JOHN Singleton’s disclosure of who told him that Tom Waterhouse

JOHN Singleton’s disclosure of who told him of Tom Waterhouse's alleged pre-race declaration that More Joyous had a problem and couldn’t win the All Aged Stakes will be at the heart of Friday’s steward’s inquiry, reports TVN Racing Network News.

Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy said Singleton’s allegations needed to be substantiated for that part of the inquiry to be seriously explored.

Murrihy said racecourse “tattle” invariably doesn’t lead to meaningful conclusions.

“If he (Singleton) isn’t prepared to stump up with people who presumably had contact with Tom Waterhouse then it doesn’t take us anywhere,” Murrihy said.

Singleton said pre-race on TVN that he didn’t hold much hope for his mare more Joyous because Tom Waterhouse had told friends of his that the mare had a problem and could not win.

He reaffirmed those views in the steward’s inquiry opened after More Joyous finished seventh behind All Too Hard.

When Murrihy asked him in the inquiry to identify who relayed that information to him, Singleton declined as he did not want to “put them in” as they would be embarrassed.

“He’s making the allegation that there is a conflict of interest and can’t support it with the name of one person and Tom Waterhouse has a book that is either balanced or with the winner being a worst result where does that take you?” Murrihy said.

“Plenty of people engage in racecourse rumor, but if he’s not prepared to name them we will consider how vital that is.

“The fact that he doesn’t want to name them doesn’t add a lot of strength to the whole matter.”

Murrihy said stewards would look at what the “betting picture tell us”.

He said stewards would look at all the betting, including Betfair, on the All Aged Stakes, most particularly the spread sheet from Tom Waterhouse.

Murrihy said stewards would look at Waterhouse’s book both as a boomaker and a punter.

The other aspect of the inquiry concerning stewards is why Gai Waterhouse did not report to them that there was an issue with More Joyous leading into the race.

When asked why she had failed to inform stewards, Waterhouse said "there was no issue' and that More Joyous had been passed fit by two vets to take her place in the All Aged Stakes.

Murrihy said a web site story involving an exchange by Robbie Waterhouse and Singleton near the scales area came to the attention of stewards.

“It was reported that there was a bit of jousting between the two and it didn’t appear to be terribly appropriate so we will look at that matter in full total of the issues we have before us,” Murrihy said.