Turn me into Columbo! That seems to be the plea of Victoria's chief racing steward Terry Bailey. The Melbourne Herald-Sun reports that Bailey wants 'greater powers' to gather information, including from police, to help investigate alleged corruption cases quicker and more effectively. The report says Bailey is frustrated by past failures and is determined to bring key industry players under the umbrella of the rules of racing. In the gun are professional tipsters/punters and form analysts. Baile
Turn me into Columbo! That seems to be the plea of Victoria's chief racing steward Terry Bailey. The Melbourne Herald-Sun reports that Bailey wants 'greater powers' to gather information, including from police, to help investigate alleged corruption cases quicker and more effectively. The report says Bailey is frustrated by past failures and is determined to bring key industry players under the umbrella of the rules of racing. In the gun are professional tipsters/punters and form analysts. Bailey hopes the inquiry by Racing Integrity Commissioner Sal Perna will recommend providing stewards with those powers. "If you have people going to the races four or five times a week and making a living from that, why shouldn't that person be answerable to the rules?" Bailey asks.
Terry Bailey may want extra investigative powers but some of what he asks for seem ridiculous. Licensing professional tipsters and form analysts? Oh, gimme a break! What's next? Anyone who bets more than $1000 a race? Anyone who has a cuppa tea with a jockey? Wives and girlfriends? I suggest many people think Australia is over-governed right now - do we need racing stewards turned into licence-givers and two-bit detectives with far too much power? Let's hope the nonsense doesn't get out of hand.