QTA AS THE TRULY REPRESENTATIVE VOICE OF TRAINERS?

THIS email was received from a PROMINENT TRAINER in country Queensland who for obvious reasons asked that his identity not be revealed (in the current climate why could you blame him?):

‘NOW that Queensland has a truly representative Trainers’ Association – not just one representing the views of a specialist group in the metropolitan area – what will the reaction be from those running the show at Racing Queensland?

Here’s hoping that the new Queensland Trainers’ Association gets treated with a little more acceptance and respect than the Rockhampton Trainers’ Association from which it has grown.

Ask any stakeholder in the industry and they will tell you that the Queensland branch of the Australian Trainers’ Association is far from truly representative or a united voice for the majority of trainers in this state.

Unfortunately Bob Bentley and his successor Kevin Dixon chose to only recognize the ATA body. During the Bentley era there was a common link – a former Racing Department head who went to work for RQ. Things didn’t change when Dixon took over.

In the eyes of many in racing the ATA simply changed its political shirt or jumped ship and supported the Dixon band-wagon which, to be fair, was largely influenced by some of those at the helm of the ATA in Queensland who would have been badly affected had Deagon closed as a gallop training venue to make way for the Bentley plan to move the dogs and trots there.

What gets up the nose of trainers throughout the state – especially those in the country who are battling to have their voices heard – has been the nice little ho-downs that occur on a regular basis between the ATA and Dixon. That’s the time when they all sit around the camp fire – some of the top trainers in the Brisbane area getting up close and personal and telling little Kev what a great bloke he is and what a wonderful job he is doing and the All Codes Chairman reciprocating by ensuring the ATA members are happy.

It’s a cosy little relationship that smacks of the perceived favouritism that clubs like the BRC, Toowoomba and Kilcoy receive at the expense of others in the industry. It needs to stop and is another reason why the majority in the industry won’t be disappointed if the Labor Government shows Kevin Dixon and his support network at RQ the door.

With a new fully and more representative trainers’ body now established and known as the QTA, if RQ and Dixon do not afford it the same ‘open door policy’, acceptability and respect as the ATA Queensland branch then heads should roll.

In the eyes of many in racing QTA boss Jim Rundle is a no nonsense highly credentialed racing official who would do a better job running the industry than Dixon has. He also has plenty of political clout and it would not be wise in the current climate for RQ to turn its back on this new organization which might just be a little more powerful than they think.

The grapevine suggests that a growing number of trainers on the Gold Coast are keen to hitch their wagon with the QTA because they are fed up with the ‘suck up’ mentality to Dixon and his crew from one particular ATA stalwart in their midst. And there are a couple of important track issues that they have attempted without success to raise independently with Dixon because the ATA seems intent on not rocking the RQ boat.

Yes there are some interesting times ahead for the trainers in Queensland and it won’t matter who is running the show politically or in racing. The QTA is determined to get a better deal for ALL trainers not just a PRIVILEGED group in the metropolitan area. Let the fun and games begin.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: HERE is an excerpt from the ‘Silks & Saddles’ column this week where TERRY BUTTS of the NORTH QUEENSLAND REGISTER outlined some of the aims of the QTA:

THE QTA also wants to ensure that all levels of racing are consulted well in advance of industry changes allowing for proper debate and feedback from all corners of the State.

“We offer a forum for professional discussion, feedback on changes within the industry and a place where you can become involved in decisions which affect our industry.

“Queensland is a very big State and we want the views and ideas of everyone, from all parts of the State,” Rundle said.

The Queensland Trainers’ Association has evolved from what was originally the Rockhampton Trainers’ Association, where membership was primarily made up of Rockhampton district trainers but over the past couple of years there have been approaches by trainers from other areas wishing to join.

These are people who have felt strongly but their ideas often fell on deaf ears.

“In order to clearly communicate the broadened base of our current membership and better represent our aims it was decided to change our Association name to reflect these changes and welcome trainers from all over the State. Further details available on their new website: qldtrainers.com.au.

 

OFFICIALDOM ON THE WRONG TRACK WITH THEIR MARKETING IN SYDNEY?

DON MAIDEN of SYDNEY sent this email:

‘I just wanted to endorse what Ken Callander wrote in The Telegraph during the week that The Championships (at Randwick over the next fortnight) should be more about the horses, trainers and jockeys.

What he so rightly suggested was this:

I know those in charge are looking to a ‘new breed’ and all the posters for The Championships are of flash Harrys and pretty girls, but, if I were running the show, I would cover the billboards and flood the newspapers with JMac v Magic Joe.

Ken, of course, is talking about the much-awaited clash between Hong Kong-based ‘magic man’ Joao Moreira, rated by many the best jockey in the world and the rising riding star of the Australian ranks, James Macdonald, who rode five winners at Rosehill last Saturday.

What a shame there weren’t more people at BMW Day at Rosehill to witness this great riding feat. Sadly, there were many more at the Mornington Cup meeting in Victoria.

One could question if there has been too much marketing directed at The Championships and the other big days of the autumn carnival in Sydney are suffering as a result of this. But who are we to question the marketing gurus and, of course, the supposed expert at everything racing in this country, Peter V’landys.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: AT least they are not following the Sydney lead in Melbourne which probably explains why the Spring Carnival continues to blow the Autumn north of the border out of the water. Here is a Media Release explaining what the Victorians are doing this year to attract more people to the Cup carnival:

A shift to a new agency for the first time in more than a decade has seen the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) take a markedly different approach in its latest marketing campaign to attract visitors to the iconic Melbourne Cup Carnival.

VRC Acting Chief Executive Julian Sullivan said the campaign captures the power of the rich narratives that already exist in the sport of kings.

“The new campaign is about welcoming people to Flemington; the treatment is a playful celebration of Flemington’s traditions, history and other-worldly appeal, while highlighting that it belongs to everyone,” Mr Sullivan said.

“It focuses on the people that make racing at Flemington so special at a grassroots level, people like the strappers, Fashions on the Field entrants, gardeners, farriers,  jockeys, trainers and the racegoers themselves.”

With an industry trend of declining attendances and increased competition for the discretionary dollar, the VRC recognized the need for strategies that engage with not only current attendees but audiences that will contribute to growth.

VRC Executive General Manager, Brand Marketing & International Development, Amanda Chase said the campaign is a deliberate departure from those that have come before it, and includes playful ways to engage the potential audiences through greater use of non-traditional media.

“Through our new direction we want to give people the chance to get close to the thoroughbred heroes of our sport, see them in action, and fall in love with racing through our storytelling.

“We are boldly saying ‘Flemington is not just any racetrack’, setting ourselves apart from our competitors to inspire our current customers and evoke a desire for others to join.

“Flemington is the custodian of the world’s most vibrant racing carnival, but also provides opportunities to engage with our audiences year-round.

“We anticipate the new campaign will drive growth in attendance figures to the Melbourne Cup Carnival of between 5,000 and 10,000 over a two year period”, said Ms Chase.

A stunning portrait of Flemington’s greatest assets—human, equine and physical—forms the campaign’s hero image, supported by an emotive TV commercial showcasing the beauty of the thoroughbred, the exhilaration of racing, the journey towards the Carnival, and the joy of being a racegoer, VRC member, horse owner or Fashions on the Field contestant.

Emirates Melbourne Cup winners including Gai Waterhouse, Damien Oliver, Kerrin McEvoy and Michael Rodd feature in the campaign alongside fourth generation Cummings dynasty trainer, James, and numerous thoroughbreds with backdrops of Flemington’s iconic lawns, rose gardens, grandstands, mounting yard arch and clock tower.

Flemington’s longest serving employee, Keeper of the Roses Terry Freeman, farrier Mark Cummings, veteran racecaller Greg Miles, Myer Fashions on the Field contestants, fashion designer Dom Bagnato and milliner Melissa Jackson also participated in filming and photo shoots over the last six months and appear in the full suite of campaign materials.

Michael Knox, Managing Partner/Chief Creative Officer, Grey Melbourne, the advertising agency responsible for creating the new campaign said that it was a unique opportunity to develop ideas that will help drive more visitors and engagement with Flemington’s Melbourne Cup Carnival. 

“The campaign has presented Grey Melbourne with a unique opportunity to work on such an iconic brand and sporting event recognized by people all over Australia and throughout the world”

 “We look forward to continuing to work with the VRC to further promote Australia’s greatest social and sporting event to a wider audience attracting new visitors to Flemington” said Mr Knox.

The Melbourne Cup Carnival, highlighted by the $6.2 million Emirates Melbourne Cup, is Australia’s original major event. Celebrating the best of what Melbourne has to offer—food and wine, sport, business, social interaction and fashion—the Carnival attracts more than 325,000 racegoers to Flemington each year, injecting more than $360 million into the Victorian economy and more than $700 million nationally.

Tickets and hospitality options for the 2015 Melbourne Cup Carnival go on sale on Monday (16 March) at flemington.com.au

 

GREYHOUND SCANDAL HAS PROVED A TIMELY DISTRACTION FOR WHIP USE ISSUES

IAN CHAMBERLIN of MELBOURNE sent this interesting contribution:

‘THOROUGHBRED racing officials are trying their best to distance themselves from the greyhound live baiting scandal but use of the whip is ready to again emerge as a major problem for authorities.

And it is one they can’t walk away from. Rather than pussy-footing around the ARB needs to take a strong stand on this issue. Once again we have the traditional horse racing basher in Patrick Smith from The Australian earning Brownie Points with his fruit loop mates.

He is entitled to his opinion but racing officials can no longer continue to bury their heads in the sand on the whip issue. The Catalyst program on the ABC last week established that even padded whips caused pain to the horse which many outside the industry described as an unacceptable practice.

It came as no surprise that ARB boss Peter McGauran paid virtual lip service to the program while others from within the industry were arrogant enough to respond: ‘Why are we even defending whip use?’ They have to be kidding.

As Matt Stewart wrote in the Herald Sun:

You’d swear by industry reaction that the push was for jockeys to ride naked and bareback, not merely without whipping.

No one is even suggesting they get rid of the whip, which even the hippies would agree is important for control.

Racing resents change. There are still safari suits out there. New whip rules came in a few years back and jockeys threatened to strike. But it’s been a seamless transition and the jocks would be the first to admit that.

Now, most barely use the whip. If they do, it’s only in that desperate last furlong where it achieves little more than to look terrible to those millions of “hippies’’ outside the bubble.

Let’s face the realities – even restricted use of the whip isn’t a good look. Jockeys need to be able to carry whips to control horses in certain circumstances. But let’s face it – if whips were banned there would still be racing – so why not bite the bullet.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: WITH apologies to his detractors, here is what PATRICK SMITH wrote on the whip use issue in THE AUSTRALIAN:

HERE is the great racing con. It says whipping horses does not cause any pain. Not a twinge of it. The chief executive of the Australian Racing Board, Peter McGauran, made that point repeatedly yesterday.

There is no science to say McGauran’s claim is true. No science to say whacking a horse with a padded whip repeatedly does not discomfort gallopers. From McGauran’s interview on Melbourne radio yesterday the best evidence the industry has that whipping is painless might be that strappers love their horses. Truly.

So racing allows riders to hit horses in the hope that the strappers are right. It is a stunning risk and one that the industry can no longer defend. If there is no science to say whipping is painless, surely racing must stop the practice immediately. And only resume when there is enough science to say whipping has no impact.

No parent would accept the logic that so easily appeases the racing industry. Let their child be struck because there was no science that said it was causing pain. Rather, they would let no one near their kid until it was proved beyond doubt that the child was not at risk. That thinking is too sophisticated for racing.

McGauran spoke on the industry’s radio station RSN after publicity for last night’s Catalyst program on ABC television. The program made two telling points that neatly and unequivocally debunked racing’s central planks (twigs?) about a pain-free whip: that horses have abnormally thick skins and padded whips wouldn’t hurt a human.

Ground-breaking research by forensic veterinary pathologist Dr Lydia Tong discovered a horse’s skin was more likely to be sensitive to pain than that of a human. Horses have more pain-sensitive nerves than humans and they are closer to the outermost epidermis. Ouch.

“The really interesting part is that right up in the epidermis, which is the top layer and that’s where the pain sensing C fibres are, in the human specimen that’s thicker than the horse’s. So by the old argument of horse’s skin is thicker and they feel it less, actually you could argue human’s skin is thicker,” Tong said.

The program’s producer-reporter Dr Jonica Newby bravely allowed herself to be struck twice with a padded whip by former jockey Jonathon Walker. Yipes.

After the first strike Dr Newby reported: “It’s stinging. It’s stinging a lot. I mean it’s bearable.” Where the unpadded part of the whip struck Newby an obvious welt formed.

A second whack, harder and representative of a forehand strike, hurt more and for longer. The unpadded knot left a bruise.

Racing can now no longer claim a horse’s hide is all but immune to pain and that a padded whip is so benign you couldn’t swat flies with it.

McGauran’s position is interesting. Yesterday he attempted to belittle the status of the Catalyst findings. That was disappointing and pointed to a man with a closed mind.

McGauran told RSN: “A study like this is important and we will look at it but it is already very heavily qualified. Dr Tong’s findings are that it is likely to be painful.

“We will look at it, we will respect it but the point is that it was quickly put together for the purposes of a TV program. It hasn’t been peer reviewed, we haven’t had our scientists and vets look at it.

“I’m not damning the report but I am not going to ascribe to it sight unseen,” he said.

McGauran said the racing industry was very transparent.

“The whip is not some dirty secret in the racing industry; we govern it, we monitor it, and we enforce breaches of the rules,” he said.

It appears the whip is grafted to McGauran’s hand. In 2009 McGauran was chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and spokesman for the jockeys. In September that year the jockeys were rebelling against the introduction of new whip rules.

After the jockeys refused to ride in the middle of meetings in Hawkesbury, Ballarat, Ipswich and Northam, they threatened to strike again during the spring carnival. That jockeys went on strike, encouraged by a former minister in the federal government, for the right to whip horses more often is, perhaps, the saddest day in Australian racing. Definitely the most embarrassing.

Said McGauran at the time: “But if there is no resolution (by Monday) jockeys will not ride thereafter,” McGauran said. He was belligerent. Within days the dispute was resolved, the whip rules eased. McGauran said: “Peter V’landys (Racing NSW chief executive) and Ray Murrihy (NSW chief steward) were the spear carriers.” Subtle he isn’t.

McGauran’s ARB is examining changes to the present whip rules. There is concern that jockeys are hitting the horses as hard with their backhand action as they are with their forehand strikes. Racing Victoria has submitted that both whip actions be considered a strike under the rules. Under the present protocols backhand whipping is not considered a strike.

Yesterday McGauran said that the backhand whip action was not nearly as forceful as the forehand strike. He pointed to research undertaken at Charles Sturt University at the behest of the ARB and subsidized, too, by the racing industry. That research found forehand strikes had more impact than those delivered with a backhand grip.

McGauran clings to this while he has taken no notice of an earlier study by the University of Sydney which showed that a backhand strike was 15 per cent more powerful. The Sydney paper was peer reviewed yet the Charles Sturt research, funded by the ARB, has not undergone such scrutiny. Not yet.

If McGauran is inclined to be dismissive of the Catalyst program because it has not been peer reviewed why does he then put more weight in the Charles Sturt research which has yet to earn that status? Intriguing.

It is clear from McGauran’s previous involvement with the jockeys that he is too compromised to take any part in the ARB discussions about whip use. The ARB board should ask him to step down immediately and only return when the whip issues are settled. Or at the very least stop wearing those silks to work.

 

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