APACHE CAT'S trainer Greg Eurell was stunned to learn Queensland Racing stewards deemed the grand sprinter lame when beaten narrowly as equal favourite in Saturday's BTC Cup at Doomben,reports the Sydney Morning Herald.It says: "To be quite honest, I was shocked to see the report," Eurell said yesterday while confirming a shot at next month's $1 million Stradbroke Handicap hadn't been ruled out for last season's sprinter of the year.Winner of the BTC Cup last year, Apache Cat was $3 eq

APACHE CAT'S trainer Greg Eurell was stunned to learn Queensland Racing stewards deemed the grand sprinter lame when beaten narrowly as equal favourite in Saturday's BTC Cup at Doomben,reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

It says: "To be quite honest, I was shocked to see the report," Eurell said yesterday while confirming a shot at next month's $1 million Stradbroke Handicap hadn't been ruled out for last season's sprinter of the year.

Winner of the BTC Cup last year, Apache Cat was $3 equal favourite with local Swiss Ace to repeat the effort at the weekend but was beaten a half-head, nose by Duporth and Bank Robber when third.

"I got made aware of the report this morning," Eurell said. "We didn't treat him for anything, only their vets thought he was a bit sore when he was walking up and down. He wasn't even flexion tested or trotted up and down."

Eurell made contact with Queensland stewards yesterday morning while calling in his own vets, who will forward a full report to officials up north.

"We've had a our vet go over him this morning, and he is happy enough with him," Eurell said. "Our bloke trotted him up and down, flexion tested him, he thought it was quite insignificant. There is no heat in the joint, nothing like that, nothing really to concern us, pretty much run-of-the-mill stuff.

"Nine times out of 10 a horse might feel a joint due to a run but they get through it. A bit like the footballer after a game, they're always a bit sore."


Sunday, May 10, 2009

Related shakes off Slipper hangover to win Guineas

RELATED proved he had well and truly shaken off his Golden Slipper hangover with a commanding victory in the listed Hawkesbury Guineas yesterday, reports the Sunday Age.

It says: The Bart Cummings-trained colt stormed into contention for next month's Queensland Guineas (1600 metres) with his victory in the 1400-metre feature, his first race win.

Stable foreman John Thompson said Cummings admitted it was a mistake to target the Slipper with the colt.

"It was a great example of Golden Slipper burnout," Thompson said. "But the boss realised he made a mistake going for the Slipper and gave him three months off."

Related started at $8 in the 2008 Golden Slipper but was never a chance and finished 14th to Sebring.

Jockey Chris Munce had Related ($6) just off the speed and the three-year-old did not disappoint, letting down with a big run to defeat Rollins ($31) by a half-length with The Astronomer ($5) a short-neck away third.

"I thought he'd be further back than that but Chris read it well ÔÇ" what a great ride that was," Thompson said.

"We came here not thinking he'd win but we thought he'd run a race."


Friday, May 8, 2009

Tabcorp urges Commonwealth control of betting taxes, fees

A PROPOSED Commonwealth Government takeover from the states of responsibility for wagering taxes and product fees is the highlight of Tabcorp's submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into gambling, says a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

It adds: "By lifting the financial administration to a national level, there is a greater likelihood that a uniform set of taxes and fees can be applied to all wagering operators," the submission stated.

The submission will raise the ire of the corporates, whom Tabcorp claim cost the industry lost funds last year of $58 million in NSW and $45 million in Victoria.

"If these distortions are not addressed, Tabcorp estimates racing industry funding could fall by 25 per cent to 30 per cent over the next 10 years," the submission pointed out.

Apart from national consistency in wagering, other points raised by Tabcorp are prohibiting tote odds betting by bookmakers, applying a uniform national wagering tax of no more than 1.6 per cent of turnover, introducing a national racing industry fee and applying a national approach to regulation, including consumer protection.

Tabcorp describes tote odds betting by bookmakers as "nothing more than a tax and fee arbitrage". It also raises the old integrity bogy: the possibility of pools manipulation on the tote.


Thursday, May 7, 2009

Grand Annual under scrutiny as jumps racing faces crisis

TODAY'S Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool will face scrutiny like never before in its 137-year history after jumps racing suffered its third death this season when Pride Of Westbury fell heavily yesterday at the last obstacle in the Galleywood Hurdle, reports The Age.

It says: There was hardly a sound from the sizeable crowd at the finish of the much-hyped $100,000 jumps feature despite the close finish between ultimate winner Desert Master and Hooker Road, as only seconds earlier Pride Of Westbury had nosedived into the turf and broke its neck.

The six-year-old's jockey, Trent Wells, was last night in a Warrnambool hospital with a suspected broken right arm.

Victorian Racing Minister Rob Hulls last year put jumps racing on notice after 12 deaths during races and trials last season, and more recently said jumps racing was unsustainable with so many fatalities. The jumps season has only just begun and Pride Of Westbury was its third victim.

Rob Hines, the chief executive of Racing Victoria, was at Warrnambool yesterday and said the incident had not helped jumps racing's image.

He stopped short of guaranteeing the sport's immediate future. "We'll have a review at the end of the season [September], provided there is no unprecedented occurrence in the meantime," he said.

Hines watched replays of the incident in the stewards room, and agreed with acting chief steward James Williams that Pride Of Westbury had made a mistake at the final obstacle, and that the hurdles or the jockey were not to blame. Pride Of Westbury was making a late run, and was a chance to finish among the placings until it crashed in front of the public grandstand with 200 metres left to run.