SIR HENRY Cecil bade farewell to Frankel yesterday as the world’s best racehorse left his Warren Place stable in Newmarket to begin his new career as a stallion.
The four-year-old colt made the short journey to his birthplace Banstead Manor Stud where he will take up stallion duties in 2013.
“There is no doubt Frankel has been a brilliant racehorse. I am pretty certain that there has never been a better or more talented thoroughbred,” said Cecil.
“He had the speed to be a champion sprinter and then, once he grew up and settled, he got a distance with a turn of foot that makes champions.
“Today is a sad day in some ways for us as he has given us so much pleasure over the last three years.
“But I want to thank Frankel for so much – for being such a very special part of my career.”
Read More www-walesonline-co-uk/sports/racing-news/2012/11/09/horse-racing-frankel-leaves-warren-place-91466-32196890/#ixzz2BiFwE7cH
Dave Gibson says he's left with some unanswered questions after going through the final report on the future of horse racing in Ontario.
According to the horse racing industry transition panel, horse racing will still require public funding in order to survive without the Slots at Racetracks Program, set to end March 31. It's unclear where the money will come from and how much it's going to cost to keep the industry going.
The report also suggests reducing the number of race days to 800 -- approximately half of the current total -- and basing the purse totals on wagering to make the industry more customer-driven.
Mr. Gibson says with reduced purses and fewer race days, making a living in the industry is nearly impossible.
"What this whole thing is, basically, is we're going to bleed to death," he says. "We're going to be racing for less money and at the end of the day there's not going to be enough racing."
Mr. Gibson says he's spent some time going over the fine print, and in his opinion, the panel's suggestions aren't going to help industry workers.
"(The Province) discontinues the Slots at Racetracks program, then comes back to us and says we still have to find a way to fund this, but we don't know how," he says. "Nothing in this really makes sense to us."
Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal doesn't deny that public money is pivotal to the industry, but says the Province isn't setting a dollar value for funding until it consults with race track operators. According to MPP Leal, the Province will move forward on the issue quickly, encouraging every track operator to express interest if they'd like to continue racing.
In the report, the panel says investigations surrounding the investment of public dollars into the industry should focus on accountability, transparency, renewed customer focus and the return of each public dollar invested to government through tax revenues.
MPP Leal agrees.
"I've been very involved in this file," says MPP Leal, adding horse racing is especially important in several rural communities. "It's so important to get it right."
Getting it right, he says, means ensuring there is a way to follow public dollars through the system.
"We want to make sure we have a racing season in 2013," he says. "And 2013 is right around the corner."
While the end of the Slots at Racetracks program was announced last spring, the fate of the 450 slot machines at Kawartha Downs is still unknown.
The slots at each of Ontario's racetracks will go up for grabs to private operators some time after the program ends in the spring, but the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) says the process will take some time.
"We want to hear from municipalities," says Tony Bitonti, spokesperson for OLG.
Cavan Monaghan Township, home to Kawartha Downs, is one of 37 municipalities that have expressed interest in keeping slots facilities, or becoming new hosts, he says.
In the interim, OLG is a tenant at Kawartha Downs and any other tracks housing its slot machines. The OLG will negotiate short-term, transferable leases as private operators are chosen, says Mr. Bitonti, who adds the province could see slots snapped up by operators from across the world, but there are many Canadian gaming companies who could expand business.
"There are great American companies and there are great Canadian companies," says Mr. Bitonti, adding Great Canadian Gaming owns Georgian Downs and Flamboro Downs, along with a few casinos out west. "We just don't hear about them. . . we expect companies from Canada, the U.S. and Europe to bid."
MyKawartha Article: Horse racing still needs public funding: report
James Street, rallying with determination on the outside, collared pacesetter Patrioticandproud in deep stretch and went on to win the $153,937 Autumn Stakes Nov. 10 at Woodbine.
Ridden patiently by Patrick Husbands, James Street needed room while racing toward the inside on the far turn and was angled five wide for the stretch run after finding a seam. The Eugene Melnyk homebred came on late to win by a half length over Patrioticandproud, with Hotep third. The final time was 1:44.39 for the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack event.
City Wolf, the 2-1 favorite in the field of seven, was in position after stalking the pace into the stretch but gave way to finish sixth.
Trained by Josie Carroll, James Street, the second choice at odds of 5-2, earned his second win from five starts in 2012. The 5-year-old son of El Prado out of the winning Unbridled mare Alleynedale was third last time in the Durham Cup over the track Oct. 14. He finished 5 1/2 lengths behind Delegation and City Wolf.
Eurico Rosa da Silva had Patrioticandproud on the lead early as City Wolf, breaking from the far outside, applied some pressure. Patrioticandproud led the field through moderate quarter mile fractions of :24.73, :50.39, and 1:14.99 and into the stretch, but drifed out coming off the far turn. That opened room for Hotep along the inside and he came through to challenge as Alpha Bettor rallied on the outside.
But James Street, who had a ground-saving trip while stalking for most of the journey, was soon clear while five paths wide and had the leaders in his sights. He cruised to the front in full stride under a hand ride and appeared to be gearing down for Husbands in the last few jumps after taking control over Patrioticandproud.
Carroll was thrilled with the effort of the winner.
"He's a beautiful horse and the model of consistency," said Carroll. "He's just a horse that comes over and does his job every time."
The trainer admitted to being a little nervous as the field turned for home.
"Fortunately, he found some racing room late," said Carroll. "We were a little concerned as he came around the turn, but as soon as there was a hole, the horse just went for it."
Patrioticandproud was second by half a length over Hotep, ridden by Alex Solis. Alpha Bettor was fourth, followed by Maritimer, City Wolf, and Jomelo.
James Street, earning his first stakes win since taking the Seagram Cup in August 2011, improved to 6-4-3 in 20 starts. The bay horse boosted his earnings to $474,392.
Carrying 119 pounds, James Street paid $7.60, $4.10, and $2.80 and topped a $69.80 exacta. Three-year-old Patrioticandproud returned $8.60 and $4.70. Hotep, sixth in last year's Autumn, was $4.30 to show.
Due process became the most important phrase of the spring carnival. After all, it was due process that denied some jockeys from taking mounts after they were suspended for careless riding and had their appeals dismissed. Appeals are fast-tracked in Victoria to stop jockeys playing the system.
Due process also allowed Damien Oliver to ride two group 1 winners last week at Flemington, earning a $75,000 cut from the rides on Fiveandahalfstar and Happy Trails alone. It is hardly a fair world - if Oliver's reported confession to having bet $10,000 on a horse in a race in which he was riding is true. So, has he played the system?
Since before Caulfield Guineas day, Racing Victoria stewards knew they had a problem with jockeys betting. Allegedly, Oliver might not have been alone in his off-track activities.
There are other allegations involving Mark Zahra and the infamous Smoking Aces race. He continued to ride at the carnival.
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Oliver's alleged bet was at Moonee Valley in 2010. That was the year in which Danny Nikolic threw a mobile phone across the stewards' table on Oaks day in one of many fiery exchanges with chief steward Terry Bailey as part of a long-running investigation.
It is a truism in sport that those charged with enforcing the rules first have to have the respect of the players. Once they lose that, the rules become impossible to enforce. Ask any referee.
Nikolic was fined $10,000 and suspended for two months for his Oaks day outburst but the problems that have clouded this year's carnival have stemmed from that incident.
Racing Victoria integrity commissioner Sal Perna made two recommendations in a review of the long-running Nikolic case. The first adopted by Racing Victoria was "a policy or process requiring service of charges on jockeys regarding serious offences be done so with discretion and consideration of suitable time and place and, wherever possible, not on the same day of riding".
The second was "a policy or process be created where an inquiry is conducted into alleged or potential breaches for a serious offence that legal advice be obtained prior to the laying of the charges to ensure independent assessment of the strength of the case".
Nikolic didn't ride at the carnival after swift action was taken following another altercation between the chief steward and the jockey at Seymour on September 4. Nikolic is appealing against a two-year ban for threatening Bailey. But that has been a mere sideshow this spring. The main event has been Oliver. We know he is a champion jockey, but we will soon find out if he is also a crooked one.
For some reason, Oliver's case has been handled differently. Racing Victoria chief executive Ron Hines will explain why after the inquiry is complete in the next couple of weeks.
The officials' approach has meant that at this carnival you will do time, as you should, for a careless-riding charge and you will serve that time straight away at the richest time of the year. Ask Craig Williams how costly that can be - think Dunaden in the Cup last year.
But if you allegedly have a significant bet on another runner in a race you are riding in, you can get caught and ride on.
How will it look if Oliver is found guilty in coming weeks after logging another three group 1 wins while riding under this policy or ''due process''.
Oliver, however, was not given due process by Terry Henderson's OTI Racing syndicate when he was booted off My Quest For Peace in the Caulfield Cup or by Lloyd Williams, who replaced him on Green Moon.
Williams had booked the embattled jockey in the Cox Plate before the allegations were raised. Imagine if that booking had stood and he had kept the ride for the Melbourne Cup. If Oliver was stood down by stewards or Racing Victoria, which has been like the ambulance chasing the field in this matter, it probably would have ended up in the courts.
Would that have been a bad thing at the start of the spring? Certainly.
But more importantly and potentially worse is where the matter will finish.
Read more: Racing Victoria's take on due process leaves punters confused
Once again, racehorse trainers are threatening to disrupt racing and are calling for a CTL chairman to resign.
Yawn. I've heard this before. With their industry staring over a fiscal cliff, the trainers' resort is hoary histrionics. What's their beef this time? It seems CTL has implemented a new $20 per-stall-per-day charge to help offset maintenance-related expenses. The predictable revolt was instant and intense with Generalissimo Vin Edwards declaring he'll leave racing rather than pay the fee.
Promise, Vin? I hope so, because my opinion is your antagonistic approach to racetrack relations over the years has contributed significantly to racing's persistent decline. The industry now needs to unify around an agreed survival plan. If this can only happen after you leave racing, please don't let the door hit you on your way out. Perennial 'lock-it-down' threats have resolved nothing. It's time for a change. Better must come.
Let's try something new - facts. CTL's audited accounts for year ending March 31, 2012 contain the following 'Qualified Opinion' from KPMG:
"[CTL] continues to report losses and ... has significant net current liabilities and shareholders' net deficit. Continuation ... as a going concern may, therefore, be in doubt and appears to be dependent on obtaining continued financing and, ultimately, upon attaining profitable operations."
This is alarming from notoriously conservative chartered accountants. Its context is a balance sheet disclosing current assets of $169,326,000; value of property, plant and equipment at $365,847,000 (total assets $535,173,000); and current liabilities at $919,028,000. The combined effect of this is a $383,855,000 deficit (up 415 per cent from 2010-11's deficit of $92,530,000.00).
GLOOMIER PICTURE
But the reality is worse. Yes, worse than an asset/liabilities deficit increase of 415 per cent in one year. Closer examination reveals 60 per cent ($101,783,000) of the 'current assets' as 'accounts receivable'. Notes to the accounts (always the place to look for truth) reveal the accounts receivable breakdown as follows:
(1) Trade receivables, $61,012,000. This ginormous figure (for a company whose sole 'trade' is a cash operation) includes $57.5 million owed by OTBs (up 120 per cent from $26.1 million in 2010-11). This is untenable. How aged are these 'new receivables'? How does a cash operation allow that sort of receivables increase in one year? Are they collectible?
(2) Deposit, prepayments and other miscellaneous balances, $19,017,000.
(3) Bookmakers, broadcasting and publication rights fees, $24,951,000. So the illusion of a massive bookies rights fee increase is exposed. It's not being collected. Why? Is it collectible?
(4) Loan receivable of $6,877,000 being unsecured loans to Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) for TOBA's revolving-loan scheme.
(5) Of $111 million-plus total, only a $10,074,000 doubtful debt provision.
Sixty per cent of CTL's 'current assets' are dubious 'accounts receivable', which probably won't be received. So the asset/liability deficit is worse than it appears. Then, there's the small matter of $500 million owed as pool betting duty (and more than $173 million owed to the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries/Jamaica Racing commissions) because of what looks like an unprofessionally crafted arrangement in 2003 between CTL and the junior finance minister (JFM).
JFM wrote to CTL's chairman purporting to reduce the pool betting duty from seven per cent to two per cent and promising the requisite legislative changes. The law was never changed and doesn't permit waivers. The 2011-12 accounts alone add $144 million to the back tax owed on top of an operational loss of $146 million.
NO WHITE KNIGHT
This is the stark reality facing 'Big Joe' Matalon's new board. There's no government bailout, no white knight, no rescuer. Day-to-day operations can't immediately help. The clearest indicator of the fiscal crisis' urgency was the threatened first-time abandonment of the Caribbean Sprint Championship on an unsponsored Superstakes raceday despite five high-class entries. Eventually, three more entries rescued the race.
Trainers must recognise the life-or-death situation racing faces and decide what contribution they're prepared to make to secure their own livelihoods. Joe Matalon doesn't make his living from horse racing. Should racing collapse on a dump heap of uncollected manure and silly internecine squabbling, he'll return to his comfortable already-earned retirement. Meanwhile, if CTL continues in business, the directors do trainers a favour, since directors risk personal liability for any CTL debt incurred after receipt of this evidence of insolvency.
So, trainers, what'll it be? More finger-pointing? More blame games? What'll YOU do to rescue racing? Accept a purse cut? Or ask owners to pay the required stall fee to help clean up the mess their horses excrete? No, you can't phone a friend. No lifelines left. Final answer needed now.
Peace and love.
Life or death for horse racing? - Commentary - Jamaica Gleaner - Tuesday | November 13, 2012
Leading trainer Robert Smerdon has been smacked with a $10,000 fine by Racing Victoria stewards after being found guilty of negligence for treating his gelding Shewan horse on raceday.
A raid of Smerdon's Caulfield stables by Stewards Compliance Assurance member Dion Villela on the morning of Caulfield Cup day, October 20, and subsequent inspection of Smerdon's horses set to race at Caulfield that day, revealed fresh blood on the neck of Shewan which was photographed as evidence by Villela.
Smerdon, who pleaded not guilty, argued that the blood was the result of seepage following a standard treatment the day before, but Racing Victoria veterinary consultant Dr Brian Stewart said that it was highly unlikely that the presence of blood could result from an injection delivered 24 hours earlier.
"It's quite clear that the blood was fresh and that to me is pretty conclusive evidence that there has been a recent bleed," Stewart said.
The yearling sales are a period of great excitement for the virtual horse racing community at Digiturf-com because yearlings give everyone a head-start at the start of Digiturf-com's new virtual horse racing season which is worth $320,000 in sponsorships.
With $320,000 sponsorships at stake you can appreciate how competitive virtual horse racing is becoming at Digiturf-com. Yearlings offer trainers the competitive edge because they can be purchased and trained in anticipation of the new season when they turn two-years old. Best of all, yearlings get free food, stabling and training at Digiturf-com so it doesn't cost trainers a cent to prepare their yearlings for the lucrative sponsorships and competitive races that lie ahead of them in the next season which starts in December 2012. Yearlings have to be ready to hit the tracks running as fast as possible because unless your horses are racing they're not earning you any money. Nobody appreciates the fact that time is money better than a trainer at Digiturf-com.
The quickest way to start winning money from races is to get your horses racing from the first day of the season, and the quickest way to accomplish that is to buy and train your horses as yearlings ahead of the season. Trainers can buy their horses throughout the season but buying horses as yearlings gives them a strategic advantage. Digiturf-com is all about strategy because all of the 100,000 horse types with varying characteristics in Digiturf-com's Sales Ring have their own unique preferences for different tracks, distances and goings. Your job as a virtual trainer is to ascertain where those preferences lie. With over nine distances in America, England, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Dubai divided between turf and dirt tracks with six different goings you have 162 racing combinations to choose from - the challenge is deciding which ones are best for your horses.
Fortunately, to make it easier for you, Digiturf-com does tell you if your horse is best suited for grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3 races. From there you have to manage your horse's virtual horse racing career through its first maiden race, through the divisions, possibly detour through the allowance races, before tackling the more advanced level weight and WFA races. You might even consider reselling them through claiming races or in Digiturf-com's online auctions.
The ultimate prize would be to land a champion race horse that can compete in Digiturf-com's $79,000 seasonal Championship Series - that is where the real money is to be found in virtual horse racing. Throughout each four month season there's about $320,000 sponsorships available in the grade 1 races but the three day Championship Series is where you'll find the most lucrative races in virtual horse racing at Digiturf-com. It goes without saying that you need to earn your place in the Championship Series; but half the fun is getting there, the other half is the money you can win getting there!
Fancy yourself as a horseman but never had the budget, or inclination, to maintain an actual stable? Digiturf-com has one ready for you today. All you need to do is name your first horse and choose your silks (and it's free!) but we'll give you some free advice: with the Yearling Sale currently on, and yearlings being worth their weight in gold, now is the best time to buy horses at Digiturf-com!
Digiturf-com is a simulated online horse racing game where players develop their skills and strategies in owning, training and racing virtual horses against others from around the world. The horses are computer generated but the stakes are real.
Yearling sale starts new Digiturf-com season - ESPN
There was big news Thursday in horse racing, especially where the game pertains to betting, the multi-billion dollar engine that drives the sport.
The California Horse Racing Board approved rules at its meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park that will allow for exchange wagering in the state, as soon as early 2013. Exchange wagering gives gamblers the ability to bet against a horse, or to bet a horse will lose a race. The rules and regulations passed by the CHRB now will go to the state’s Office of Administrative Law for approval. There is expected to be legal challenges to exchange wagering. Owners and trainers have spoken out against the practice in the past.
Josh Rubinstein, the senior vice president of development for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, attended the meeting at Betfair Hollywood Park. He said the DMTC is in favor of the sport moving to exchange wagering.
“We (DMTC) are interested in looking at anything that helps horse racing and helps provide the first-class product that we put out at Del Mar,” Rubinstein said. “If exchange wagering is approved, we’ll look at it.”
As a way to expedite the process, the CHRB approved a provisional license application for Betfair-TVG to conduct exchange wagering.
“They granted a provisional license application for Betfair TVG assuming that the Office of Administrative Law approves the rules and regulations,” Rubinstein said. “They can’t approve a license if the rules and regs don’t allow for that wagering to occur. TVG Betfair will have the ability to conduct exchange wagering, but they need to find a willing partner in a racing association as well as the consent of a horsemen’s group like the Thoroughbred Owners of California. All those things need to happen, but this is a step in the right direction.”
Rubinstein described an example of exchange wagering.
“The easiest way I can describe it is take the Pacific Classic for example,” Rubinstein said of last year’s signature race at Del Mar that was won by Dullahan. “If I thought Game On Dude was going to win the Pacific Classic and you thought Game On Dude was not going to win the Pacific Classic, then the exchange operator would match us up. It would be in cyberspace, of course, but you would have all the other horses in the field, and I’d have Game On Dude. You would have won because Game On Dude didn’t win. If one person is backing the horse and thinks it’s going to win, and that’s how betting at the track is right now, then he bets on a horse to win. But the second piece, the exchange wagering, allows you to lay a horse, or get the rest of the field against that horse.”
Trainers like John Sadler have spoken out against exchange wagering. They feel there is a possibility for tainted races or inside cheating in the game.
“We want to take our time and due diligence on it,” Rubinstein said. “It is a new form of wagering. But it’s being used in Europe, places like the UK, Ireland, France. It is something that is popular overseas. Anything that grows the sport or brings new revenue into the sport, we’re interested in it.”
The state legislature approved exchange wagering in 2010, pending the development of rules by the racing board. Betfair-TVG and Twinspires-com applied for provisional licenses, but Betfair-TVG was the only one chosen. Twinspires-com likely will apply for a provisional license later.
There is a cost involved, but the state legislature stipulated in 2010 that the company winning the bid to conduct exchange wagering must cover the costs, estimated at more than half a million dollars to pay for computer hardware, software and staff training. Betfair-Hollywood said it would take a few months to set up for exchange wagering.
Exchange wagering approved by state horse racing board
IT SEEMS the racing world is falling apart. Alleged drug use, a continuing list of betting scandals and heated clashes are forever attached to the legacy of the 2012 spring carnival and, with no Black Caviar to hide behind, horse racing's many ills have been laid bare like never before.
Heads, some of them famous, will roll and so they should. Wrong-doers, both licensed and not, will pay the price for their actions or indeed inaction and so they should. The racing game will be held to public examination and, in all likelihood, to ridicule over the next few months as offenders are dealt with. The saying of ''no pain, no gain'' is apt but even more so is the observation that while pain is necessary, suffering is optional.
Many in racing fear that such far-reaching scandals will do irreparable damage to the sport's image, but the rusty wheels of justice are turning again and so the ugly process racing now faces may indeed cleanse the industry rather than smear it. Done right, this almighty sweep of the broom can set racing up for a new golden era, where all participants play by the rules and where full disclosure is demanded from officials.
Putting aside the grand deeds of Black Caviar in the first half of the year, at a glance, 2012 has been an annus horribilis for horse racing in this country.
Read more: Spring Carnival | darkest days could bring a new dawn
THE Competition Tribunal has approved two related transactions that will ultimately put horseracing and tote betting in the Western Cape under the management of Phumelela Gaming and Leisure.
The approval is on condition that no merger-specific retrenchments take place within two years of the date of the transaction.
Phumelela currently administers racing in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape and provides tote betting services in all the provinces except KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, where Gold Circle is active.
As a result of the new arrangements, Phumelela will control tote betting in eight of the country's nine provinces.
The deal involves the assets and operations of Western Cape racing first being sold to Kenilworth Racing, a Cape-based organisation controlled by an association of racehorse owners and members of the Western Province Regional Racing Association.
All shares in Kenilworth Racing will then be sold to the Thoroughbred Horseracing Trust. The trust is a non-profit organisation created to promote the interests of everybody affected by the sport in South Africa. Its only source of revenue comes from its 35.26% shareholding in Phumelela.
The Competition Commission blocked the deal on March 19, saying it was likely to place Phumelela in a position to close down bookmakers and would lead to a deterioration in the quality of horseracing events, which would negatively affect owners, trainers, jockeys and racing enthusiasts.
Kenilworth Racing and the Thoroughbred Horseracing Trust then requested the tribunal consider the ruling, asking that it approve both mergers without conditions.
The tribunal found it was unlikely that the transaction would substantially lessen competition in the horseracing operations and sports betting markets. Since racing enthusiasts and horses rarely travel to other provinces to attend races, each province is essentially its own monopoly. Allowing the deal to go ahead makes nothing worse - one monopolist is simply being changed for another.
As regards the tote betting aspect of the deal, Phumelela is already the country's leading tote operator and currently operates the tote in the Western Cape under Gold Circle's licence. The deal going ahead will therefore have little effect on the competitiveness of the gambling industry.
The tribunal's full reasoning regarding competition consequences will follow "in due course" and it remains to be seen whether the Competition Commission will appeal the tribunal's ruling.
Phumelela CEO Rian du Plessis on Thursday commended the tribunal on its decision and said approval for the mergers would enable energetic action to be taken to return Western Cape horseracing to profitability.
The transaction is still subject to approval by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board.
* This article was first published in Sunday Times: Business Times
Another of John Hales’ army of greys handed Paul Nicholls the last of jumping racing’s major prizes to have eluded him as Al Ferof took the starring role in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday.
Back in April, Hales’ Neptune Collonges had broken the champion trainer’s duck in the Grand National and he has always been keen to chalk off the first serious prize of the new National Hunt season.
It was also another rare omission from Ruby Walsh’s CV and, as ever, he proved the calmest man in a stormy big handicap, keeping the 8-1 chance safe from danger and driving him away from the stubborn Walkon to prevail by two lengths.
Largely seen over two miles when a novice last season, the second top-weight Al Ferof was fourth in the Arkle Trophy at the Festival when the stable was under a cloud.
“He must be a good horse,” said Nicholls.“He came in late because he cut himself in the field, but he had a gallop at Wincanton last weekend and went really well.
“I don’t think my horses were right last season, and he’s one of the six-year-olds that are improving.
“We’ll have to think about Kempton (King George VI Chase) now.”
Hales has experienced several devastating moments in his racing life, such as the death of the great One Man, and his Nicholls-trained grey Granit Jack losing his life when apparently going well in this very race five years ago.
He said: “That was a stunning performance, as good as from any horse I have owned.
“The rain concerned me, I wasn’t as confident for I thought it was going to be difficult to give weight away to horses like Grands Crus.
“I think we have decided we will go to the King George now, and he is a horse that we are going to have to look after.”
Sponsors William Hill price Al Ferof at 7-1 to follow his peerless and now-retired stablemate Kauto Star in the King George on Boxing Day, while Walsh said: “You need a bit of class in this race, which is why we were keen to take a chance. In fairness to him we were forcing him at two (miles). Stepping up in trip is probably what we should be doing.
“He hasn’t run since Aintree, turned up with 11st 8lb on his back and does it – but he is a class horse.”
Grands Crus, one of the best hopes of David Pipe, was 7-4 favourite but was eventually pulled up before the second-last along with Hunt Ball for owner Anthony Knott.
The latter’s trainer, Keiran Burke, blamed the soft ground while Pipe said of Grands Crus: “Tom (Scudamore) just said he wasn’t really ever that happy with him, he lost a near-fore plate but no excuses, we’ll get him home and see.
“He had his heart checked afterwards and that was fine, he’s in one piece and far worse things happen. I don’t think the ground was to blame, he’s handled very soft ground before.”
Meanwhile, Olofi was finally rewarded for a string of solid efforts in valuable handicaps when he took the Racing Post Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Tom George’s 8-1 grey galloped two-and- a-half lengths clear of Cash And Go.
It had not been a straightforward race for Paddy Brennan, whose patience has been regularly tested by Olofi, but he escaped being penned in by Bothy approaching the final flight before clearing away.
Horse racing: Nicholls ends wait for Gold Cup glory - Racing Headlines - Yorkshire Evening Post
One of Auckland's most picturesque horse races has been stopped in its tracks just one week out from the start line.
The Karekare Horse Races, scheduled to take place this Saturday, have been postponed until March because of a lack of entries. The event is a vital fundraiser for the West Auckland community. Last year's race raised more than $15,000 for the surf club and schools.
"It's the first time in the event's 27-year history that it was scheduled to be held in spring, and the timing proved unpopular," organiser Caroline Grove said.
She said they didn't want to run the event with few entries.
''Unfortunately, clashing horse events, the lead-up to Christmas and some regular entries deciding their horses lacked condition after the winter led to the decision.''
The Karekare resident hopes the lack of entries is not a signal of the demise of beach horse racing.
''Holding horse races on the beach has long been a classic part of New Zealand life, yet it's getting harder to watch or participate in such events. It's important to get behind it and the community will be making a concerted effort to ensure the race is even bigger and better come March.''
Karekare Horse Races committee member Kim Conway is hoping to get 12 entrants for the revised event.
Conway said the event, which was established by her horse-training father Clyde Conway, is the only one of its kind still running in Auckland.
''It started in Waiheke when they needed to have a fundraiser and it worked so well they decided to replicate it here,'' she said. ''And when you team it up with Karekare's backdrop, it's pretty fabulous.''
She said the date of the races was dependent on getting a low tide and organisers have found a perfect day on March 23.
It will feature the races for hacks and ponies as well as food and craft stalls operated by community members.
''It's a whole-beach festival,'' she said.
Karekare Horse Races Postponed Due To Lack Of Entries... | Stuff.co.nz
The star Anglo-Italian - the three-times Champion Jockey who has 943 wins to his name, including 110 Group Ones - tested positive on September 16 at the end of the preparatory weekend at Longchamps.
He had competed in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, the Prix Gladiateur, the Prix Foy and the Prix Vermeille, amongst others, without a win.
A few weeks later, Dettori and Sheikh Mohammed, owner of the blue silks of Godolphin stables, announced the end of 18 fruitful years working together.
Pickings have been slim in 2012 for Dettori and there is a looming crisis. He has won only 51 times in 398 races and, above all, only three Group One wins. He has won an average of 10 per season for 10 years.
The Milan native has not had such a mediocre season since 2000, when his plane crashed between Newmarket and Goodwood and brought him within a hair’s breadth of death.
France Galop, which carried out the test on Dettori, is yet to announce the type of substance found in the jockey's urine, although it is reported to have been cocaine.
Dettori has history with the drug. In 1993, he was arrested leaving Wembley Stadium after the League Cup final between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in possession of cocaine. At the time, the worthy successor to Lester Piggott in the affections of British fans escaped with a warning for his transgression.
After more than 14,000 races in 14 countries, the 41-year-old, whose retirement is rumoured to be imminent, could suffer a more severe punishment, which would usher his career towards an end little-worthy of his performances.
Frankie Dettori has put his hands up and accepted that he will be banned at a forthcoming hearing before the disciplinary committee of France-Galop.
The findings of the French racing authority's medical committee at Dettori's drugs inquiry on Tuesday, which lasted more than two hours, have, as expected, been passed to the disciplinary committee.
Dettori is reported to be now preparing himself for the imposition of a global suspension at a second hearing on a date still to be fixed, but which is thought likely to be early December.
The three-man medical committee ruled that Dettori should be stripped of the medical clearance that enables all jockeys to apply for their licence, pending the outcome of the forthcoming disciplinary committee inquiry.
In effect, it means that he is unable to ride in France – he had absolutely no intention of doing so, in any case – from yesterday.
French racing authorities forwarded Dettori's case file to the disciplinary stewards and issued a press release reporting that the Italian was now unable to ride in France.
His name is listed under the heading 'Penalties Jockeys', with the accompanying comment that it is on the advice of the medical committee.
The France-Galop statement said: "Following yesterday's examination of the file and after having duly notified the jockey Lanfranco Dettori of its decision, the medical committee has temporarily suspended the said jockey from riding in races in France, based on medical grounds.
"According to article 143 of the Rules of Racing, the medical committee's report has been passed on to the France-Galop stewards. The stewards will be studying the file within the next fortnight before deciding what action will be taken."
In a statement issued yesterday by the jockey's solicitor Christopher Stewart-Moore, the tone was unmistakably contrite. The statement read: "Mr Dettori is very grateful for the opportunity to address the committee. He accepts without reservation the recommendations of the medical committee.
"Once the stewards make their decision he will make a full statement but is unable to do so until such time as that final decision is announced."
The fact that Dettori's file has been sent on to a higher level of authority and that his licence in France has been withdrawn is an indication that the medical committee was satisfied with the accuracy of the tests carried out on the jockey in a random swoop at Longchamp on September 16. It also indicates that the prohibited substance discovered in Dettori's sample is such that a penalty should be imposed.
Dettori gave his evidence to the medical committee on Tuesday by telephone in a conference call and his legal team have indicated that he is likely to apply for a similar facility at the second hearing.
Dettori now awaits the conclusion to the case that has come as an untimely embarrassment. He has been used to hitting the headlines throughout his successful career, but ever since he accepted the ride on the Aidan O'Brien-trained Camelot in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe in early October, he has been the centre of attention.
The fact that he took that ride for Coolmore was seen by many as a sign of an imminent split with Godolphin, his employers for 18 years, and that was confirmed shortly afterwards when both sides stated that the relationship was "not working out".
Contrite Dettori expecting global ban - Horse Racing, Sport - Independent.ie
John 'Shark' Hanlon, whose Bagenalstown stable is struggling to emerge from a slump that has lasted all year, will head to Gowran Park tomorrow confident that Hidden Cyclone will earn a tilt at Leopardstown's Lexus Chase on December 28.
So far in 2012, Hanlon – a larger-than-life former cattle dealer whose star rose rapidly when he began having runners just five years ago, has saddled four domestic winners. At the same juncture in 2011 – he had amassed a total of 36 in Ireland and England.
Through all the disappointment, however, Hidden Cyclone, an old-fashioned chasing sort, has been a beacon of hope.
In 10 career starts, his only two defeats came in hot graded events that were won by Sir Des Champs and First Lieutenant, and he began a campaign that has his popular handler dreaming of Cheltenham Gold Cup glory with a comprehensive triumph in the Poplar Chase at Naas three weeks ago.
"He came out of his last run perfect and I've been very happy with him since," Hanlon said of the seven-year-old that he has thus far avoided the lure of Prestbury Park with, but is now a 33/1 shot to claim the game's showpiece event there in March.
The going at Gowran is currently heavy but if the forecast for light showers in the area over the next couple days proves accurate, the meeting should survive.
The weekend has the potential to further boost the trainer's fortunes if the mud-loving Ardglen, third in the Cork Grand National recently, makes the cut for Sunday's Troytown Chase a Navan.
Yesterday's meeting at Thurles fell after 23mm of overnight rain left the track waterlogged. A replacement hurdle and bumper fixture is scheduled for this day week, which will follow a card consisting solely of chases next Thursday.
Meanwhile, six horses tackle tomorrow's Betfair Chase at Haydock. Long Run, runner-up to Kauto Star in the Grade One 12 months ago, is the 11/8 favourite to go one better, with the Ruby Walsh-ridden Silviniaco Conti next best at 9/4 and last term's shock Gold Cup runner-up The Giant Bolster a 7/1 shot.
There is a touch of 'Hamlet' without the prince about today's Betfair Chase.
Kauto Star will parade at Haydock this afternoon and a statue will be unveiled in his honour at the Liverpool venue this morning – but still, it won't be quite the same without him.
Since 2006, the iconic dual Gold Cup hero has missed the first English Grade One of the season just once, bringing the house down by crushing Long Run from the front for a stirring fourth victory last year.
Both return now, but, regardless of the outcome of the race, you can be certain that it is the 12-year-old retiree that will receive the loudest ovation of the day.
Generally considered the natural heir to Kauto Star's crown following two sensational victories in the King George VI Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup the season before last, Long Run now has lots to prove. In short, he looked woefully sluggish throughout last term.
cost
Until Best Mate, Kauto Star and Denman came along, this corner always held the view that winning a Gold Cup came at a cost. Long Run's subsequent performances seemed to reaffirm that theory, as he laboured badly even when Nicky Henderson's team carried all before it.
Most notably, in March, despite displaying a determined attitude, he failed to retain his title in the worst edition of the Prestbury Park showpiece since Cool Dawn clambered home in 1998.
Third in the end, today he is re-opposed by the shock runner-up The Giant Bolster. While that one isn't feared, at skinny odds, Long Run is opposable in heavy going that may not suit.
At around 9/4, Silviniaco Conti is the best option with which to take him on. Weird Al is a live threat, with a fantastic record first time out, not to mention a confirmed preference for the sort of testing ground he will encounter here. Nonetheless, at nine years of age, he may be vulnerable to a more progressive rival and Paul Nicholls' runner is that.
Disappointing at times as novice, the Dom Alco six-year-old came good in style at Aintree in April. He backed that up with a comprehensive victory over this three-mile trip on his reappearance in the Charlie Hall Chase, a 21-length margin over Time For Rupert comparing favourably to Weird Al's three-and-a-half length verdict over the same horse a year earlier.
Whether or not Silviniaco Conti can develop into a genuine Gold Cup prospect remains to be seen, but, as a race-fit improver that is in-form, uncomplicated and proven at the trip, he has matured into a viable alternative to Long Run here.
The one concern is that he has never encountered such heavy going before, but his sire's progeny tend to handle it perfectly well. Moreover, with Ruby Walsh up, he has the right man aboard to navigate a way through it.
At Ascot, Henderson's Finian's Rainbow looks a more solid market leader in the Amlin Chase under Barry Geraghty. On a line through Wishfull Thinking, though, he doesn't have as much in hand with For Non Stop as that one's price of around 7/2 would suggest.
When hosing up in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on his reappearance, For Non Stop slammed Wishfull Thinking by 23 lengths. Granted, he was receiving weight, but it was as comprehensive a beating as any Finian's Rainbow has doled out to the same horse.
With Wishfull Thinking doing as much as he could for the form by justifying short odds at Cheltenham last week, the race-fit For Non Stop isn't without a chance of toppling the Champion Chase victor. Nick William's seven-year-old is still on an upward curve, he goes on soft ground and has the assistance of the excellent Noel Fehily to boot.
Toubab also appeals in the two-mile handicap chase. Champion Court, second to Sir Des Champs at Cheltenham and Silviniaco Conti at Aintree, is the one to beat, but may have its work cut out to concede 12lbs to Nicholls' potentially well-handicapped horse.
A Sandown winner in February, Toubab finished second to Sprinter Sacre at Aintree last time.
Progressive Conti looks right for Ruby - Horse Racing, Sport - Independent.ie
Jump racing began searching in earnest yesterday for the next Gold Cup winner as well as a new sponsor for the Grand National – two not entirely unrelated events given that last season's Gold Cup winner Synchronised was fatally injured while running loose in the National.
There will be plenty who left Haydock in the gloom last night in the belief that the first part of that quest had been answered by Paul Nicholls after his Silviniaco Conti had made all to win the Betfair Chase by two and a half lengths from Long Run. The winner is now 6/1 second favourite for Cheltenham in March with Ladbrokes who make Sir Des Champs, another Ruby Walsh mount, the 5/1 favourite.
Walsh was masterful on Silviniaco Conti in giving Nicholls a fifth Betfair Chase to go with the four won by Kauto Star. With no one else keen to go on he controlled the race from the start. Nicholls has always regarded the rapidly improving six-year-old as a stayer but it was at the back of Walsh's mind that he had won an Ascot Hurdle over two and a half miles and he reckoned if he turned it into a sprint nothing would beat him.
That is pretty much what happened. Long Run did not help himself pulling for a mile and a half but he jumped much better when the tempo quickened and Silviniaco Conti, though never looking like he would get beat, could never quite shake off the tenacious 2011 Gold Cup winner.
It was a good return for Sam Waley-Cohen's mount. He is now 3/1 favourite for the King George and it would be a brave man to write him off winning another Gold Cup. The Giant Bolster, runner-up in last season's Gold Cup, ran a very good race in third until tiring at the last.
Nicholls was understandably delighted with Silviniaco Conti. "Kauto won this aged six and the Gold Cup aged seven," he said. "Although we've avoided Cheltenham so far I'd have no worries about that and because he's very, very good fresh I wouldn't mind if he went straight there without another run." He added: "We tried to make him a Champion Hurdler which he wasn't but like Al Ferof he's improved this year. Ruby knows him well and there's no better judge of the pace from the front but in a race like the Gold Cup he'd better in behind with a stronger pace."
An answer to the question of which multi-national company will put its name to the Grand National may not be quite so forthcoming after John Smith's announced that they will not renew their contract which expires with the 2013 race in March.
They were adamant, after nine years, that they were withdrawing purely for commercial reasons rather than the bad publicity the race has generated in the last two years or that it is almost certain to attract a smaller television audience when it moves to Channel 4. Of course it should be remembered that in 2010, when AP McCoy won it on Don't Push It, it is doubtful the race's stock had ever been higher in its history.
John Baker, Aintree's new boss, is confident a new sponsor will be found. "In the case of John Smith's they signed up in the November before their first National so we have a year but ideally we'd like to introduce someone to the meeting in April," he said.
"Martell sponsored it for 20 years, John Smith's will have done nine, it's an opportunity that doesn't come round very often and it is still the only horserace than transcends racing."
Nicholls' new star shows Gold Cup class in Betfair - Horse Racing, Sport - Independent.ie
SILVINIACO Conti proved himself a worthy heir to incredible Kauto Star as he produced a spring-heeled display to win the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls announced last month the legendary steeplechaser had run the last race of a breathtaking career that included five King Georges, a brace of Cheltenham Gold Cups and four wins in this Grade One event on Merseyside.
While it is fanciful to believe Silviniaco Conti can reach those heights, the six-year-old leapt to second-favouritism for the Gold Cup with most firms under a typically well judged front-running ride from Ruby Walsh, to leave Nicholls beaming from ear to ear.
The runners were led down to the start by the 12-year-old Kauto Star and his faithful head lad Clifford Baker, receiving great applause from the Haydock crowd.
It was clear from when the tapes dropped no-one was overly keen to make the running, so Walsh let his mount set what was a fairly sedate gallop for the first circuit.
The 7-4 chance injected a deal of pace into the race heading down the back straight for the second time, however, and some fast and accurate jumping kept him in charge.
Long Run, the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner who was left chasing Kauto Star’s shadow here 12 months ago, travelled with more zest on this occasion and was right on the leader’s tail turning in.
But Charlie Hall Chase hero Silviniaco Conti continued to pour it on in front and galloped all the way to the line after the final fence to beat the favourite by two-and-a-half lengths.
The Giant Bolster just held on to third spot from Weird Al.
Nicholls said: “He is a really decent horse. He’s only six, he jumps, he stays – he jumped brilliantly today.
“We had a chat before the race and I said if they go quick get a lead, if they don’t then bowl along. He jumps and gallops.
“There’s no better man to ride in front than Ruby.”
Nicholls revealed he may not even run again between now and next March.
“I said if he won today we’d go for the Gold Cup and that is the plan. You couldn’t leave him in his box on Gold Cup day after that performance,” he said.
“I’m not going to rush him and I might go straight to the Gold Cup with him. I’m not going to run him in the mud.”
Read more: Wales Online www-walesonline-co-uk/sports/racing-news/2012/11/26/horse-racing-haydock-glory-for-silviniaco-conti-91466-32304203/#ixzz2DJY5u4ku
Loyal Leader, a 5-year-old thoroughbred, had not run well in his last two races at Finger Lakes Casino & Racetrack. On June 21 he went into his third race in a month as a 25-to-1 long shot.
For each race, the New York-bred gelding was injected with furosemide, a diuretic known as Lasix that can control exercise-induced respiratory bleeding in horses — a common malady for race horses — and thus improve performance. The horse was also given banamine, a legal anti-inflammatory that critics say also can mask injury, at the request of his trainer.
Loyal Leader didn’t make it far on that 90-degree day under clear blue skies. He broke his front right leg before the midway point of the race, was taken off the track in the equine ambulance and euthanized. His was among 637 equine deaths at New York’s 11 racetracks between 2009 and early November, a review of state records by Gannett’s Albany Bureau found.
New York saw a 30 percent increase in horse deaths on its tracks between 2009 and 2011. The number of deaths grew from 127 in 2009 to 165 in 2011; it spiked in 2010 at 209 deaths.
At Finger Lakes in Farmington, the on-track death rate rose a staggering 87.5 percent in both 2010 and 2011 when compared with 2008. On-track breakdowns in racing and training accounted for 45 deaths in 2010 and again in 2011. That’s after a total of 24 in 2008.
Local track officials and horsemen say there was not one definitive reason for the increase, but that it was likely a combination of factors including, but not limited to, racing surface, weather, horses with pre-existing problems and bad luck.
The officials would like to believe the measures they took to confront the problem are a big reason why the breakdown rate has dropped dramatically this year: 12 race and nine training deaths. Read More: www-democratandchronicle-com/article/20121125/NEWS01/311250020/Horse-racing-Finger-Lakes-Casino-Racetrack
Georgia voters should decide whether betting on horse racing should be legal, the chairman of a Senate committee studying the issue said Tuesday, but there are many furlongs to be run before tracks could open in the state.
“I don’t think you can get more transparent than that,” Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, said after Tuesday’s inaugural meeting of the Study Committee on Horse Racing.
The panel heard testimony for nearly two hours, although in that time only one opponent signed up to speak. The committee cannot advance legislation, and took no votes, but its findings could influence the debate once lawmakers return to session in January.
Supporters have tried for years to gain traction on a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow wagering on horse races. That focus has largely been in the House, however, where Rep. Harry Geisinger, R-Roswell, has led efforts. His proposals, however, have never gotten a vote, largely over concerns expressed by Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and others that horse racing could lead to casino gambling and casinos have not been included in the discussion.
That is not an issue in this case, supporters of the Senate effort said Tuesday, because they do not want casino gambling, only pari-mutuel wagering on horse races.
Tom Schulte of the Georgia Horse Racing Coalition, a group formed to advocate for the referendum, said 43 states now allow pari-mutuel betting and 36 states have live horse racing. He quoted a Georgia State University study that estimated the state could gain $50 million in a year in revenues from the industry, plus additional payroll and sales taxes.
Sen. Hardie Davis, D-Augusta, asked Schulte to be sure those revenues would not include money from casino gambling.
“Obviously, what we’re hearing is that we want to do everything possible to not involve casino gambling in this proposition,” Davis said.
Schulte: “That’s a non-starter from our perspective.”
Further burnishing the referendum’s chances was a poll presented by Mark Rountree of Landmark Communications, a major local Republican pollster. Rountree said a poll he conducted in February for the Georgia Horse Racing Coalition found 72 percent of more than 1,000 active voters support holding a referendum.
But Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, who said he currently opposes the referendum, noted that the poll did not ask whether voters would support the referendum if horse racing bleeds revenue from the lottery-funded HOPE scholarship. Nor did it ask if voters would support it if it led to other types of gambling.
Ligon and others worry that another form of legalized gambling would siphon money away from the Georgia Lottery and thereby take money from HOPE, which is already suffering losses.
Eric Cochling, vice president of the Georgia Family Council, the lone opponent to speak Tuesday, said his group has no problem with horses, breeders or jobs. Their concern, Cochling said, is that the horse-racing industry nationally has seen decreasing revenues and that has led to the need to expand gambling to prop up track revenues.
“Once you have the horse-racing industry, you then have an entire constituency built up,” Cochling said. “Those folks are the ones you’ll be hearing from next time for the legalization of gambling.”
The proposed referendum, which would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Legislature to reach the 2014 ballot, is still considered a long shot. Ralston has not supported it. Gov. Nathan Deal has said he opposes expanding gambling in the state, although the governor’s signature is not required to put the question to voters.
Key senator backs horse-racing referendum | www-ajc-com
The four-year-old colt made the short journey to his birthplace Banstead Manor Stud where he will take up stallion duties in 2013.
“There is no doubt Frankel has been a brilliant racehorse. I am pretty certain that there has never been a better or more talented thoroughbred,” said Cecil.
“He had the speed to be a champion sprinter and then, once he grew up and settled, he got a distance with a turn of foot that makes champions.
“Today is a sad day in some ways for us as he has given us so much pleasure over the last three years.
“But I want to thank Frankel for so much – for being such a very special part of my career.”
Read More www-walesonline-co-uk/sports/racing-news/2012/11/09/horse-racing-frankel-leaves-warren-place-91466-32196890/#ixzz2BiFwE7cH