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In light of their own complicity in the transgression of the rules,does the decision look correct or merely expedient?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ … 21,00.html
Had a more rustic character(e.g Joe Janiak) finished close to the winner and agitated for an enquiry on the grounds of Baeur competing with an advantage expressly forbidden under the rules,RVL were dead to rights.Cumani need not be thankful for Lloyd Williams,having simply followed official advice,but they might consider a trainer’s licence application from their "saviour" more favourably at some future date.
The fact that the result of a stewards enquiry was handled by the RVL chief executive hardly indicates a seperation between them and the board.The former’s role is to police racing and the latter’s is to optmize economic performance(as taken from their website).
This is a disgrace.
Not Bauer getting some treatment, but the blatant pomme / Irish bashing by this Ken Callander chap.
Is this bloke for real?
If a British journalist wrote something like that he’d get the sack!
Painting Aussie racing as whiter than white and Europeans as cheats.
Has he forgotten about Takeover Target getting a massive boost of steroids?
Is it not the fault of Aussie vets in both Takeover Target and Bauer’s case?
Mark
The Ginger WingerValue Is EverythingCan’t help but feel that there is more to this than a genuine grievance about rules being broken; do the Australians actually welcome horses from other parts of the world contesting their race or do they just want to keep it to themselves? I may be wrong but I’ve always felt that we in England love having horses come from all over the world to contest our races and celebrate their victories alongside our own..or am I seeing things in a different light to others?
K C view:
"That the inquiry is going ahead shows Australia leads the way in world racing. If you come to Australia you are very welcome, but you must abide by our rules.
Drugs are allowed to be used in the United States, in England pacemakers are permitted and in Ireland those pacemakers, when their job is done, are allowed to interfere with other runners while they let the "pea” gain an inside run.
By carpeting a high quality import – who was a drawcard for our greatest race – and who is trained by one of the world’s most high profile trainers, shows Australia is fair dinkum about ensuring a good old Aussie fair go.
If you come to Australia to race you are very welcome, but you must abide by our rules. Stand by for more. It will make great reading."
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KC, pity your Australian colleagues do not know the rules, even when directly asked, and rules have been set for which transgressions are totally undetectable unless a hapless vet employed by the racing authority eventually puts in a bill to the racing authority with the incriminating data actually written on it. The rules were broken and Bauer should have been disqualified if the rules were applied. Far from ever "being carpeted" the rules were not even applied as the authorities would be taken to Court and lose, plus have to compensate the runners up denied one place of prizemoney. So it suited that a cowardly blind eye was turned towards the rules.
We also had one of their hopeless top stooges at the Fallon trial – they lead the world in bulls..t more like.A more interesting take on the decision.
This is the same narcissistic Kenny Callendar who waved the white flag to the Europeans for the Melbourne Cup.
The sooner I get out of this second-class turd-polishing wasteland of Australian racing, the better.
Not really the patriotic kind I am, eh?
Have sent a comment to this Daily Telegraph.
Ken Callander’s hype of the Bauer incident portrays English / Irish as cheats. Pacemakers are NOT allowed to interfere with others in Ireland.
Does KC believe Cumani used this prohibited massage treatment deliberately? After being told by a Royal Victoria vet massage treatment was valid medication. KC wants a film made of Takeover Target’s career. How will it cover the 2006 Hong Kong scandal? Seems hypocritical to extol the virtues of the Aussie taxi driver. Does KC think the wonderful Mr Janiak deliberately tried to boost Takeover Target’s performance in Hong Kong? Tests reportedly revealed a banned steroid accidentally injected in to a ligament rather than muscle (careless).The Ginger Winger
Hampshire
EnglandWonder if they’ll use it.
Value Is EverythingThis is the same narcissistic Kenny Callendar who waved the white flag to the Europeans for the Melbourne Cup.
The sooner I get out of this second-class turd-polishing wasteland of Australian racing, the better.
Not really the patriotic kind I am, eh?
Mark Read has summed up the difference in what can be achieved in modernity ie Hong Kong and what Oz and to some extent USA and UK (in spite of encouraging BHA efforts) actually get.
How does someone get to be as ignorant as V’Landys and actually remain employed?"Go Racing Hong Kong
By Mark ReadIf you want to get involved in the most exciting and punter friendly
racing in the world, then Hong Kong racing is for you! Hong Kong is the
pinnacle of the racing world and the benchmark, for all other racing
nations. In a word Hong Kong racing is HOT – glamorous, seductive,
bountiful and yet sophisticated and classy. Nothing else competes.Hong Kong races 80 meetings per year, September – June. Each race day is
a World Cup event. The best horse trainers and the best jockeys from all
over the globe fiercely compete for supremacy in Hong Kong. What has
evolved is a model mimicking Formula One motor racing where teams of
trainers and jockeys create formidable combinations to rival the most
famous in world racing history. Intense rivalry of
Ferrari/Williams/McLaren proportions is replicated at the Sha Tin and
Happy Valley amphitheatres. Nine times Hong Kong champion jockey, South
African Douglas Whyte and Australia’s John Size are premiers but this
year Darren Beadman has driven the John Moore stable into current
supremacy (John Moore is the son of Australia’s most successful post-war
jockey, "Cotton Fingers" George Moore who later dominated the Hong Kong
training premiership for a dozen years). This pedigree never accepts
running second. Australian’s plays a very strong hand with the dynamic
combination of trainer David Hall and jockey Brett Prebble, still
regularly landing plunges they were famous for in Melbourne.
Alternatively when Brett Prebble combines with Tony Cruz, Hong Kong’s
equivalent to George Moore, no force is more respected by Hong Kong
punters.Programming of racing in Hong Kong is unlike any other racing nation in
this world. Racing is conducted on both dirt and turf tracks at the same
race meetings. Variety is the spice as the two venues are poles apart in
track layout. This adds to the intrigue and skill-set of horse and
jockey required to win. The racing surfaces are remarkably constant
employing absolute best practice of course maintenance in the racing
world. Happy Valley races on Wednesday nights surrounded by a galaxy of
twinkling lights slap bang in the middle of downtown Hong Kong. It’s
small, loud and always "house full" just like the funkiest nightclub.
Sha Tin in the New Territories has the space of Paris’ Longchamp – it’s
a splendid copy that rivals the elegance of the original but with value
added modern technology.There is no greater spectacle than watching master horsemen executing
tactical ploys over various courses and distances. Racing fans are in
awe of the mastery of Douglas Whyte who has found a level beyond
excellence to defy the guile and famous timing of Darren Beadman.
However preoccupation with this duel leaves both vulnerable to the youth
and power of Brett Prebble or the flamboyance of Olivier Doloueze. Then
when the Belgium ace Khristoff Soumillon arrives in the Chinese New Year
bringing his supreme confidence encroaching on justifiable arrogance –
you have a competition so testing of art, nerve, imagination and ego it
is compelling to watch the replays ten times over. No drudgery here in
doing post race form! This glorious and intense competition is true
Sport – the business of wagering is an optional, tasty bi-product, but
why not indulge as the locals certainly do.Like the jockey’s the competition of bloodstock and their trainers is
truly inter-continental. A World Cup of competing nations progressively
reinvents week by week, season by season fuelled by contributing racing
nations of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Singapore,
England, Ireland, Germany, France and North and South America. Hong Kong
selectively recruits the finest to be tested in racing’s greatest
showground.Hong Kong has the most efficient, fair and easily understood rating and
handicapping system in the world. This means an equitable sharing of
prize money to all owners not just to an elite class who can dominate by
weight of numbers. Prize money is distributed equitably from the lowest
class through to the highest to effect a cost of training/prize-money
ratio to make ownership both attractive and viable. The population of
horses is measured and controlled to satisfy the requirement of optimum
field size of fourteen competitors at Sha Tin and twelve at Happy Valley
each race. This is a planned racing economy limiting the greed,
inefficiency and ignorance that is the blight of Australian racing which
in some sectors, most notably New South Wales, is reduced to such
mediocrity its future is threatened.The Hong Kong Jockey Club insists its Stewards conduct the cleanest of
races and supervise a strict code of ethics through all facets of the
sport and wagering industry. Hong Kong recruits only the world’s best
racing officials using their experience to mentor local administrators
with the highest priority given to the preservation of integrity and
punter satisfaction. All players investing on Hong Kong racing are able
to do so with total confidence knowing that the trainers, jockeys,
bloodstock and stewardship are all 5- star international class. The Hong
Kong Jockey Club has nurtured an elevated code of conduct and excellence
that demands adherence and has been rewarded with emerging home-grown
professionals proving to be highly competent at these lofty levels. The
fact that so many Australian jockeys in the last twenty years have been
sent packing out of Asia because of breaches of local integrity
standards reflects a culture of ignorance and denial in Australia of
today’s required professionalism. The insensitive and arrogant handling
of the Chris Munce case by New South Wales Racing confirms in Asian
minds the hypocrisy of Australian racing officialdom who for a quarter
of a century patronized and censured their Asian peers on flawed
integrity. Unfortunately Australia is fast becoming the home for
discards both human and equine while Hong Kong continually recruits the
cream of each new crop.Welcome, is the only way to describe anybody looking to become involved
in Hong Kong race wagering. Hong Kong makes its racing sport and
wagering industry easily accessible to first time visitors, providing
free high quality information from a multitude of website links. Go to
http://www.hkjc.com <http> to witness the information model
that Australian racing bodies must follow. User friendly, cutting edge,
interactive media technology provides comprehensive information
including all track work and barrier trials on video with commentary,
all swimming details, all veterinary treatments and all relevant
statistics with value added magazine material.. Go to
http://www.horseracing.com.hk <http> for an example
of a high quality independent website available providing all form and
analytical information that a punter could want. If on search you
access a Chinese website to get the local "griff" you will find what you
want as all websites have language converters.Unfortunately, we find the stark contrast in attitude and culture
displayed by the Australian racing hierarchy. RISA, the Australian
racing industry’s information resource administered by Racing NSW seeks
to charge every potential participating player for the most basic
information, with little if any value added services. Racing media
coverage through television and printed media in Hong Kong is of the
highest standards and scope. Hong Kong racing administration is held
accountable by a demanding informed public. There is a vital independent
press sector that the Hong Kong Jockey Club monopoly cannot control. In
contrast the Tabcorp/racing industry joint venture in the major States
has strangled one of the greatest assets of Australian racing – a
fiercely independent and provocative press corps.Looking at the wagering perspective the Hong Kong Jockey Club
continually invests in systems to support a range of exotic pool
products which provide value for punters and a high return to the club.
Australian punters will be staggered to learn that Quinella betting
pools are typically three times bigger than the win only betting pool.
Even more exotic wagering options are overwhelmingly popular especially
jackpot betting available through bet types such as the Triple Trio
(three trifectas on three selected races in a single pool) and the Six
Up (a pick six of the last six races in a single pool). Returns are akin
to winning a lottery but the product is still skill based and is
attractive to lottery punters and big syndicates alike. These products
provide a constant promotional vehicle to both old and new customers.The more possible outcomes to an event, the higher take can be taken
from the pool without diluting punter value. The Hong Kong Jockey Club
has been successful in the education and promotion of exotic betting to
achieve this desired outcome. The mathematics of a complex
interdependent bet type creates value for punters not available in
simple win and place betting. The uncompetitive high cost to the punter
of totalizator win/place was recognized by the HKJC resulting in an
initiative to offer a 10% discount for premium players over the last two
seasons. This sector of the wagering market had been lost to wagering on
soccer which offered far more competitive pricing. It’s no accident that
the game of choice for Asians in casinos is Baccarat which has the
smallest house margin. At the National Racing Conference in Sydney this
week the keynote speaker Peter V’Landys, Chief Executive of NSW Racing, told the assembly that wagering providers must change their business model and charge the consumer more because after all the "punter doesn’tknow the difference whether you are taking 4% or 14% out of his dollar".[/color:i2nl1pvt]How is it then that betting on NSW racing with its small fields is in a
nosedive? The answer is that the punter appreciates that in a seven
runner field he is betting against a house margin of 2% per possible
outcome versus a 14 horse field where the house margin is 1% per
possible outcome. In NSW TAB the punters protest is a march out of NSW
racing into Victoria and Queensland racing products. The policy makers
seem blind. Sadly too many just don’t know or are too arrogant to ask.Tabcorp, the racing industry’s betting agent and the other pillar of the
racing industry joint venture has shown an inability to increase race
wagering interest and turnover since privatization and its record is
living proof that it does not understand betting value for punters.
Unlike the Hong Kong Jockey Club which administers its own wagering
agenda the Tabcorp agency has given low priority to capital expenditure
in betting systems that can support and promote advanced exotic betting.
The unmistaken priority has been in gaming which has resulted in Tabcorp
emerging from the racing industry’s wagering agent to being a major
competitor in the gaming sector through a massive investment in casinos
funded by the massive benefits of its exclusive franchise. One has to
wonder at Tabcorp’s agenda. The continual dumbing down of racing as an
intellectual wagering product to a pseudo gaming product based on
quantity not quality has the character of roulette racing. After the
first decade of privatization it became pretty clear that the tail was
wagging the dog. The transformation is now complete and the betting
agent has ascended above the principal in scale and influence. The
racing industry’s apathy and ignorance in allowing this to happen has a
legacy which threatens its future viability. If Tabcorp was serious
about promoting wagering they would have at the very least copied the
successful Hong Kong wagering models and exploited their exclusive
marketing and media franchise to educate the Australian market out of
win and place betting into value exotic betting. The fact it did not
means Tabcorp is either dumb on wagering or has had another agenda.
Tabcorp continues to manage the business with a mindset that growth in
wagering revenue can only come from increasing the number of races.Next Sunday we can enjoy the international colour and promotion when the
HKJC hosts an International race week attracting the best of the best
which is what the global audience now demands. In its evolution the HKJC
has continually poached the best Australia had in totalizator systems
developers, horsemen, bloodstock and administrators. The recipe was
further enhanced with other expertise from all sides of the globe and
the unique entrepreneurship which is indigenous to Hong Kong. Hong Kong
racing has left Australia in its wake. Now Australia must learn from
Hong Kong.Personally my sporting interest in racing has migrated to Hong Kong.
Australian racing, except for its carnivals, has lost me as an avid fan.
In frustration I jumped ship two years ago and found my passion
reignited for all things racing condensed into the user friendly package
that Hong Kong racing is. Come racing Hong Kong and experience again at
any of its 80 race dates what racing in Australia was twenty five years
ago every race day and now revived only on a few major event days.END"
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