The final piece of the National Tote puzzle
The final push to secure a National Tote pool from Tabcorp is on, and NSW remains the state not on the same page as the rest of the country.
Tabcorp chief executive Gil McLachlan and chief wagering officer Michael Fitzsimmons, who is ex-Hong Kong Jockey Club, have been meeting with racing officials in the premier state in the past month.
They have pitched a National Pool as “World Pool every day of the week”, hopefully without the big takeout.
However, the benefits are certainly bigger for the smaller codes and states.
The Tabcorp team are promising that bigger punters will return with more liquidity in the National pool, which would compound the expected growth.
The TAB distribution remains, in percentage terms, the largest return to racing codes.
Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys met with McLachlan and Fitzsimmons last month, and the feeling coming out of the meeting was that the National Tote is closer than ever.
However, V’landys has not changed his position of 20 years that NSW will not be worse off in any deal he signs for a National Tote, but he can see that it is the way forward.
McLachlan has told the media the National Tote could be done by July 2026. The technology is in place, but he needs to secure commitments, which he already has from the other states.
All codes are aware of the benefits of the National Tote, but the murky waters of NSW racing politics are set to play a key role in the decision.
There is the on-going review of the Thoroughbred Act by Brad Hazzard, and with it a debate on how the sport is funded.
That fact that funding has changed dramatically, with race fields fees becoming the major component, and being paid directly to regulators has given them unfettered power.
Greyhound Racing NSW has long bemoaned the inter-code, where TAB distribution is split roughly 70 per cent to Thoroughbreds, 17 per cent to the trots and 13 per cent to the dogs.
It’s a 99-year agreement, signed in 1998, which the dogs believe doesn’t reflect the wagering power they have become this century.
In NSW all three codes and the racing minister need to be on the same page for the National Tote to get the all clear.
GRNSW chief executive Steve Griffin wrote an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph claiming the dogs hold 24 per cent of all wagering on the racing codes and the inter-code should be rewritten to reflect that.
“Each year almost one third of NSW greyhound racing revenue is redistributed to the two other racing codes. Neither earned it. It was earned by greyhound racing,” Griffin argued.
“There is no other sporting code in Australia or in the world that has the revenue it earns redistributed to other sports. At a recent event, I called this out as the biggest rort in Australian sport and when you look at the facts, it’s hard to dispute.”
The National Tote could be used by the GRNSW to a lever to force change to the inter-code agreement.
It only adds to the uncertainty around how racing governance might change in the next couple of years.
Drifting triple-double for O’Shea and Charlton
John O’Shea has had some big days in his career, but last Friday’s triple-double at Canterbury and Goulburn might be his most unique and satisfying.
It was his biggest day for him in partnership with Tom Charlton, and remarkably, four out of the five winners they had drifted in betting.
Burn The Sky ($5 to $7) and Rambova ($9.50 to $10) started the ball rolling at Goulburn before Forest King landed bets at long odds starting $21.
Bev’s Nine remained unbeaten and defied a drift from $2.40 to $3.30, while Cellarmaster was $2.35 to $3.20 in the last at Canterbury.
“It was a very satisfying day for the team, who work so hard,” O’Shea said. “It’s Tom best day in terms of winners and we couldn’t understand the drifts on the last two.”
Bev’s Nine was particularly satisfying for the stable after he was a controversial late scratching at the barrier the Saturday before.
“He was vetted a few times on track on Friday but they were happy with him this time,” O’Shea said. “We would like to take him to a nice race during the carnival.”
O’Shea is still working through the consequences from Bev’s Nine scratching with a conduct inquiry opened into his interaction with a Racing NSW vet.
Great Guy sends Portelli into tears
It’s more than 12 years since Warwick Farm lost its main man of wisdom in Guy Walter, and it still hurts for Gary Portelli.
Verona Rose became the first Warwick Farm-trained mare to win the Guy Walter Stakes on Saturday and the emotions were at Group 1 level for Portelli.
“Guy’s wife Wendy came up and said good luck before the race and I really got nervous,” Portelli said. “They were such a great couple and were always together at the races and I don’t see her that often.
“After [Verona Rose] won, I saw Wendy again, and I just started to cry.
“It was different at Warwick Farm when Guy was there, and we still miss him.
“All the memories came back to me, to be the first Warwick Farm trainer to win his race is among my best accomplishments in racing.”
Widdup’s Godolphin curse
Hawkesbury trainer Brad Widdup learned his craft at Crown Lodge and wore the Godolphin blue proudly before taking out his licence.
But the blue silks have proven his Group 1 curse.
Savvy Hallie became the latest Widdup charge to be photo finished out of a Group 1 by Godolphin, when Tempted just got her measure in the Surround Stakes.
“I have been beaten in Group 1 photos by Anamoe, Cascadian in a Doncaster and Colette beat us in a Golden Eagle,” Widdup said. “I used to cheer for the blue, but now I think not those blue colours again.”
Slipper market an insult
There is no way Warwoven will start Golden Slipper favourite and his $6 quote as favourite at TAB is an insult to punter’s intelligence.
Warwoven was safely held into fifth in the Skyline Stakes and joined a long list of two-year-olds that have failed to step up this year.
It is a bizarre year, but the top of the is completely wrong.
The next two in betting Skyline runner-up Central Europe and Wyong Magic Millions winner Paradoxium have to win Slipper trials in the next two weeks to even be there on Golden Slipper day, so there must be value somewhere in the market.
It might be the year for Melbourne, Blue Diamond winner Streisand is an $11, but incredibly Silver Slipper winner Stretan Ruler is $13.
In the past decade, She Will Reign and Farnan have completed the Silver Slipper- Golden Slipper double, three other Silver Slipper winners have been Golden Slipper placed.
Another two Silver Slipper winners Home Affairs and Beiwacht have won Group 1s as three-year-olds. It is a good horse’s race.
Stretan Ruler has the biggest winning margin for the past 10 years and will only improve from his first run in the Sydney direction and in blinkers.
He should be Golden Slipper favourite and the $13 is an incredible price.
