A WEEKLY REVIEW

Gai Waterhouse in full State of Origin mode, more Angus Crighton than Mitchell Moses, challenged the sale of Rosehill Gardens racecourse recently in the Parliament House arena.

Perhaps the playmaker for the opposition is Peter V’Landys, racing boss like no other who has taken his leadership style to Rugby League. She tagged him as the “Elephant in The Room” on the first day, reported on the ABC’s television 7pm news.

The switch from the Rosehill turf, a vital racing asset, to 40,000 new homes is the subject of a hearing at Parliament House and Waterhouse sparked from the kick-off.

(The full Waterhouse address to Parliament hearing is another blog on my website: https://maxpresnell.com/2024/07/24/gai-waterhouse-to-parliament-on-rosehill-sale/).

V’Landys, Racing NSW CEO, is the vital and can maintain possession but instead has flicked passed to the Australian Turf Club, smitten with “an unsustainable financial model,” is attributed to ATC chairman Peter McGauren.

According to insiders Rosehill has to go because the ATC needs money. Off-leading Canterbury, dilapidated these days, wouldn’t bring enough. The Rosehill sale would repatriate Warwick Farm as well as Canterbury with another possible venue being somewhere out in no-man’s land, perhaps good for horses, at Rooty Hill.

“The world is full of former racecourses that have been transformed into different uses as cities grow,” David Borger, Executive Director of Business Western Sydney, enthused in the Daily Telegraph.

In my time Kensington, Roseberry, Moorefield, and Victoria Park, pony tracks mainly and relics of a different era, have been replaced. Only Moorefield, very much on the slide, operated in that period. Kensington became the University of NSW, Roseberry housing, Moorefield suburbs and Victoria Park a factory and then a suburb.

These developments came when racing was still a sport, influenced by wealthy owners with illegal SP bookmakers taking a considerable slice of the betting action.

Racing is now an industry: Rosehill Gardens a major centre, not only for racing but training with strong employment. In some ways Rosehill is superior to Royal Randwick, home of Theatre Of The Horse, an inconvenience by comparison to the Western Suburbs venue.

Desperation for the sale raises why the ATC is skint? At the Randwick autumn carnival a major lift for patrons broke down in the Queen Elizabeth Stand and was out of order for two Saturdays. This followed escalator problems. Also, reports are circulating that some Randwick racecourse stables are health and safety risks.

Yet Racing NSW is flourishing: prizemoney millions that could be halved float like confetti. The bush is doing good yet the showcase of Sydney turf, Royal Randwick, home of The Everest, a major V’Landys achievement, is a shadow of past greatness.

So far Waterhouse is taking the play up to the opposition without forward support. Chris Waller would be handy, being so forceful at ATC meetings with members on the controversy.

Waterhouse remains gallant in a period when it doesn’t come any better than the New South Wales domination of the Maroons last week.

Crichton and Moses put Daly Cherry- Evans, so effective in the Queensland first success, into reverse and produced too much muscle for Queensland.

Surely there was no Rugby League battle where the defence was so intense, not even the bash and biff days of Test matches between the Kangaroos and Great Britain. Specialists in Brit-brutality like of Vince Keralius in the late 1950’s and Rocky Turner played fast and violent against the Aussie steel, amongst others, Rex Mossop. Fearless to a fault on the battle ground, and an outstanding mangler of tautology, Mossop maintained he later had nightmares about Vince Keralius. Rules were bent but the intensity was hardly as severe as the recent State Of Origin, nor combatants as fit.

Rosehill is being defended under different conditions, but Lady Gai faced severe adversity previously. She is still hitting the line hard. Elephants beware.

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James McDonald, rated with the saddle greats, had to front Racing NSW stewards for giving his mount, Silvanito every possible chance in Saturday’s Midway at Rosehill Gardens.

It comes under the change of tactics ruling which I regard as insult to a jockey’s initiative.

JMac told them he had been instructed to obtain a position with cover in the early stages but when other rivals on his inside didn’t go forward and Silvanito was left in front.

Trainer Nathan Doyle confirmed the instructions but was reminded on his obligation to inform stipes of any change, even if it was only in third or fourth position and not further back.

Had JMac adhered to the letter Silvanito would have pulled badly and not done as well. Jockeys should be allowed to adapt to situation as he did.

Bad, too, for we Swans supporters was the loss of Tom Papley, amongst others, for six weeks due to an injury sustained against Brisbane last Sunday.

Swans coach John Longmire described the two point defeat, a photo finish for the third time this season, as “outstanding” due to the rally of the wounded, with Papley absent.

But it’s a heart attacks for geriatrics. Brilliant in patches the Swans still drop the bit, go through the frustrating doldrums, as they did against Brisbane.

Rivals are getting better. With the dynamo Papley out and possibly others, depth will be tested as it has been with South Sydney in other major football code.

Maybe the Rabbits had a decisive victory over the Tigers last Saturday but the defence, heralded here recently, at times would not have impeded Kylie Minogue.

Hopefully Wayne Bennett coming next season can find worthy replacements for Damien Cook and Tom Burgess. I’ll miss them.

Ugly

It doesn’t come more appalling than Eagle Farm being called off at 4.20 pm last Saturday because jockeys had “safety concerns”.

Jockeys maintained since January there have been over a dozen separate instances of horses on the course proper shying at a new construction, seeing a monstrosity for the first time.

The high rise looms large on what was once a pleasing landscape and the Rob Dolan spill because of it presents an issue like on other for Queensland racing.