Dogs

Pride Of Jenni set for 2025 Australian Cup before Via Sistina showdown www.racenet.com.au Superstar Pride Of Jenni is on a collision course with Australia's best racehorse — Cox Plate champion and horse of the year elect Via Sistina. A victory on Saturday in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington could seal the blockbuster showdown in Sydney next month. Passionate owner Tony Ottobre has confirmed ambitions for Pride Of Jenni to defend her Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) crown on April 12 at Randwick.   Laurie Sainsbury - Last 28 Days • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Pride Of Jenni, who must perform in the Australian Cup to book the trip north, won the Queen Elizabeth last year by a record 8.3 lengths. The comeback queen marked her return to racing in style with victory in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) last start at Caulfield. Ottobre retired Pride Of Jenni last spring after a bleed in the Champions Mile at Flemington but the three-time Group 1 and All-Star Mile winner thrived so much during the would-be retirement that Ottobre sent her back to trainer Ciaron Maher. Maher initially had the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf (1500m), restricted to fillies and mares, circled as an option in Sydney but Pride Of Jenni's progress warranted loftier ambitions in the Australian Cup and Queen Elizabeth. "If she performs well in the Australian Cup I can't see why we wouldn't go there (Queen Elizabeth)," Ottobre said. "It would be a great race to see, her up against Via Sistina." Pride Of Jenni has remarkably posted career peak training metrics since the comeback. "She has come back better and she is better," Ottobre said. "Her demeanour is much calmer as well, which gives her a bit extra to finish races with instead of burning up that little bit of energy. "She's furnished into a really nice horse and this is her peak now. Amazing to say, as a seven-year-old mare, she's peaking." • ‘I'll be clear, it's not good enough': Kylie Rogers' plan to future-proof Flemington Maher has a stranglehold on Australian Cup betting with Pride Of Jenni ($2.50), Middle Earth ($4.50) and Light Infantry Man ($7) the top three in the pre-nominations market. Godolphin Group 1 mare Zardozi ($7), runner-up in the Peter Young last start, and Flemington specialist Atishu ($8), trained by Chris Waller, make up the top five in early betting. "It's probably an easier race (Australian Cup) because most of the good horses are up in Sydney," Ottobre said. "A bonus for us, similar to the Peter Young, there was only one horse (Zardozi) there we needed to beat I think and she did that well. Pride Of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre (right) and jockey Craig Newitt celebrate their Peter Young Stakes success at Caulfield earlier this month. Picture: George Sal / Racing Photos • ‘Such a bloody shame': The reason behind The Valley's pattern, deterioration on William Reid Stakes day "She was a little bit underdone going into (the Peter Young) and we did think we'll treat this as a trial as well as a race — $300,000 cheque (first prize) thank you very much. "All her stats and all her figures are as good as ever … she's actually in pristine condition for a seven-year-old." Pride Of Jenni led in trademark style last start under jockey Craig Newitt but raced within herself. "Normally over that distance the first 800m she'd be off like a rocket, that's what she used to do," Ottobre said. "It will be interesting to see her racing over the next few weeks. It will be fun."

I have, somewhere, photos of W

Geez Cardinal Network brings back some memories - some good some bad.  They had the best Christmas parties at Christchurch HQ I've ever ever been to.  

Yep. Handy run the first day too from memory. Knew her a bit then.

Changes to the way Incorporated Societies are set up and financial reporting requirements have changed under the new Act.  These changes are about to be enforced progressively over the next 12 months. If you read the Wellington Racing Club Annual Report you won't be particularly enlightened about the profitability of the Club as there are essentially only two line items in the financial accounts - a fee paid to RACE for administration ($64k) and revenue from RACE of $723k which is essentially a dividen share from RACE's operations.  A third figure is preseneted which is the Equity share of the WRC in RACE - approximately $16m which is roughly equivalent to Awapuni's (Manawatu Racing Club) equity share. The RACE annual report does NOT individually give a breakdown of the profit and loss, operating costs and revenue of each of the shareholder clubs other than a table of the three figures mentioned above e.g. the fee paid to RACE, the dividend received from RACE and the movements in the Equity share. Arguably the way the individual Clubs financials are presented do not meet the regulatory financial reporting standards.  With pressure mounting to remove the tax free status of Incorporated Societies coupled with the new reporting standards perhaps we will see the some cracks occur in the RACE structure.  At the very least improved transparency. What is clear there doesn't seem to be enough equity between all the RACE clubs to build a new track.   RACE_Inc (1).pdf WRC_Accounts (1).pdf