National Tote waiting game
Tabcorp chief Gil McLachlan’s dream of a National Tote is close to being fulfilled, but not by July 1, with NSW racing codes not ready to sign off on the deal just yet.
McLachlan has been personally heading the negotiations with Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys and the major sticking point is keeping NSW punters only betting through the NSW tote.
V’landys, who will be focused on the National Tote deal after getting a $5 billion TV deal for the NRL, has sought assurances about a number of points but the possible migration of punters remains the major sticking point.
The National Tote would dwarf any deal V’landys has done since winning the race fields case with the extra liquidity in Tote Pools driving extra revenue, so he has driven a hard-line deal “that racing in NSW will not be worse off with a National Tote”.
Simply, V’landys doesn’t want other states to offer inducements to get punters to bet through their totes from NSW.
He wants betting to become a state of origin affair to secure NSW a lion’s share of the expanded pools.
McLachlan, who has all the other states signed up for the National Tote, has other issues to manage, being the trots and dogs.
It also comes down to media deals with Sky Channel – the minor codes see the National tote opportunity to get all their deals with Tabcorp resolved.
All three NSW codes want to see the National Tote, but that could take days, weeks or even months.
Dry June results in late arrival of Rosehill rye
There is nothing more frustrating than a track like Rosehill on Saturday.
The winners needed to be in a couple of lanes just off the fence in the straight and they needed to handle shifty ground.
If you got to the centre of the track, it was nearly impossible to win with horses repeatedly looming but not getting near victory.
It is a regular occurrence in Sydney when tracks are in transition to the rye grass for winter.
Rosehill had its post-carnival renovation in April, when the rye grass was cross-seeded, but a dry June has not seen the rye take over yet for the winter.
There has only been 20ml of rain in June, when the average is 88ml, with more than half of that rain coming in the past week.
The ATC doesn’t irrigate tracks in the winter, because they take longer to recover, so it depends on rain to get the rye going.
The rye is expected to come through in the next couple of weeks to give better surfaces by mid-July.
However, Rosehill is back in action on Saturday, but the rail is back in the one-metre position after being six metres out last weekend.
Hopefully, the fresh ground will provide a fairer racing surface.
Collett’s Japanese adventure
Jason Collett will become the latest Australian jockey to test himself in Japan as he takes up a riding contract with KR Japan from next weekend.
Collett has taken his young family over to Japan and is looking forward to the challenge, riding mainly for trainer Haruki Sugiyama.
“It is something I have always wanted to have a crack at, and it comes at a good time of year for me,” Collett said.
“Japanese horses are up with the best in the world, and hopefully I can get over there and have success and learn a different way of doing things.”
“It is something I have wanted to do for a while, and when this opportunity came up it was at the right time, because I can take my family over with me and they can also experience a new culture.”
Eagle Farm’s $100 million move into the 21st Century
It has been more than 70 years since a Brisbane racetrack has seen a major new facility, but that will change next month as a $100 million new grandstand begins construction at Eagle Farm.
There hasn’t been much change from the time of Bernborough or Fine Cotton to the Eagle Farm grandstands, but the rebuild of the John Power Stand will take the facilities into the 21st Century.
The new stand will not feature any grandstand seating but will be on four levels with a restaurant and specialty areas for members and the public, and is aimed to be completed by December 2028.
“It is something that has long been needed in Brisbane racing, and this will give the club a great raceday facility but also bring conferences and weddings to Eagle Farm on non-racedays,” Brisbane Racing Club chief executive Karl deKroo said.
The BRC is coming off a successful winter carnival, where crowds were up more than 15 percent. DeKroo said the two-year build will not affect racing at Eagle Farm, although areas will be closed during the process.
“People showing they want to come back to the track, this new stand will give them an experience that we are not able to provide at the moment,” deKroo said.
One for the punters
Tom Charlton-trained Mr Chaplin might have gone down in the final race at Rosehill on Saturday, but he will be seen in better races. The Big Dance is on the agenda for the import, with the South Grafton Cup the next point of call. His stablemate King Pedro will be hard to beat in the Grafton Cup at the famous Northern River carnival.
Mr Chaplin storms over the top at his first start in Australia 🔴⚪@nashhot @tomcharlton37 pic.twitter.com/pTBvbccOgI
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) June 6, 2026
One from the stewards
Chris Waller-trained Narbold blew his chances at barrier rise on Saturday but might not be far from a win. Stewards questioned apprentice Siena Grima after Narbold missed the start five lengths, about why she was back last turning for home. Narbold had picked up as she expected from the 600m. Under full pressure in the straight Narbold made ground and then ran into dead ends and wasn’t fully tested in the run to the line. Stewards reminded Grima of her obligation to ride all her mounts out.
One for the bookies
Gorgeous has been well found in betting at his past three runs and failed to raise supporters’ hopes, despite only getting beaten a couple of lengths each time. He might need firm ground to show his best. He will continue to be under the odds, so it might be one to drop off for now.
