October
AugustNothing to see here
I was dismayed to see the Four Corners program on racing on Monday August 6.
People have laundered money on racetracks and at casinos since they began. What has this got to do with individual rides?
Now Danny Nikolic is being scrutinised for winning. What else is he meant to do!
Anybody who has ever owned racehorses must be well aware that jockeys are the ultimate in debonair con men. The tales they tell you after the race are something to behold.
The best one I ever heard was from one, regarded by many as Australia’s best jockey, who said the horse had a crook leg when in fact the trainer had been slack — the horse got fat between runs. Obviously the trainer didn’t want this horse anymore.
I would love to be a jockey getting paid for tips. Losing rides woudn’t matter, but each winning ride I would collect.
An everlasting case of a Rolls Royce to nothing as I could only win and the better my strike rate, the richer I’d get.
The stewards got it right in the Royal Symbol and Fine Cotton cases but with stewards checking the markings and paperwork of every horse these days it’s hard to imagine a ring-in succeeding.
Funny, I recently heard Michael Rodd say to the strapper leading a horse around the parade ring before a race: "See if we can go one better this time," as he had just ridden a horse into second.
Am I to believe that had Tony Mokbel been within earshot of this comment he would have raced off and undoaded $20,000 on this horse? According to the picture painted on Four Corners this would have been a tip from a jockey. The horse didn’t win.
Every year about 10 jockeys claim to be on the eventual Melbourne Cup winner. This mass tipping can be taken with a grain of salt.
It is all this uncertainty that keeps our adrenalin flowing, increases betting turnover and makes racing great.
As Victorian Racing Minister Denis Napthine says, racing is clean. So let us all enjoy it, even with a bit of corruption around the edges. It is the police who are meant to catch crooks not the racing fraternity.
Finally, for the edification of those naive fools on Four Corners, if you back Carlton to beat Melbourne you are likewise backing Melbourne to lose.
So if these people are against laying horses they’d better arrange legislation to ban betting between two players or teams.
Bendigo (Vic)