Murray Fish

With news of the fav drowning, I pop into tab to see odds, there seems to be quite a few missing?? ps. Return To Conquer 51.00 13.50 https://www.tab.co.nz/racing/Rosehill/future/1de3787c-5891-4111-81d1-665bbf881839

And this info will be made public to the mug punters?

Jockeys take jumpout stance Ryan Reynolds@Reynolds_R26 November, 2024 Victorian Jockeys' Association CEO Matt Hyland Victoria's senior jockeys have announced they won't ride in jumpouts at some of the state's biggest training centres until they are paid for it. In an email to stakeholders on Tuesday, the Victorian Jockeys' Association announced that its senior riders would not be available to ride at Cranbourne, Pakenham, Mornington, Caulfield, Balnarring, Ballarat and Flemington jumpouts from Sunday, December 1 until they are remunerated. Apprentices, who are employed by a trainer, as well as picnic and jumps jockeys, are paid to ride in jumpouts, whereas senior hoops, who number between 60 and 70 in Victoria, are not. Regional training centres like Geelong, Warrnambool and Wangaratta are not included in the current move. VJA boss Matt Hyland says his members are happy to ride in jumpouts but they want to be paid for their services. He added that approximately 500 horses a week jump out across those training centres and make up about 80 per cent of all jumpouts. The VJA asked senior jockeys who have paid agreements with stables to only ride for those stables from December 1 until an agreement is reached. Jockeys are paid $110 plus super to ride in official trials. According to Hyland, 'a large majority' of the state's senior riding ranks support the move. Hyland said the VJA has worked with Racing Victoria for the past eight weeks but added that the issue has been ongoing for eight years. He said jockeys have pushed for jumpouts to be converted to official trials, allowing them to be paid. "It's always been a complex issue, however, the reality of it is who would work and not get paid?" Hyland said. "The stakeholders have been notified. They've provided feedback which is not in line with the VJA's position. The reality is that it's been happening for eight years. "The members are not going on strike. They're withdrawing their services of unpaid work."

sigh

If I had to use one word it would be delusional

https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/360498113/he-would-always-go-too-far-witnesses-tell-horse-trainers-alleged-animal-abuse?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3tmvp0uY8LyhSE3K4LMrXqBhKMistBAg2fpWIMK2FWohCYngyoBljnE40_aem_cypao5G3pIChx0awi2daJA

‘He would always go too far’ - witnesses tell of horse trainer’s alleged animal abuse November 26, 2024 Share John Malcolm walking into the Racing Integrity Board hearing at Cambridge Raceway.Christel Yardley / Waikato Times A former staff member who saw a trainer allegedly beat a horse, resulting in welts and a swollen eye recalls calling her grandparents crying. Cambridge thoroughbred trainer John Malcolm is facing 12 animal welfare related charges laid by the Racing Integrity board (RIB). The hearingat Cambridge Raceway is expected to run most of the week. The first witness for the RIB began working for Malcolm on March 8, 2023 as a stable hand, but only stayed at the Cambridge stables for 13 days. She told the hearing the first incident happened on her second day when walking past a wooden circular pen she heard Malcolm yell at his wife. “I think he was a lunging horse and she was on the whip, and that I could hear John yelling at Rachel and telling her to whip it harder, I could hear her saying something like no, I don't want to, and he was like for F…sakes I’ll do it. …” The woman said seeing the horse was led out of the ring was horrible. “The horse was dripping in sweat. I saw the welts and instantly saw the swollen eye. “I think the incident happened just before the lunch break because I remember ringing my nana and granddad and just crying and I was like ‘I cannot do this’.” One of the country’s leading trainers was zoomed in for her assessment of the methods allegedly used during incidents at Malcolm’s stable. ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with Stuff She admitted that “no trainer is perfect” but also that “it’s not necessary to thrash a horse.” Another witness who had two stints at Malcolm’s stables said she saw him “purposely hit horses over the head with alkathene pipe. She said that Malcolm would aim for the horse's eyes. “There would have been 10 eye injuries to horses in the second occasion I worked for John, and there may have been more as we were always putting eye drops in horses....One horse nearly lost an eye through being hit, the vet had to work hard to save the eye.” Malcolm’s lawyer Paul Wicks KC questioned why she didn’t report him. “I didn’t know who to complain to.” Another former staff member had worked for Malcolm three to four times in six month stints over a 15 year period. “Although what he does to his horses doesn’t agree with me, I needed the money. So I just put the blinkers on. She described how Malcolm would lose his cool with the horses, claiming that if he got angry, he'd start hitting the horse around the head. “And if he got too angry, he'd just go past the point and beat the shit out of it.” ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with Stuff She also said she’d seen the aftermath of a horse that had been flipped and hit its head. “They were bleeding, one died through flipping it. “It had blood coming out of its nose and ears and that was after John had been long-reining it, that would have been 13 years ago. “Sometimes a horse would need a little bit, but he would always go too far.” She said a lot of eye injuries were explained away. “He would say that it's happened in the box [stable], because the boxes were wire and netting and had a lot of wire sticking out... We all knew what had actually happened.” She explained how Malcolm would pick up a lead rope and then use the buckle to hit the horse across the head. She admitted previously not reporting it due to being concerned about future employment opportunities. A veterinarian with 30 years experience was called who had attended Malcolm’s stables a number of times. The vet couldn’t recall the explanations for the injuries or if he dealt with Malcolm, his wife or staff members at the time. Monday’s proceedings finished with the Board listening to part of Malcolm’s interview with RIB investigator Courtney Fox in June. In it, he claimed he doesn’t remember a lot of the incidents. One he did was between May and July 2023 when working with a gelding that got loose and galloped out of the yard. “You were heard to yell something similar to I’m going to mow that c... down, as you ran towards your vehicle and drove after the horse. You’ve caught the horse and driven into it with your ute,” Fox said on the tape. She was told the horse, after being caught by staff, had cuts on its body, and the ute had received some damage. Malcolm disputed what had happened. “The horse was in the tie-up. It front-footed me, put me on the ground, and got away onto the track. I’ve taken my ute out there because it’s been going mad out on the track.” Malcolm explained he parked his ute alongside the rail and the horse went between the vehicle and the fence. “It’s damaged my ute and had some minor cuts and grazes on its legs, but I don’ know if we got the vet to it.” Witnesses for the RIB will continue on Tuesday with witnesses for Malcolm to be called later in the week. The hearing is scheduled to run until Thursday.

how is is a ridiculous thread? perhaps I'm over sensitive what with personally know riders who have been killed and way to many that are crimpled for life!

looked rather dangerous to my eyes...

same...

You do know that Ignorance is not a defence in a Law Court, why should it be in Racing?

Te Akau’s Australian ambition is only just getting started By Matt Stewart - November 22, 2024 Te Akau has already made a major mark on Australian racing in the 18 months since setting up base at Cranbourne. But David Ellis’ Australian plan is far from realised, writes Matt Stewart. David Ellis, Ben Gleeson and Mark Walker, the three key men behind Te Akau's Australian operation, alongside Xavier Walker. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images) It was lunchtime on June 20, 2023 and Ben Gleeson had sweaty palms as he sat at a table for two at France-Soir, a swanky restaurant in Toorak Road. For the 29-year-old, this might prove the lunch of a lifetime. Gleeson had chosen the restaurant and by the time the souffle arrived for dessert, Mark Walker had chosen Gleeson as the frontman for Te Akau Racing’s inevitable entry into Australian racing. Gleeson had hoped that the entre of his strong CV and main course of the perfect steak might nudge Walker over the line and secure him a coveted gig. Te Akau was elite. They’d had more champions or near-champions than many far bigger Australian outfits. Between 2017 and 2023, Te Akau-trained horses won every edition of the rich Karaka Million while bombing Australian carnivals with stars like Probabeel, Melody Belle and Avantage. Before them, it was Te Akau Nick, Distinctly Secret, Princess Coup and Darci Brahma. The tangerine team has deep pockets and paid a ready-to-run record $1.65 million for an I Am Invincible colt in New Zealand on Wednesday. It has long been the biggest New Zealand buyer at the annual Karaka Yearling Sale. In May this year, Te Akau sold its champion mare Imperatriz for an Australasian record $6.6 million at a Gold Coast broodmare sale. Te Akau and its founder David Ellis was a famous New Zealand success story. Ellis took $12 to the Ellerslie races in 1971 and walked out with $84. Beginner’s luck on the punt would focus his ambitions on thoroughbreds instead of cattle and sheep. By 2023, Ellis had built a racing empire that required one more giant leap; a deep footprint into Australia. This would be his greatest challenge. Te Akau pulls out all stops for record-breaking $1.65 million colt at Karaka Newcomers to the training ranks would now be confronted with the unprecedented dominance of Ciaron Maher and Chris Waller, two of 3600 licensed trainers. Te Akau’s Australian operation would have to be carefully constructed. Ellis’ business partner and Te Akau’s head trainer Walker sat across from Gleeson at France-Soir and considered both the applicant and the menu. Gleeson had done his due diligence, gleaning a great deal about Walker’s training and a little about his diet. “Mark loves a steak,” Gleeson said. “He ordered a nice steak and some beers straight away and I felt I could relax a little. We were there for probably two hours. He wanted to know my journey and me his. We spoke about the business of running a Cranbourne stable and I knew in my heart straight away that this was the place I wanted to be.” Ellis was a start-up success story like few others. In the Easter of 1971 he was studying farm agriculture and working three jobs – at the freezer work and as a house painter and petrol station attendant. He saved and saved and in 1979 bought 575 acres in the Waimai Valley. He later bought surrounding farmland and created Te Akau Stud. He bought his first horse in 1983 and syndicated them under Te Akau Racing. David Ellis (right) alongside Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier. (Photo: Magic Millions). Walker was a young trainer who’d walked up Ellis’ driveway and asked for a job. Ellis took a punt on the quietly spoken youngster and by 2010, Walker had won five New Zealand premierships for Te Akau, which the following January opened a satellite stable in Singapore. Walker relocated and won four premierships. The impending closure of Singapore racing and the departure of Te Akau’s champion young Kiwi trainer Jamie Richards to Hong Kong paved the way for Walker’s return. Last year, another young, emerging horseman, Sam Bergerson joined Walker as co-trainer for the New Zealand operation. “I knew the story of Mark walking up David’s driveway looking for a job and I knew that David was great at giving young people an opportunity,” Gleeson said. “I had nothing to lose.” Gleeson had been raised on a horse farm near Seymour, worked for trainers Lee and Shannon Hope as a teenager, studied business management at Uni, had been a stable-hand for Peter Moody (Dave Eustace was his immediate boss), rode out at Newmarket as a foreman for Hugo Palmer and spent five years with Danny O’Brien at Flemington. Mate Calvin McEvoy nudged Gleeson to email Ellis. Renowned bloodstock man Henry Plumptre, in charge of Cambridge Stud, put in a good word for him. “The email was short and simple. I told David that I felt ready to train and would love to be part of Te Akau,” he said. “Within 24 hours I’d got a call from Mark. He told me they were opening a stable at Cranbourne. Next thing you know, we are at France-Soir planning the Cranbourne operation. I really felt Mark and I clicked.” Te Akau had two stables in New Zealand and Ellis felt an Australian base would take the business “to the next level”. Speaking from Karaka on Wednesday just after Te Akau paid $1.65 million for the I Am Invincible colt, Ellis said the team under Gleeson would be the shop window for Te Akau. “I went all around the training centres and we concluded that Cranbourne was head and shoulders above the rest and would be the place we would launch the operation,” he said. Ben Gleeson and Mark Walker have quickly formed a strong understanding, despite often being on opposite sides of the Tasman. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images) Perceptions that Te Akau was a private stable had been hard to shake. Ellis’ high profile as syndicate head had made it seem that way. But the big studs and owners moved Te Akau’s way. Thirty boxes at Cranbourne will become 70 in the next fortnight when the new barn is completed. Ellis said Walker had been with him “since the day he left school” and looked forward to Gleeson’s development. “Ben is very well regarded in Australia and has been a big help in setting up the business. We have the best work riders, the best staff,” Ellis said. Gleeson had underestimated the breadth of the role. “At times I felt I was juggling eight balls in the air. I had to start a business from scratch, from staff applications to Racing Victoria, to acquiring treadmills, sourcing feeds, gear, machinery,” he said. “It sort of blew my mind but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I feel I know every corner of the business. I have to admit I didn’t realise I had it in me.” Gleeson sought out trusted former Moody workmate Jason Levin as foreman. Staff gravitated to a stable that Gleeson says operated on a “happy staff, happy horse” mantra. On virtually the same day Levin arrived, so did Imperatriz. It was August 2023. Walker had been impressed with Gleeson’s results at Cranbourne and quickly afforded him a degree of autonomy. Gleeson’s fingerprints were all over Imperatriz as she charged through the spring of 2023 and the autumn of 2024. “Mark is a remarkable trainer. I picked up a few things along the way too and I find we have very fruitful discussions about how we want the horses trained. I listen a great deal to him but he’s allowed strong input from me,” Gleeson said. Ellis described Imperatriz as “an amazing horse who came along at a very important time for us” and Gleeson said such rare horses “were the reason people like me want to train”. Imperatriz had trialled poorly at Cranbourne a fortnight before she was to resume in the Black Caviar Lightning in February this year. There were sleepless nights. “I was a bit worried. Mark just says trust what you see and that she’s a race-day mare,” Gleeson said. “She had a body that wasn’t easy to manage. We had two weeks to figure our way through it. We grew in confidence. Driving to Flemington Mark asked 'what’s your gut feel?' "I said 'I think she will win'. She did, brilliantly." Imperatriz was sold for $6.6 million at the end of her brilliant racing career. (Photo: Vince Caliguri/Getty Images) Imperatriz has left the stable and Blake Shinn has wandered into it. Shinn rode track and trials for Te Akau in New Zealand last week and will be seen regularly in the famous tangerine. Like Imperatriz, Shinn is good for the brand. He believes Te Akau will become a giant slayer. “If they can emulate in Australia what they’ve done in New Zealand they will be huge,” Shinn said. “They’ve already done it here with Imperatriz and other horses. You can see where they’re heading. “I spent some time with David in New Zealand and learned a lot about him and his vision. In two years’ time people will be saying 'wow, where did they come from?'”

what you recon?? By Warwick Barr - November 20, 2024 A Ladbrokes account holder has failed in his bid to be paid $30,000 in winnings because he had been acting on behalf of a third party, a wagering regulator has found. Ladbrokes denied the punter's withdrawal request on the grounds as it believed he was operating it for someone else. (Photo: Natasha Morello/Racing Photos via Getty Images). In deciding whether the bets placed by the successful punter were lawful, the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC) says Ladbrokes was within its rights to deny a withdrawal request. Under its terms and conditions, Ladbrokes refused the punters’ attempts to collect the five-figure sum on evidence he was operating what is colloquially known in the wagering industry as a “bowler account”. “Bowler” accounts are those in which the owner is known to place bets for other people. Anecdotally, their use in the Australian corporate wagering landscape has become prevalent in recent years, with winning gamblers trying to circumvent bookmaker restrictions by using third parties. “In the Commission’s view … it is plausible that the complainant’s Ladbrokes’ betting account was likely on the balance of probabilities to have been funded and/or operated by a person who was not the complainant,” the NTRWC said in its findings against the punter. “Having formed this view, the Commission has determined that Ladbrokes’ invocations of its terms and conditions by way of voiding the complainants’ bets and not paying out on any winnings is justified.” A hearing was told the punter deposited $6600 into his Ladbrokes account which was used to place bets on November 22 and 23 and December 6 in 2022. He later wished to withdraw $30,000. In an online complaint to the NTRWC less than a month later, the punter said he was the only person involved in using the Ladbrokes account. He said he met a request from the bookmaker to provide a financial statement, claiming Ladbrokes did not process the withdrawal because the bookmaker believed another person was using the betting account based on third-party bank deposits. Ladbrokes argued the complaint did not fall within the parameters and scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction and suggested that the punter seek legal advice if he wanted to pursue the matter. But in a written submission to the investigation, Ladbrokes said the wagering account was operated in breach of the company’s terms and conditions. Irish hurling, US elections and minor Euro football leagues - all in a day’s work for NT betting regulator Ladbrokes submitted that it suspected a telephone conversation on December 8 2022, was unlikely to be the account holder “but a person identifying as the complainant instead”. “The variations in speech patterns and other indicators observed during the phone calls … appear to support Ladbrokes’ view that different individuals may have been speaking,” the NTRWC said. Ladbrokes claimed there were also bank statement discrepancies and confirmation of third-party deposits around the time the punter funded his betting account. It also tabled evidence that the mobile telephone number the aggrieved punter wanted to be registered to his account to validate the withdrawal process belonged to another account holder of the wagering firm. A request to change the mobile telephone number to have it registered to the account to comply with a two-factor authentication wasn’t met. Ladbrokes closed the customer’s account two days later, informing the punter he was ineligible to receive any funds. “The Commission notes that when asked about who the mobile phone belonged to during a phone conversation between Ladbrokes and the complainant, the complainant advised that it belonged to a family member and he did not know if that person held a betting account with Ladbrokes,” the NTRWC said. Ladbrokes confirmed that it had refunded the punter’s deposit of $4000. However, earlier contributions made to the account via Flexepin, a global financial product used for online transactions, were not returned because Ladbrokes claimed it couldn’t determine how the vouchers were purchased. NT law changes put additional heat on corporate bookmakers The Commission said Ladbrokes’ decision not to refund Flexepin deposits aligned with the company’s terms and conditions. A Flexepin prepaid voucher system allows users to make secure payments without needing funds to be linked to a credit card or bank account. The punter said he used the Flexepin method while travelling overseas but a Ladbrokes review showed transactions between November 23 and November 28 were made in Australia. “These Australian-based transactions conflict with the statements made by the complainant to Ladbrokes about his betting account usage,” the NTRWC said. In handing down its decision in October, the Commission agreed to Ladbrokes’ request not to disclose potentially sensitive information concerning the third-party operation of the account, saying it could “compromise” ongoing and future investigations into third-party activities.

perphap$ the be$t re$ult at the $ale$ Ormsby pulls off stunning pinhooking result By NZ Racing Desk - November 21, 2024 Share Lot 288, a colt by Churchill out of the Pierro mare Bagitol Photo: Trish Dunell Chad Ormsby has enjoyed plenty of racetrack success this year with pinhooks that he has been unable to sell at the Ready to Run Sale, but the multi-talented horseman had a very different outcome with the standout member of his 2024 Riverrock Farm draft at Karaka on Thursday. Ormsby trained passed-in 2022 Ready to Run lots Pulchritudinous and Outovstock to win this year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) and Gr.3 Manawatu Classic (2000m) respectively, with Pulchritudinous subsequently sold to Australian-based powerhouse Yulong Investments. Rivverock Farm’s Chad Ormsby Photo: Trish Dunell On Thursday, Ormsby struck gold in another role. He secured the highest price of the Ready to Run Sale’s second day with the $775,000 sale of Lot 288, a colt by Churchill out of the unraced Pierro mare Bagitol. Ormsby had paid only A$25,000 to buy the colt from the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale in March. “We honestly couldn’t believe we were getting such a high-quality colt for that price in Melbourne earlier in the year,” Ormsby said. “We rated him so highly from the moment we first saw him, and he’s turned out exactly how we hoped he would. There’s so many stages where things can go wrong in this business, but all the way through his preparation, he’s just kept on developing. He’s really become the horse we always thought he’d be.” The colt won a trial at Waipa on October 1, after which Ormsby took a big risk and turned down a significant offer to purchase him privately. Lot 288 subsequently impressed in his breeze-up at Te Rapa later that month, in which he clocked 10.42 seconds. “He trialled really well before the breeze-ups, and we knew after that performance that we had a pretty special individual,” Ormsby said. “We turned down good money after that trial. It was a lot of money and not easy to say no to, especially for a small operation like ours with only about 10 horses every year. “But we wanted to promote ourselves and our brand, and we thought the best way to do that was to take the risk, turn down that offer and carry on into the sale. This Ready to Run Sale is our home ground too, it’s our local sale and we believe it’s the best sale of its kind, so we wanted to support the sale as well.” While Ormsby went into Thursday with high hopes of a price above $500,000, he admits to being blown away by the final price of $775,000. The colt was sold to Patella Bloodstock and is destined for Hong Kong. “It’s an amazing result and it’s just a credit to the horse, he’s an absolute weapon of an animal,” Ormsby said.

how they voted on that spurs article Do you think we should continue to allow spurs at the races? Yes 171 votes No 84 votes

a long read on Spurs in Au " Banned in the UK, France, Ireland and the USA, spurs are still commonplace in Australian racing, raising questions about both welfare and perception. Exploring the issue, we spoke to two industry insiders at the top of their games, and draw on evidence from the wider equine world too. There are two rules governing the use of spurs according to Racing Australia: - AR 125 Riders permitted to use blunt and approved spurs Riders may use spurs provided they are blunt and of a type approved by Racing Australia, a PRA, or the Stewards. - AR 134 Excessive, unnecessary or improper use of spurs In a race, official trial, jump-out or trackwork, or elsewhere, a rider must not use his or her spurs in an excessive, unnecessary or improper manner. The Thoroughbred Report reached out to each of Australia’s PRAs to ask about their view of the rules, whether the issue of perception over spurs has been raised within their state and the history of enforcement of the rules. Sadly just two responded. A Racing Victoria spokesperson said: “Riders in Victoria are required to adhere to the Australian Rules of Racing that govern the use of spurs. If a rider uses his or her spurs in an excessive, unnecessary or improper manner this will be considered by Stewards. “We have had no recent breaches of AR134 in which action has been taken in Victoria.” Meanwhile, Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory (TRNT) Chairman of Stewards David Hensler explained: “TRNT Stewards enforce the Rules of Racing pertaining to the use of spurs. We regularly check spurs on race days, at barrier trials and in track work. In the last 10 years we have had no rider breach either AR125 or AR134.” The inside line Even for those experienced in the breeding side of the industry, the choice to use spurs may still be a mystery - is it a jockey's preference or a trainer’s instruction? Do they make much of a difference? We spoke to one of Sydney’s leading jockeys, Tommy Berry, to get an idea of exactly what goes on behind the scenes. “Sometimes it can be up to either,” Berry said. “I know if I've watched a replay of a horse and he looks quite laid back, he misses the start, just needs a little bit of a wake up before he goes into the barriers, I'll put spurs on.” Tomy Berry | Image courtesy of Sportpix “I'm not someone that ‘kicks’ in a race, so if I wear spurs in a race it's really not going to affect the horse at all because I can't use them. “Myself, James McDonald and a lot of other jockeys are in the same boat - the only time I can really use spurs is to just give them a little bit of a wake up to make sure they're switched on before they go into barriers.” “Otherwise, they're pretty much pointless for us. Whereas someone like Nash Rawiller, Brenton Avdulla or Regan Bayliss, they wear spurs quite often because they can kick quite well.” Berry described the tradeoff between jockeys that ride shorter and those that ride longer. In his assessment, whilst three-quarters of jockeys, the likes of he and McDonald included, utilise their balance to be more effective in a finish, others encourage their mounts with a kicking motion. There’s no clear answer here as a number of elite jockeys fall into each camp, with Berry concluding that different styles suit different horses. Just how much the spurs are used during this kicking motion in a race finish is hard to discern. Given a jockey’s crouched position, it’s hard to see how a jockey could point their feet outwards to bring the spurs into contact with the horse. And, if they did make contact during vigorous race finishes, surely we would see at least the occasional marking or rubbing of a horse’s flanks, causing an infraction of the rules. Noting that he’s never once called before the stewards for any spurs-related infractions, Berry added: “It's not something that you overuse - I've never ever done it to hurt a horse. You don't turn your heels out and give them a big kick up the ribs, it's just running it along their skin a little bit. “I think it's important to state as well, that breakers often use spurs to help guide the horse along. So, when you get to a race it’s often not the first time they’ve been introduced to spurs.” Laying the foundation A former elite event rider, Blair Richardson runs Vantage Hill, a race educating and pre-training establishment utilised by many of Australia’s top trainers. Speaking to TTR AusNZ, he described spurs in the context of his work as ‘controversial’ in the sense that he’s highly selective about using them so early on in a horse’s education. “We break in probably 250 to 280 horses a year,” Richardson said. “Probably most of them we don’t put spurs on to start with. “Obviously, we want to teach them to be light off the leg and educate them. The need to go forward off your leg is the main thing in educating a horse.” “Whether you're riding a racehorse, a cutting horse, a jumping horse, a dressage horse - they all must be ridden off your leg, that's the main thing.” As Richardson explained, the use of spurs during the initial stages of a thoroughbred’s life is purely about education - an extra tool to teach them something fundamental - as opposed to an aid to get the most out of them on race day. “There's some that won’t go past a gap or are a bit negative, then we put a set of spurs on and it's all to do with the rider's leg to hand coordination,” he said. Blair Richardson | Image courtesy of Vantage Hill “You’ve got to be careful too, there's a lot of fillies that can be backward and a set of spurs can have a reverse effect, so it’s tricky. “If you have a horse that won't go, you're often better off to pony it along, look after it to get it to go, rather than using force and an artificial aid. “When you're dealing with 18 month old horses, it's not about force, it's got to be an educational process.” The evidence As in the first piece in this series, we consulted leading equine scientist Dr David Marlin to find out what the science says. Click here to read Focus on welfare: a common sense approach to racing in hot weather Marlin confirmed that there has been little research on the use of spurs, with a particular paucity around their use in racing. One study of Danish competition horses points to a picture of spurs being more likely to cause damage (hair loss and in rare cases bleeding) to horses at lower competition levels, whilst another from the UK found that FEI affiliated riders were 10 times more likely to use spurs than leisure riders, but that was still only 60 per cent of them. It’s hard to be confident, but perhaps this suggests, as Richardson inferred, that the choice to use spurs is not as simple as ‘fine for the professionals’. Regardless, Marlin pointed out an even more salient point, that may in time change the debate in Australia. Dr David Marlin | Image courtesy of Dr David Marlin He noted that thermal imaging was behind the drive to change whip design towards the modern iteration, and that if the as-yet-unstudied impact of spurs in racing was similarly visible then it could have a big impact on the welfare debate. A price worth paying? The question remains: Would Australian racing be missing out much if spurs were banned tomorrow, given it’s the only racing nation to allow them? “I think it would definitely affect Australian racing in some way and that's because they’ve been around for so long and are obviously working in some way,” Berry said. “For myself, if a horse isn't jumping out of the barriers properly and they're a bit laid back then it does definitely help to give them a bit of a wake up before they leave the gates, just so they know it's game on. “It's not about hurting them or anything like that, because it doesn't. It's just a little bit of a tickle to wake them up and say, ‘You're about to go, put your game face on.’ “I find it good as a tool for that, if I know a horse has come out a little bit slow on the pace.” But, this must surely be balanced against the perception issue that spurs present us with. Whilst their use is little discussed within the industry, and they often pass punters unnoticed on race day, spurs offer a target for animal rights activists, who attempt to frame the metal fixtures on jockey’s heels as a regular weapon of torture against our beloved thoroughbreds. This view might sound blatantly preposterous to those inside the camp, but it’s easy to see how such framing can be effective to those who don’t know how they’re actually used. Given that racing elsewhere around the world doesn’t seem to suffer for a lack of spurs, we have to ask whether it’s a price worth paying. We want your opinion! Do you think we should continue to allow spurs at the races? Yes No If you have any welfare topics that you believe should be explored, or opinions you would like to offer, please reach out to editorial@ttrausnz.com.au and let us know. Welfare Spurs Edition Article

but can in Au? " In Australia, riders can use spurs in racing and other events if they meet certain conditions, including: Using blunt spurs that are approved by Racing Australia, a PRA, or the Stewards Not using spurs in an excessive, unnecessary, or improper manner "

with spurs?

"the future here now" ps, it will be interesting to know there thoughts on add extra gear! and data and science behind their actions of using said gear!

pre auction, I liked the other one, only went for 675k talking expensive colts, TA lining up a interesting one on Saturday at pukee

fascinating insight into the Maher stable https://www.racing.com/videos/2024-11-20/life-on-mahers-episode-1

hopefully sincerely given!

just use his posts to practice mindfulness

have a look at them prerace, in their prelim and then around at the start! without that I Never place a bet!

(speaking to oneself!) What I learnt is what I knew, Racing, especially NZ, is drifting more and more behind when it comes to having a presence in the digital world, very much so when it comes to things History...