THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

(Source: MOB)

They really should consider renaming Randwick’’s new Theatre of the Horse, the Theatre of the Absurd after the events of this week pertaining to the grossly tiresome coverage of the dust up between John Singleton and the Waterhouse family.

(Source: News.com.au)

It was and is like a film noire version of “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” and no one knowing who was playing the Sidney Poitier role.

(Source: Wiki)

The Stewards inquiry should have been held at the Theatre of the Horse aka the Theatre of the absurd at Randwick and not at Racing NSW’ headquarters at Druitt Street. It would have been the more appropriate venue by far and which would have brought back memories of Monty Python to many- and Fawlty Towers.

(Source: The Writing Baron)

The name calling, the insults, the rumour and innuendo by the cast representing Sydney’’s so called racing royalty was just too fucking pathetic for words. If this is racing royalty, then bring on the racing republican bowel movement. And they wonder why racing has become irrelevant, and why it is FUCKED?

(Source: Comics Reporter)

Buried somewhere in another week of shame for the racing industry are some critical issues, which sadly will be glossed over deliberately by the powers that be- issues which are crucial to restoring the confidence of those that matter- – the politicians and legislators, the community and vitally important and highly influential and successful lobby groups, and the racing industry itself.

For an industry whose integrity is grasping for oxygen and whose image is almost at levels which challenge restoration, the More Joyous inquiry was, and is no longer a soap opera. Racing NSW, through its Integrity department and chief Ray Murrihy, and through its Board and management and executive has a unique and unparalleled opportunity to implement a blueprint to restructure the rules of racing and demonstrate that the NSW racing industry is capable and serious about righting the many wrongs that have underscored the demise of racing and the crisis of confidence that has plagued the racing industry.

(Source: Daily Telegraph)

For too long, NSW racing has allowed too many form reversals to go unexplained. When trainers have been called in to provide explanations, they have read from the same hymn book providing the same excuses which even a simpleton with the lowest IQ would know just doesn’t stack up.

(Source: Photo Bucket)

There is absolutely no respect for the rules of racing among its participants. The rules are meant to be broken, or worked around. The medication rules are an absolute farce. Full Stop. If More Joyous had heat in her neck, and that in itself is a separate story, on the Thursday before she was scheduled to race and had to be treated with antibiotics on the race eve on Friday, why and how in heaven’s name was it not reported to stewards?

(Source: SOD Ahead)

Forget the bullshit about whether it was relevant or not. The bottom line was that More Joyous obviously had a health issue which required veterinary treatment on race eve sufficient enough to raise doubts both in the stable and on the racing grapevine to suggest that she was a massive risk in the race- – a risk that clearly favoured the satchel swingers and their corporate mates, irrespective of whether her problems were common knowledge or not.

And yes, we all know after she raced and finished second last that she just could not have won the race.

It matters not whether the veterinarians gave her the green light to take her place in the race, that is all they could do. Was she capable of winning? Clearly not. And the punters, who seem to have been treated with contempt and continue to be kept in the dark about both health issues and form reversals, are again the losers. And let’s get one thing clear: wagering on thoroughbred racing is declining at an alarming rate.

It is easy to blame the economy and avoid shooting the messenger, isn’t it?

Stewards and racing administrations have got it right with their obsession to eliminate drug cheats from racing. No problem with that. Go as hard as you can to rid the industry of drug cheats.

But, and this is where the whole integrity of racing has a gaping hole in its consistency: go equally hard at race fixing and plug the loopholes that enable full disclosure to be avoided.

Sydney racing is plagued with consistent examples of form reversals, of lesser credentialed stablemates beating the more fancied who often drift in the betting while the eventual winner, be it the stablemate or best backed to win the race, invariably salutes. And there are always excuses or reasons for the “unexplained failures”, aren’t they?

(Source: Michigan Zone)

Week in week, week out, there are some very, very dodgy rides on short priced drifting favourites. Sure there are form analysts and form experts whom often correctly identify horses who are either “over” or “under” the odds. But what about the ones that even leave the expert analysts tearing their hair out? Let’s use the More Joyous case as an example.

(Source: Punters Paradise)

According to evidence provided by Singo at the inquiry, his form analyst declared More Joyous a good thing, so much so that Singo contemplated having a $100,000 on her to win. That is until he heard the “Chinese whispers” which may or may not have been embellished, that she was “off”.

(Source: Req Test)

Now had Singo’’s form analyst known that all was not well with the mare, he may have revised his analysis of the race. Is it any wonder Singo went into meltdown, irrespective of whether he had consumed several yard arms of amber fluid or not? No, it does not excuse his public spray of Gai Waterhouse in the confines of the “theatre of the absurd”. It was a bad Tara Reid moment.

(Source: Brisbane Times)

If Racing NSW is serious about transparency and fixing up the mess, then it must stop spinning with all the platitudes that are spewing out of the mouth of its Chief Executive and impose penalties that will hurt and will send a clear message that racing not only expects, but demands transparency and disclosure.

Then again, where IS the Chief Executive and The Not So Great One in all this mess? They are the Invisible Men. Or Dumb and Dumber.

(Source: Daily Telegraph)

It matters little whether a horse has been given the green light to race, if it has been treated for an ailment or for an injury on the eve of a race then the racing public has a right to know.

What they do with that information in terms of their wagering decision is then entirely up to them

After all, why do we make it mandatory for trainers to inform gear changes and the application of particular types of gear on horses? Presumably to keep punters better informed.

NSW racing has been brought into disrepute by this whole sorry saga. Reputations have been damaged, some irrevocably, and some deservedly, the sins of the past have come back to haunt some of the major players in this saga.

Brands have been trashed, But it is the one vital sector in racing- – the sector which keeps underpinning the financial health of racing that has been treated with contempt – and that is the punter.

Racing has turned its maltreatment of the punter and mismanagement of its relationship with punters into a virtual art form.

It pays lip service to disclosure and transparency, preferring instead to hire spin doctors at grossly usurious hourly rates to deliberately “spin” their way out of crises and protect their incompetence and failure to act decisively or worse to cover-up these deficiencies or rorts.

(Source: English Blog)

There are no winners out of this sordid More Joyous saga, only losers. Every member of the cast is a loser, but more importantly, racing is the loser, at a time when it can ill afford another unwanted potential scandal and headline grabber for all the wrong reasons.

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FIX THE RACE FIXERS

(Source: Cartoon Stock)

The ogre and stench of race fixing in Australian racing just won’t go away. This time it is the turn of the wild west – with the integrity of Perth racing under the spotlight following a letter to WA’s peak racing body Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA) identifying five races since December 2012, which the author alleges the outcomes of which were manipulated by “Eastern States betting syndicates with 10 WA jockeys on the payroll”, according to a story in the West Australian newspaper by reporter Gary Adshead under the dramatic headline “Informer Outlines Race Fixing”.

(Source: Brian Heasley)

According to Adshead’’s story, the West Australian newspaper had obtained a copy of the letter, which makes some sensational allegations, not unlike similar allegations published by the Fairfax and News Limited media in Melbourne over the past year relating to race fixing in that State.

Adshead alludes to speculation identifying the author as possibly being a jockey.

““The past 12 to 18 months in WA, racing has been the worst I have ever known for race manipulation, I should know as I have been directly involved”,” the letter allegedly states.

It goes on further to describe the betting syndicates as “well oiled machines” that used teams of jockeys to set up wins for horses that have been the target of significant betting plunges”.

The letter even goes on describe a particular method used by the syndicates to organize jockeys to allow a horse which naturally leads out in a race to stay in front and win. Adshead reports that “in one example given, the price for the horse shortened significantly before the start and the horse was a surprise winner.

(Source: Cartoon Stock)

Interestingly, according to Adshead, the letter identifies races which have been fixed along with warnings by the author that if its contents and allegations were not investigated by RWWA they would be referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission. “

“The information that I have accumulated isn’t just the races that have been fixed, I also have the list of individuals and the mobile telephone numbers associated with most of those individuals”,” the letter alleges.

(Source: Tickle The Wire)

RWWA Chief Executive Richard Burt responded with a straight bat, and according to the West Australian stated that the allegations were taken seriously and investigated by an expert panel which found no evidence to substantiate the claims after studying video evidence of the races.

“We treated it at the highest level and believe the claims are inaccurate. We would argue the races were in accordance with the rules of racing”, he is quoted as telling the West Australian.

However in the report, Burt is said to have acknowledged the role of whistleblowers in racing and to committing more resources to protect the integrity of WA racing.

(Source: Media Freedom International)

For the integrity and public perception and standing of racing these types of allegations of race fixing are recurring on a regular basis. They are “too close for comfort”.

Sure, racing has always had its dark side. It has always had its own “underbelly”. The difference is that today’’s society and environment has a much lower degree of tolerance to match and race fixing and all forms of corruption in sport.

(Source: Urban Pundits)

Just ask the questions of cricket, soccer, athletics, cycling, the AFL, the NRL. Need to any further?

As difficult as it might be to prove that a horse or horses are “pulled up” or “not allowed to run on their merits”, racing authorities must throw the necessary resources – manpower, technology and the necessary regulatory and legislative changes to stamp out what clearly can and is taking place on racetracks and in racing.

It is a lot easier to test for drugs in horses than it is to nail a jockey or jockeys for race fixing.

The rumours and allegations about race fixing are far too strong to be ignored or swept under the carpet.

(Source: Deadly Clear)

If racing authorities are serious about a level playing field, then they must extend that level playing field from trainers to jockeys.

The pint sized wascals have continued to fly under the radar for too long. It’s time to apply the blow torch to the belly of some of these low lifes who should be driven out of the industry.

(Source: Copy Cat Effect)

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YOU’RE “OFF”, ANDREW JOHNS!

(Source: News.com.au)

One of the most irritating aspects of the More Joyous saga has been the involvement of NRL legend (and we use the word very, very advisedly!) Andrew Johns.

Andrew’s evidence next week at the stewards inquiry is shaping up as one of the most important pieces of the jigsaw that has emerged out of this saga.

(Source: Wiki)

It would be fair to say that if Johns had refrained from big noting himself and repeating bits and pieces of a conversation had with Tom Waterhouse to a gaggle of his mates, this whole saga and the stench surrounding it would have avoided- particularly as it appears Johns is in overdrive retracting what he allegedly claimed he was told by Tom Waterhouse, or to use Singo’’s words, that he might have embellished what Tom Waterhouse told him about More Joyous’ health and winning chances in the All Aged Stakes last Saturday week.

(Source: I Want Closure)

It all centres around the use of the word “off” by Andrew Johns and which he attributed to Tom Waterhouse, in a conversation the two had relating to the chances of More Joyous in the race. Now pleading, as Johns’ good mate and prominent rugby league commentator Ray “Rabbit” Warren has that Johns may not have fully understood the context of the word “off” as it applies in racing, are just bunkum.

(Source: DVDs Release Dates)

Andrew Johns should and does understand racing. He has owned racehorses, mixes in racing circles regularly, has a stack of close racing mates and is known to have a bet.

So it is more than a bit rich for “ Warren to mount such a feeble defence.

Andrew, what don’’t you fucking understand if one of your mates told you a horse was “off” in a race? We know most NRL players are simpletons- – all brawn and no brain, but give us a break.

(Source: Wikia)

Perhaps being a rugby league commentator is a tad out of your depth. You might be better off working as a doorman at your mate Eddie Hayson’’s famous Sydney brothel.

(Source: 2 Oceans Vibe)