Werribee racecourse, the quarantine base for international horses competing in the Spring Carnival, is making global racing headlines after the massive fall-out from its abandoned race meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting was called off with two races left to be run. During the running of the eighth race on the ten-race program, Frenchkook broke down badly and was subsequently euthanised.
Frenchkook was the second horse to be fatally injured at the Werribee meeting.
Frenchkook’s apprentice rider Boris Thornton, who was competing at his debut card, was sent through the inside running rail with Frenchkook. The 15-year old can count himself lucky to be out of hospital without serious injury today.
Two races prior to the Frenchkook fall, jockey Dean Yendall warned stewards of the poor state of the track, but he later tweeted, ‘nothing [was] said back’.
Yendall’s tweet was in reply to a remark by triple Melbourne Cup winning jockey Glen Boss, who described the Werribee surface as ‘without doubt the worst track I have ridden on’.
At about the same time on Wednesday evening, Racing Victoria announced it would be conducting an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the abandonment of Wednesday’s Werribee meeting.
The real issue is the claims of both Boss and Yendall. When senior jockeys bash the state of a provincial racetrack surface, alarm bells ring. Could the fatalities have been avoided?
Furthermore, the fact that Werribee – the international training base for the Spring Carnival – is probably the most important provincial circuit in the country means this is a massive issue for Racing Victoria.
What seems to be forgotten is that for three years, between the end of 2007 and the end of 2010, racing wasn’t conducted at Werribee because of the poor state of the track.
At a Werribee race meeting in November 2007, jockeys refused to ride because of the state of the surface.
Racing Victoria and the Victorian Government responded by pumping $5million into the facility. The money was used to build a world-class quarantine centre and fix the track surface.
In the spring of 2010, the quarantine centre was used for the first time and racing resumed at Werribee at the end of the Spring Carnival after the internationals went home.
But the surface was still poor. A few years since the resumption of racing at Werribee and I’m not the only one asking whether racing should ever have returned to Werribee.
You could even say the money spent on Werribee has been wasted. The quarantine centre could be the best in the world but what good is it at Werribee if the racing surface is as bad as everyone says?
International raiders need to be quarantined near a racetrack so they can complete the required track work in the lead-up to their races.
But what trainer or owner would want their international-class horse working on the Werribee surface as it stands now?
Looking forward to the spring, Racing Victoria could probably stable and quarantine international horses at Sandown racecourse, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne – it was the site of the old quarantine centre – if Werribee isn’t available.
But I’m not sure what the requisite concessions are – including a possible reduced stabling capacity (and therefore less international visitors) – in restoring Sandown as the quarantine base.
In any case, it’s an embarrassing situation for RVL. Track safety should never be under-estimated.
Drew H
Guest
Win some, you lose some, it's all the same to me. Don't forget the joker.
Peter Care
Guest
Yes there are problem gamblers who lose money on horse racing, and their addiction is terrible for them and their families. The numbers are minute compared to the people who have a bet on horse racing. The real problems with problem gambling are poker machines. The number of problem gamblers have iskyrocketed since poker machines have been inroduced into Australia. They are the real villans that destroy thousands of lives. Yet many of our sporting clubs survive because of poker machines. State Governments also see it as an easy tax to pay for services. If we are serious at tackiling problem gambling it is poker machines that we should phase out. Unfortunately Clubs Australia is a very powerful lobby and will use all its muscle to bully politicians who threaten to do something about the harm these insideous machines do to our society. Clubs Australia are like the American Rifle association; we all know they do much harm, and society would be infinatly better if these lobby groups did not exist and their products banned. If we are serious about reducing problem gambling, then we must first tackle the real culprit and thats poker machines and pokie venues.
Drew H
Guest
The whole industry has been chopped up. Administrators shuffle money from pocket to pocket. In the past we have seen businesses demerger and then remerger. It is cyclical, same as regionalizing and centralizing. For the punt to keep the industry alive is now a nightmare. As for keeping of racetracks, well it is probably quite easy. The nice trainers just scratch their horses if it's wet. I don't know if I'd want the private job of quarantining horses. Is Maurice Blackburn doing class action against Eastern Creek and the Fed Gov ?? I don't know if I could afford the insurance to cover an outbreak. If Kerry was around then he'd probably set up World Series Racing right now. Come on Aussie come on, come on.
Expat
Guest
Ok, I wanted to start a debate, and did. Well done Chairman Kaga, you're smarter than I gave you credit for. But I'm no racing apologist, and on a purely financial basis, I think the government are safely in front with racing. Do they do enough to help problem gamblers? No, of course not. And the cost to society is no doubt huge, but no more, and probably way less, than is caused by pokies, let alone cigarettes or alcohol. Everything kills you. Wasn't the Randwick grandstand paid for by selling the rights to that stupid animated racing game to the TAB? (A deal that has never really been put under media or public scrutiny). So the government didn't pay for it, but they did give punt drunks another way to do their dough. My take on what a waste of money that grandstand is can wait for another day. And Justin, they have a name for racing without betting, it's called pony club. Racing is a magnificent sport with majestic equine athletes, and dedicated human partipants, but we'd be racing for ribbons without the punt. Even in desert countries with despot leaders they are on the sly take from the UK bookies. Maybe racing would be like a bigger version or polo if there was never any betting? And most Australian sports administrators are too dumb to actually charge on turnover, they just sign their lives away with flat "licensing fee". Would love to know what these sports deliver back to the government via what they make off gambling, my guess is zero. Mainstream sports want money from gambling but are just figuring out that they need to take responsibility and set up things like integrity units. Too late. The bookies must just laugh at them.
peeeko
Roar Guru
expat, ive been a punter and horse racing lover for 20 years lets not pretend that the sport is good for society. it simply takes mony from punters and redistributes to rich breeders etc. dont other sports pay turnover tax on their betting as well? didnt the governemtn just give randwick a stack of money (180 million) to build a new grandstand that will only be busy a few times a year?
Justin Cinque
Expert
Racing, the sport of kings, is one of the world's oldest professional sports, born out of the aristocratic love of the thoroughbred and the desire to race them. Professional thoroughbred racing was around before gambling on the sport began and will exist if gambling on the sport ceases. Your last sentence may be categorical but that does not make it correct. Using that logic, couldn't one say 'rugby league, rugby union, cricket, AFL, football etc are not professional sports. They are an integral part of the TV industry. Nothing more'. Of course it's a ridiculous statement but no more ridiculous than your statement. Every hour of the day somewhere in the world people are racing horses for prizemoney. The sport survives not because of gambling but because people choose to train, ride and own thoroughbred racehorses. And that's how the sport began.
Alfred Chan
Expert
It was a very interesting situation yesterday, Justin. I think the ground staff have something to answer for. It was only last year during the Melbourne Cup period that Weribee was hailed by the international trainers. It even prompted several of the local trainers to come out and say it was unfair that the raiders had unlimited training time on the Weribee course propper while it was near impossible for the Flemington trainers to gallop of the Flemington turf.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
"Yeah, racing could die, eventually, and you will be paying more tax to make up the shortfall" Except that you're ignoring the terrible damage gambling does to society - damage which the government usually ends up having to pay to clean up. Or at least attempt to mitigate some of the worst excesses. So that statement is pure racing industry spin. Racing is not a professional sport. It's an integral part of the gambling industry. Nothing more.
Expat
Guest
Chairman Kaga, like most of the non-racing public, you have no idea and seem oblivious to the important role horse racing plays in your own country. While other sports take millions of dollars of government funding, racing gives millions of dollars in funding through betting turnover. Is there another sport that does that? Yeah, racing could die, eventually, and you will be paying more tax to make up the shortfall. Racing runs on gambling, in reality, there doesn't have to be any spectators for it to successfully. If you had read the story, you would have learned that Weribee is a quarantine centre for international horses imported to compete at what is by far Australia's biggest sporting event, the Melbourne Cup. In saying that, having less tracks makes sense.
Chairman Kaga
Guest
Interesting, I have passed Werribee racecourse literally a million times over the years and never seen it used. It is along the Geelong trainline. It would be better served as becoming a public park. Why does Victoria needs so many racecourses? They should just merge and create top class standard facilities in a few places rather than here, there and everywhere. The attendances and interest in horses is incredibly low to even keep this historical sport alive, it never ceases to amaze me. Some say test cricket is in trouble, the horses are just waiting for the coffin to arrive.
Lucas
Guest
Totally agree, the track is a disgrace. Just have a look at it does anyone even water it or look after it. This track makes Racing Victoria look like a bunch of amateurs. Look at Ballarat and Cranbourne, they are kept perfectly, so why cant Werribee when its only 25 minutes from Melbourne. I hope the horse owners sue either Racing Victoria or the track operators, because i would.