October
JuneFour quick ones
a) Vale Takeover Target. We all know his exploits and every racing fan loves the romance of his story. Incidentally he and Dark Ksar are the only gallopers to win at stakes level in the five mainland states.
b) Sky’s Racing Retro had a final episode for the season on Sunday June 21. I realise the company is in dispute over Victorian race broadcasts, but failing to mention the previous day’s Moonee Valley races and then having four commentators pick their personal highlights for the season and make no mention of any Melbourne races (Admire Rakti? Adelaide?) seemed petty to me. For that matter, why does Racing Retro need to go into recess? Racing does not.
c) Why do commentators persist in using “parimutuel” instead of totalisator or tote? And if you’re going to speak French at least pronounce it correctly — it is not “parra mutual”.
d) My final point is also on pronunciation: could someone tell Greg Miles (clearly the nation’s most able and consistent caller) that horses accelerate, not “excellerate”.
Chum Creek (Vic)