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The new way of looking at horse racing

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH

FRANKIE SAYS…


His days with Godolphin seem to be numbered, taking the ride on Camelot might not have been the smartest career move and his chain of Italian restaurants called Frankie’s are pretty crap, but he is still the one and only Frankie Dettori who, apart from being one of the most successful jockeys of all time, has really put showbiz into horse racing and one of the very few bona fide celebrities in racing.





Yes, he has never managed to win the Melbourne Cup, but he is still entitled to his opinions and we respect them.

If he says- as he has- that Mount Athos is “unbeatable” in the Melbourne Cup, well, we can take it onboard or discard it. It’s a free world. We will take it onboard.


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WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, JACKIE?


After all that initial hype about talented young apprentice Jackie Beriman moving to Sydney and doing a short stint with Gai Waterhouse, nothing much seems to be happening to the jockey who was banging home winner after winner in Melbourne before her abrupt decision to Youbolt and quickly move to a new state.


Of course, the reasons for the move are well-known to many and with her “personal” or “family problems” apparently still to be repaired or heal.


Nikita Beriman McLean and husband.

So, while Jenny Duggan , Kayla Nisbet and other young rising female riders of the turf are busy banging in the winners, Jackie Beriman doesn’t seem to be doing anything of any significance. We watched her ride on outsider Gaelic Cloud which came a close second at Queanbeyan on Sunday and were reminded of just how well this girl rides. She just needs more chances than riding trackwork. But, like some senior jockeys have said, what and who works in Victoria does not translate into success in NSW. Pity and a sad saga all round if this girl’s once rosy future has turned bleak.

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“PLEASE SIR, MAY I HAVE MORE?”


The Fairfax newspaper’s allegations involving Damien Oliver supposedly betting ten large ones on winner Miss Octopussy in a 2010 race where he was riding another horse has resulted in a chain reaction of riding changes for the Cox Plate.


Though innocent until charged, the very experienced Ollie has been taken off/sacked from Green Moon by owner Lloyd Williams and with Craig Williams taking over the reins on the second favorite for the big race. This has meant lightweight Williams getting off Lady Gai Gai’s Pierro which flopped badly over the weekend. Plus, if the great Lady’s Prosier runs in the same race, who will be the jockey? As one wag told us, perhaps Jackie Beriman will finally get on top of a good one. No, she won’t.


Far more important is that little matter called integrity and how racing in Oz is being rocked by scandal after scandal and with some very high-profile names involved. If this keeps up, the betting public will go elsewhere as why their hard-earned hard done by. Listen up and listen good: The image of racing in Oz is at such an all-time low that it’s even affecting the image of innocent Aussie jockeys riding overseas. This reality versus perception problem MUST be solved by the powers-that-be. And this is not just a “Victorian problems.” Problems mutate and must be cut off at the neck and at the pass.


The ongoing Danny Nicolic saga, the murder of trainer Les Samba, apprentices with shit for brains, small fields and where the short-priced favorite gets rolled with increasing regularity and the long shadow and rumors of bookies possibly working in cahoots with certain leading stables don’t help. Sure, every racing jurisdiction has integrity problems. The Australian racing industry, however, has a plague on its hands and it needs to be cleaned up faster than Usain Bolt can run 100 metres. If not, those calls of “Unclean, unclean” will get louder and Nicky Lauda and have a domino effect on racing in a country full of some of the most patriotic horse racing fans. Fans are known to switch sides when they feel they’re being sold short.


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