Chief Stipe

Just shows you can't trust a Greyhound trainer.

Jamie Kah, Ruby McIntyre charged over white powder scandal Superstar jockey Jamie Kah Image: Getty Jamie Kah, Ruby McIntyre charged over white powder scandal By Alice Coster (Herald Sun) Champion jockey Jamie Kah is determined to get back in the saddle after racing stewards charged her with breaching regulations after images surfaced of her on social media with a white substance. Racing Victoria issued a statement on Friday saying stewards have issued one charge each against Jamie Kah and Ruby McIntyre. The charges come after the Herald Sun revealed images of Kah, McIntyre and greyhound trainer Jacob Biddell with a plate of white substance that started circulating on social media on June 23. The statement read Kah attended a gathering at her Somerville "residential premises which was also attended by Ms McIntyre and one other person". It read that Ms McIntyre recorded Kah "using an identification card in her hand to arrange a white powder substance into three lines". "Ms McIntyre shared the Recordings with a person/s not in attendance at the Gathering," the RV statement read. "The Recordings have been widely reported both in the media and on social media, with the perception amongst persons commenting on the post being that those in attendance at the Gathering used an illegal substance." Kah and McIntyre, who is understood to work for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, have each been charged with breaching racing rules. "A person must not engage in, conduct prejudicial to the image, interests, integrity, or welfare of racing, whether or not that conduct takes place within a racecourse or elsewhere." Kah, 27, had only just returned to the saddle in the days prior to the video surfacing following a horrific fall at Flemington Racecourse back in March. She spent three weeks in hospital including several days in an induced coma with bleeding to the brain. She also suffered a fractured wrist and broken foot. Victoria's leading jockey does not currently have a racing license due to medical grounds. Ciaron Maher Racing head of communications Michael Barrett confirmed the stable was aware of the charge against McIntyre. Barrett said they would not be making further comment while the Racing Victoria investigation was underway. “We have internal processes going as well comparatively and we will be working with Racing Victoria on that,” Barrett said on Friday. The stable was doing its due diligence and providing McIntyre with moral support and human resources services. Greyhound Racing Victoria is also scrutinising Biddell for possible infractions of racing regulations, marking the second such inquiry into the matter. A spokeswoman for Kah said on Friday she was focusing on her health and "returning to the saddle". She said Kah was aware of the charges and would not be making comment, or any decision to appeal before going before the tribunal. Racing Victoria said a Victorian Racing Tribunal date was yet to be confirmed.

But we haven't seen what it is that they are doing. They just spent around a $1m buying a slot for Waikato Studs horse. Geez you guys talk about the mafia all the time!

Further paying a $1m+ for an Everest slot doesn't constitute a marketing initiative on its own. There will be significant extra costs in actual marketing.

Explain how it is a "significant marketing initiative"? How will its "significance" or success outcomes be measured? New viewers to a channel behind a pay wall? Or will they make it free to view Everest week?

So Rodger is trained as a lawyer and his only "real" job as such was for the Racing Board/TAB. What is his marketing and wagering experiences/skills?

NZTR holds 2023 Thoroughbred Welfare Forum Category: News | Thoroughbred | Uncategorized Date: 06/07/2023 New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s 2023 Thoroughbred Welfare Forum took place at Cambridge Stud in May 2023, an event well attended by different racing industry sectors, government representatives, partnering organisations, researchers and the wider equine community at large. The Forum was validated by New Zealand’s Minister for Racing, Kieran McAnulty, who in a pre-recorded opening address commended NZTR’s Thoroughbred Welfare Strategy and the importance of the Forum itself. Once underway, the day’s activities included thought-provoking sessions provided by keynote speakers. The speakers in attendance were Doctor Helen Beattie, a veterinarian and the Managing Director of Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa, Professor Natalie Waran, an internationally recognised equine behaviour and welfare scientist, Doctor Matthew Stone, a veterinary epidemiologist and experienced leader in New Zealand government and international organisations recently appointed as Chair of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, Professor Chris Rogers, programme leader for the equine programme and head of the pre-clinical groups in the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University, and Doctor Sarah Rosanowski, an internationally respected epidemiologist.

I'm not sure it is all that different. Then again this could be the way that they will fund the extra stakes promises.

Victorian star secures Everest slot Ryan Reynolds@Reynolds_R 7:40am I Wish I Win claiming the T.J. Smith Stakes ahead of Giga Kick and Nature Strip (Image: Bradley Photos) Victorian star I Wish I Win will head to the Everest after securing a slot in the race. Trackside Media offered I Wish I Win's connections a spot in the race after securing the slot off Inglis. Entain played a significant role in helping Trackside Media secure Inglis’ slot. I Wish I Win, prepared by champion trainer Peter Moody, is likely to resume in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes at The Valley in early September. Victorian horses dominate the market for this year's Everest, with Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick the favourite for the race. Both horses could go head-to-head in the McEwen in a tantalising early spring battle between the country's two best sprinters. “It is the first time I’ve had a horse good enough to have a crack at The Everest and I’m delighted to have secured a slot this far out,” Moody said. “It will allow us to really tailor his preparation down to the minute. “I’m also thrilled to be going on this ride with my good mates at Waikato Stud. We have enjoyed a long association and this horse is very special to all of us.” Waikato Stud's Mark Chittick said he was excited to run in the race in a slot controlled by New Zealanders. “We had been involved in discussions with a number of the slot holders, but when we found out that a Kiwi company had secured a slot in this year’s race it became a very easy decision,” Chittick said. “I Wish I Win has been a dream horse for us. He has quickly gone through the grades and to think he has now secured a spot to race for A$20M is a pinch yourself moment." Entain New Zealand’s Managing Director, Cameron Rodger, said securing a slot in The Everest on behalf of Trackside was a significant moment and was an opportunity to celebrate the New Zealand thoroughbred racing and breeding industries. “To go across with a New Zealand bred superstar in I Wish I Win and with a legitimate chance to win is an absolute thrill for all the team at Entain," he said. “New Zealand has a very proud racing heritage, but for a number of years the industry has been underfunded and losing ground. As we have seen with the recent increases in stakes money, as a result of the new strategic agreement with Entain, we are ready to kick back in a big way.”

I'm confused. One tweet says it is Inglis Sales and the other TAB NZ.

Oh!!! The same modus operandi as previous administrators. I hope the "sustainable initiatives" don't include stakes and proper business cases are done not like those for the AWT's!

This is a pretty damning self-published indictment of the past and current management of the NZ TAB: Over the 25-year arrangement, the proposed terms have the potential to deliver a total uplift in payments to racing and sports of c.NZ$5.0 billion relative to the counterfactual of TAB NZ’s declining commercial performance due to intense international competition and historic underinvestment in the business in key areas like retail, technology, broadcast and operations

That $100m is on top of the $ 1 billion in the first 5 years? Roughly another $1.5 billion in turnover over how many years who knows? I wonder what pay increase the CEO of TABNZ will get. So $15m of the $30m comes from the Pokies. Where did they say the other $15m was coming from?

Nope. Part of the reason his fee is so high is that in his first two seasons, he appeared to be sub-fertile. So he only has very small books.

My apologies for not knowing the answers to these questions but is the ENTAIN deal contingent on that legislation being passed? (Which I would have thought was unlikely to occur before the General Election or even this year).

I thought part of the agreement with the Government was to relinquish the Pokie licenses? If the TAB is funding the RIB from TAB revenue what are the Governance controls over RIB expenditure? It can't be an open cheque book. My understanding is the Pokie license only allows a narrow range of uses for the revenue therefore the contestable fund won't be able to fund stakes and I would have thought it wouldn't be able to fund track upgrades.

All well and good being positive but many of us have been "sold" the NZ racing nirvana story many times over the last 30 years only to be let down. So the TABNZ has outsourced the only strategic valuable asset they have to an overseas operator. Meanwhile they still retain the overhead of the senior executive to oversee this "partnership" and the stakeholders at the coalface continue to see dumb operating decisions and wasted money by the very same people who stitched up the "new deal". Can't we be excused for being a little wary? Don't you find it odd that suddenly there are 10's of millions of dollars materialising in the middle of an economic recession? At the very least shouldn't the wary amongst us feel somewhat conned by those that stitched this deal? Meanwhile try and get a start with a lower class horse on a safe or half decent track.

"The deal" was stitched up by the end of March. We didn't start to hear any details until after the new(?) TABNZ CEO took over on 1 June. Very little was forthcoming from NZTR until the latter part of June. Where did the extra $30m come from? Grant Robertson's printing machine?

Seriously @Ultra it was announced in NZ two months later that Entain had the deal. It was announced in March that Entain were the preferred partner subject to negotiation and Ministerial Approval. The TAB went secret squirrel after that March announcement. The Ministerial Approval was announced 23 May 2023.

Obviously they had made their minds up in April.

Original Directors of the company. Sam Moncur - TAB NZ Mike Tod - TAB NZ

So TABNZ/ENTAIN is funding that too?