The spectacular aerial view last Saturday of Flemington for the Australian Cup whipped up withdrawal symptoms but Rosehill Gardens, with the push to become a Developer’s dream, was on par with Tuesday’s Tancred Stakes enhanced by the Dubai Honour influence.
Surviving on a mountain of debt Flemington is one of the world’s great racecourses but was blighted with what seemed a paltry attendance.
Grandstands looked empty: so few on what can cater so well for so many on what looked a reasonable Melbourne day.
Rosehill, though, had to be abandoned due to the wet until Tuesday which provided a top result from a difficult situation.
Although not the best chapter, the Tancred was superior to the Australian Cup, also Group one for $2.5 million, and supported by a strong program on a reasonable racing surface, considering the recent weather pattern.
Being hard to please Invaders, Hong Kong gets an exemption because of the Aussie influence they are currently like New Zealanders.
But it’s a major benefit having Dubai Honour, magnificent due to the William Haggas team and the navigational assistance of Tom Marquand, in the Sydney autumn. Haggas, obviously a genius at the caper, knows what is required to win here and we get a considerable benefit with betting turnover and the appeal of a top horse in prime nick.
Now Dubai Honour, appealing to the eye on ground level and full flight, will give substance to the Queen Elizabeth against Via Sistina at Royal Randwick.
As I mentioned last week the Newmarket based Dubai Honour took me back to the first U.K. invaders for the then International Tancred in 1988.
Highland Chieftain (58.5kg) chased home the outstanding three-year-old Beau Zam. The Invader did not have the benefit of Dubai Honor’s training facilities but anyway wasn’t as good.
The weight-for-age conditions have changed. Under the present scale Beau would have received only 4.5kg from Dubai Honour had they clashed on Tuesday. It would have been a top race. Beau Zam was exceptional.
Dubai Honour and Rosehill were good, but bad?
Former jockey Lewis German was disqualified for 10 years by The Racing Victoria Tribunal but should get acclaim for exceptional judgement at the punt.
According to the inquiry German, once an apprentice of little renown, had been tipping to gambler Noah Brash who collected a profit $259,494 on his mounts from August 21 to August 31, 2022, with 87 with of 89 bets being successful, obviously a world record.
None of the great punting jockeys, and saddle champions, George Moore, for instance, had a strike rate like that.
Even when Perce Galea, the high rolling plunger and owner, was getting information from horseback sources under agreement the rider had to put his own money in, say $500.Galea would match it thus $1000 was placed on the tip for the jockey. Galea felt the incentive was imperative. Still the return wasn’t great, he divulged. Some were better than others.
Racing Victoria went for kill on German, a New Zealander, on other charges, the most serious being “engaging in conduct prejudicial to the image of racing”.
Apparently German was approached with a $5,000 offer to hold one of the mounts at Towong in Victora but declined. Alas he didn’t report the approach to stewards, deemed deplorable by officialdom but hardly a crime against humanity.
Modern day racing is sanitised but there was a time, had similar action been taken, there wouldn’t have been any jockeys available. Asked to stop one? Commonplace. Reported?
German argued against a 15-year penalty sought by stewards. Racenet reports he maintained: “Obviously I am here today to plead my guilt. I feel the penalty the stewards are pushing for are, in my opinion, ridiculous.
“I feel that as an apprentice jockey it’s part of your career and it’s a learning curve. Everyone makes mistakes. . .
“I have never profited from the whole scheme as they call it and none of the bets were actually mine so at the end of the day, I can’t see how 15 years for charge four is even relevant when people are getting three weeks for the same thing pretty much if people open their eyes.
“I am not here to tell a sad story. I am here to apologise to the racing community.
“I have not received any money. I believed there was going to be money. I was told I would be paid at the start and was probably gullible.”
German was also charged with having betting accounts, possibly a bad habit learned in New Zealand where jockeys are allowed to bet but must list their accounts for official perusal.
When Anthony Cummings, then a trainer, noted how good Jason Collett was at the punt he was instrumental in importing him to Sydney where the jockey at present rates with the best of a vintage crop.
German, now 25, resides overseas. Considering his ability at finding winners, having learned business acumen from previous experience, probably Las Vegas or Monte Carlo.
By no means am I going soft on penalties. Should a jockey pull a horse up, apply the brakes to get beaten or in official parlance “not allow a horse to race on their merits”, a good tar and feathering is appropriate, particularly if I have backed it.
Ugly in the extreme was the Racing NSW directing the Australian Turf Club to postpone its upcoming vote on the proposed Rosehill sale debacle.
Going on the official media release the decision concerns the information provided by the ATC is insufficient (both in respect of the “Yes” and “No” positions) to enable members to make a properly informed decision on the proposed resolutions.
Wise guys maintain the vote was heavily in favour of “NO”. Surely Racing NSW and Peter V’Landys, the Mr Big of the industry, had sufficient time to study the proposal before leaving it so late to act, now being postponed until May 12, 2025.
In Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, V’Landys was listed on top of Dean Ritchie’s top 20 CEO’s, chairmen, and general managers, in Rugby League against a strong field including George Piggins, Phil Gould and Nick Politis.
As far as the racing industry is concerned, I rate him as the most influential official, committee, director or strong man ever in NSW in a field including knights of the realm, newspaper and media tycoons, giants at law and landed gentry.
With the Rosehill debacle V’Landys has taken his eye off the ball.
