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getting back to craig rail. taylor strong has reported craig rail will sign off as a southern caller after the gore gallops on sunday. "i will go back to see my mum and dad,north of melbourne and then decide what i will do'.."i love the job and have come in contact with a lot of lovely people" i looked at some old articles on rail,he started off race calling in queensland and lived there most of his life until harness racing victoria emplyed him full time to call just the victorian harness meetings ,which he did for 15 years.Apparently he had to travel long distances to call the victorian trots,but said he loved his job there. sounds like he may have moved here as southland seems to have been where his wife was from. His wife,tracey ,passed away in may 2023.She was a highly regarded member of the southland greyhound club and worked in the kennels and as a judge.I think her brothers were greyhound trainers in invercargill, anyways,it must be hard for anyone losing a job that they are still good at.Being a race caller,its not as if you can go down the road and apply for another job race calling.The life of a commentator can be full of highs,but obviously its a very competitive job and you can be tossed to the side when you become surplus to requirements. Why hasn't HRNZ acknowledged his contribution?. Surely they should have..Rail ,as are all commentators ,are high profile people within the industry. theres a bloke who has dedicated his life to harness racing and hrnz hasn't even thanked him for his service to the industry as yet. i wonder whats next for Rail.Obviously he doesn't sound like he knows what nor where he will choose to live yet.thats life,who really knows whats around the corner. -
Looks strong today too. High clearance rate. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
It is that time of year when stars of Hong Kong’s racecourses take centre stage, which means that now is as good a time as any to take a look at several names that stand out from the crowd. There are three equine icons that define racing in Hong Kong: the one who lifted our spirits, the one who is a local hero and the one who conquered global riches. More than just a horse Walking into Sha Tin Racecourse, visitors are greeted by a life-size bronze statue that makes the importance of one horse...View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The extent of Hawthorne Race Course's financial troubles, and with it the enormous ramifications for industry stakeholders in the state, were made glaringly clear during Wednesday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting. On Monday, the racing board suspended the operating license of Suburban Downs, Inc., which manages Hawthorne's harness meet, for “failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity, and proof that they can meet the minimum standards” as outlined in state law. According to representatives from the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association (IHHA) who attended Wednesday's meeting, Hawthorne–which is owned and operated by the Carey family–is responsible for more than $580,000 in bounced checks between some 66 individuals in recent months. With the 2026 Thoroughbred meet scheduled to begin March 29, representatives from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) detailed both the sense of urgency with which they're seeking assurances from Hawthorne the meet can go ahead, as well as the consequences if it doesn't. The ITHA alone is apparently owed around $600,000 from Hawthorne for payments dating back seven months. “There's a very good chance that the last horse race in the Chicago area has been raced. Ever. Imagine that,” said ITHA executive director David McCaffrey. “Washington Park. Arlington. Maywood. There's a very good chance that it could be over.” Rather than offer concrete assurances over a Thoroughbred meet this year, representatives from Hawthorne asked the commissioners and the attending stakeholders to put their trust in a vaguely detailed sense of optimism that a last-minute deal over the next few weeks could be cobbled together. Specifics surrounding this alleged deal were in short supply. Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey was scheduled to provide an update for the commission. He pulled out before Wednesday's meeting. In his place sat John Walsh, Hawthorne's assistant general manager. “For the optimistic part of things, we have moved in a different direction in the last month and a half as far as getting these casinos and racinos up and running,” said Walsh. “We're working with a new partner, someone nearby, someone interested in Illinois and Illinois racing, who really wants all of this to succeed and move quickly,” said Walsh. “Whatever's going to happen is going to happen in the next two or three weeks.” The racing board did not ask about the identity of this alleged partner nor any substantive details about the purported deal. Walsh did not offer this information up voluntarily either. At the same time, Walsh strongly suggested that if this alleged deal cannot come to fruition by Feb. 16–when the facility would need to switch over operations from harness racing to Thoroughbreds–Hawthorne's 2026 Thoroughbred meet would be effectively over. “We will have something in place by that date… or we don't,” said Walsh. “If we don't turn over the track, I'm sure Tim will contact the board and just say where he is. But I just know things have to be done by then [Feb. 16]. They will be done. They have to be done.” In 2019, the state granted Hawthorne the go-ahead to convert its old grandstand into a casino. Since then, nothing concrete has materialized on that possibility despite repeated promises to the contrary by track operators. Indeed, ITHA president Chris Block voiced during Wednesday's meeting what he described as “growing alarm” through the years “over Hawthorne's delays finalizing a deal to open and operate this casino. “Amidst those delays, we've seen the precipitous decline of racing in Hawthorne. In 2021, we had 909 horses on the backstretch. Last summer, we peaked at 635. A drop of nearly 30%. Just five years ago, Thoroughbred purses in Northern Illinois totaled $19.27 million. Last year, we ran for $8.6 million. A drop of more than 50%,” Block said. And why should the industry trust that this time things will be different? “When I say I'm optimistic, I think everything is going the right way,” said Walsh, who described himself as a natural pessimist. “At our February meeting, if we have one, I'll be here and I'll be smiling.” The next scheduled IRB meeting is in March. Peppered throughout the meeting were glimpses into the sheer scale of Hawthorne's financial mismanagement, and the toll it's having on the horsemen and women facing economic dire straits. “We have some trainers in the audience that aren't eating because they're feeding the horses first,” said one Standardbred trainer during the public comment period. “The horsemen who depend on Hawthorne for their livelihoods, who have not been paid since before Christmas, deserve to hear directly from the person responsible for that,” said Jeff Davis, the IHHA president, noting Tim Carey's failure to appear at the meeting. “His absence I think is disrespectful not only to the horsemen but to you as a board,” Davis said, adding that there are some $414,000 in state funds “that remain inaccessible in Hawthorne's frozen accounts.” During his presentation, Davis explained how he had just learned “Churchill Downs obtained a judgment against Hawthorne Race Course in December for $1.64 million.” He added: “I'm not an attorney, but it was a judgment based on confession, they called it, which means they weren't, Hawthorne wasn't fighting that. They admitted it. And they owe it.” Walsh appeared to refute Davis's assertions, but his response raised more questions than it answered. “As far as the Churchill Downs settlement, it's not correct. There hasn't been a settlement. We haven't paid anybody anything. And the amount is not quite correct. It's much lower,” said Walsh. Pressed by one of the commissioners, Walsh explained how he and other Hawthorne employees–like the clerks and security personnel–had continued to receive their salaries during this time. The banks, he said, were deciding seniority of payments. “I'm never good with these. I'm never very good with speaking in public. However, I want to assure the horsemen that Hawthorne, its employees and the Carey family are disgusted by this turn of events. It was unexpected–Hawthorne would never decide to write checks that didn't go through,” Walsh said, at the opening of his remarks. In a press release Monday, the racing board stated that it would consider reinstating the licenses of Suburban Downs, Inc. should they “cure the violations and provide documentation demonstrating they meet the minimum standards, including but not limited to its financial integrity, under the Act and rules contained in Title 11 of the Illinois Administrative Code.” Block voiced his fears that the financial turmoil that has roiled the current harness meet at Hawthorne will bleed over into this year's scheduled Thoroughbred meet, if indeed it goes ahead. “We want to race this year at Hawthorne. All our horsemen are looking forward to it. Only, I hope that Tim and his family are taking the necessary steps to create the correct financial conditions,” said Block. The post Illinois Thoroughbred Racing ‘At a Critical Juncture’ Due to Hawthorne’s Financial Woes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Withadream2 · Posted
I’m extremely sceptical that Brodie is the railway sleeper person that people seem to think he is.
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