BOAY Racing News

By Jonny Turner  Matthew Williamson is hoping to make up the difference on day two of the Southern Surge at Invercargill on Sunday.  Day one at Winton last week was a case of close but not quite close enough for the Oamaru trainer, who racked up plenty of top-five finishes with his team. With the move to Ascot Park and some key draw upgrades, Williamson is hopeful he can land some of the boosted winning stakes on offer during the series this week. Judging by his Winton effort He’s No Romeo is in a position to do just that.  The pacer raced wide throughout his Winton run after starting from a tough draw in barrier 13. But on Sunday, He’s No Romeo faces a much different prospect from barrier 4 around the tighter-turning Invercargill track. “His run at Winton was great, he didn’t get too many favours but he kept running on well.” “From a better draw this week he would have to be a nice each way chance.” “He has come through that last run quite well and we look to have a few options early, too.” Mack Pack lands the same draw he ran third from at Winton last week in barrier 7. The pacer burnt early before fighting on well to run third. While no better off this week, he’s no worse off either. “His run last week was good too, he seems to have lifted his game lately and got better with more racing.” “He can get off the gate as he showed last week, so the draw shouldn’t be too much of a worry for him.” “If he gets a bit of luck he should be a nice chance.” Draws are not so much of an issue for Majic N The Port, who will attempt to break her maiden in Sunday’s opener. What is much more crucial is her tyres staying pumped up. “She got a flat tyre last week when she ran second, so it was a handy effort.” “The manners will be the key to her, if she does everything right she’s probably as good of a chance as any in there.” Landing the ace draw should only aid the chances of Sargent Best on Sunday. The pacer got a long way off the pace at Winton, but should settle much handier this week. “He has shown when he gets the right run in this grade he’s pretty competitive, so he would have to be a top 4 show.” Flying Bird also gets the chance to land handy and boost her form for the Williamson stable on Sunday. Mighty Miki is one pacer among the Williamson squad that swings to a tough draw in barrier 14, while Mr Cash Man meets a similar field to the one he ran fifth in at Winton last week.  Cody Banner looks the best chance of Williamson’s three outside drives at Ascot Park. Though the trotter is fresh up against race-hardened opposition, he has faced tougher fields in the past. To see Sunday’s fields click here  View the full article

Do you believe there will be a sports betting boost, based on what I see I'd be surprised, irrespective of that the money sports organisation's get is very significant, the large punters won't migrate to TAB unless they update the platform, there are also concerns about pokie money slowly drying up with people playing online, awkward times indeed. Many curse gambling but without it many up shit creek.

Sometimes @Gammalite I don't know if you or @the galah actually read what is posted. I'll day it again one more time.  The quantum of the non-compliamce by ENTAIN is nowhere near the same as Star Entertainment.  The quantum of any penalty will reflect that disparity.  ENTAIN may very well get what SportsBet have got and that is enforceable action to remedy flaws in their monitoring systems. You have no idea whether they do or don't.  However a public company finds it very hard to hide cash if not impossible.  AUSTRAC have done a thorough investigation just as they have with every other organisation they have investigated. I just don't get why you want to slag ENTAIN. FFS read what I have said the penalty matches the quantum of the non-compliance. $45m is not a lot off the bottom line when your profit is AUD$2.1 billion!!! As I've said before ENTAIN may not even get a financial penalty.  But it certainly will be less than $400m and close to $45m.  TABCORP had 105 breaches (Entain 17) as well as credit card fraud. SportsBet had one individual whose turnover was more than the NZTAB annual turnover and the money was funnelled out of Hong Kong.  

There was already money allocated in the budget for track infrastructure. I might add that $10m would barely fix one track.

Captains Run split his more fancied rivals Jesko and West Coast in last week’s Koral Steeplechase (4250m) at Riccarton, and trainer Dan O’Leary is hoping he can go one better in Saturday’s Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase (5600m). The 10-year-old gelding led the field into the home straight in last week’s feature, and he looked to have his rivals in plenty of trouble until Jesko drew level when jumping the final fence, and he continued his momentum to score by three lengths over the Marton jumper. O’Leary was thrilled with Captains Run’s performance, and he said his gelding has thrived in the interim. “We were rapt, it was a really good run,” he said. “He has come through the run very well and he has worked well this week. I think he has taken a lot of improvement out of that race. I think he is in really good order.” Captains Run has been a model of consistency over the bigger fences, winning one and placing in 10 of his 13 Steeplechase starts, including back-to-back runner-up performances in the Great Northern Steeplechase (6500m) and finishing third in last year’s Grand National Steeplechase. However, a prestige jumps title has remained elusive, something O’Leary is looking to rectify this weekend. Captains Run will be joined in Saturday’s showpiece by stablemate Te Kahu, who finished fifth in the Koral Steeplechase. It was the 12-year-old gelding’s first steeplechase test this year and O’Leary said he has taken immense benefit from the run. “In the first steeplechase (this preparation) he over raced slightly,” O’Leary said. “He has improved a lot as well this week, but he has a lot of ground to make up to be competitive.” Te Kahu has a strong jumping CV, having won four races over the bigger fences, including the Great Northern Steeplechase (6200m) and Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m), and placed in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4200m) and both of his starts in Australia – the Mosstrooper Steeplechase (3500m) and WC and AC Miller Steeplechase (3800m). Captains Run is currently the third elect with TAB bookmakers for the Grand National Steeplechase at $7.50, behind Jesko ($1.65) and West Coast ($3.50), while Te Kahu is rated a $17 winning chance. View the full article