October
JanuaryOur two problems
I am becoming increasingly frustrated with Australian horse racing as each year passes.
My problems with Australian racing are twofold.
Firstly, the breeding scene has become dominated by rubbishy shuttle stallions and Northern Dancer descendants to the point where the gene pool is inbred and essentially European rather than Australian.
Shuttling stallions does nothing for breeding other than make greedy breeders richer. Moreover, Australian breeders never fused Northern Dancer’s strength, namely speed, with stamina because big money could be made winning and siring other winners of mickey-mouse juvenile classics like the Golden Slipper.
Not surprisingly our stayers are a laughing stock overseas.
The second big problem I have with the game locally is the style of training that now predominates.
Local trainers have adopted a European approach and spurn pipe-opening runs over shorter, unsuitable trips.
This approach doesn’t work because our physical environment is different, our tracks are hard and unforgiving and the racing is tighter and more competitive.
Horses trained in the European way have no career longevity here and are more prone to injury.
Punters haven’t got a hope of guessing their fitness levels as well.
Australian racing, week in, week out, was head and shoulders ahead of the rest but class, money men and cultural cringe got in the way. Our racing is becoming a fringe sport like it always has been in overseas countries.
Griffith (ACT)