Racing roundup: Oscietra debut, Waller MIA, and McDonald's ban right or wrong?

The New Year promises much, and what better day than New Year’s Day to see Black Caviar’s daughter make her debut?

Oscietra should be one of the acceptances in Race 1 at Flemington on January 1, a two-year-old fillies race over 1000m.

Just like her mother, she’ll debut down the straight at the big track, but unlike Black Caviar, who wasn’t closely watched in her earliest days, all eyes will be on this filly.

Her trainers are the David Hayes, Ben Haynes, and Tom Dabernig partnership, and they’ve put her through two jump-outs to get her ready for raceday.

She won both easily enough, the first a bit of a PR event for the evening news, with everything else under a stranglehold. The second jump-out, below, was a bit more of a testing affair.

She’s in the emerald green jacket with black spots. She doesn’t look much, but watch her fly the gate:

Given the unknowns with her and the juvenile field, the best guide will be the market, and she’s likely to be very short. Watch out for any other runners who are tightly held, however.

Hayes hasn’t given much away in his comments.

“She looks good for Sunday,” Hayes told The Age. “I thought it was a nice touch, mum had her first start at Flemington too. Hopefully on Sunday night there will be a coincidence with the mother, a win at Flemington first up.

“She’s done everything I have asked her, and she has never been put under pressure …

“She is not an imposing looking filly, but when a jock is on her she moves like a good one. Taking her pedigree away she moves like she has above average ability … this filly has great gate speed and a good turn of foot.”

Jockey Luke Nolen, who famously rode Black Caviar to 22 of her 25 straight victories, has jumped at the chance to ride her blue-blood daughter. We’ll know more about how the race looks after final acceptances tomorrow.

McDonald cops it – but is it all fair and square?

Many have applauded Racing NSW stewards for handing jockey James McDonald an 18-month ban for his $1000 bet on Astern. McDonald rode the Godolphin horse on debut and won, netting him around $4000. His associate, punter Anthony Gardiner, won some $125,000.

As he tweeted, McDonald accepts his role but not the penalty, which was reduced from the mandatory two-year ban due to his record and guilt.

Of course, many have pointed out that jockey Damian Oliver did much worse and received much less. Oliver backed against his horse, and put on $10,000. He received a ten-month penalty. McDonald is copping the full brunt of what Oliver did and wasn’t fully punished for, it might seem.

As a punter, it doesn’t appear to be a bad thing if your jockey has staked his own cold hard on his ride. All the better, right? The problem would seem to come when they’re betting against themselves.

It’s an issue that has many sides. Some call for a complete ban, as is the way in Australia. New Zealand are more lenient, allowing jockeys to bet on their own horses via known registered accounts.

Everyone appreciates a clean sport and while some rules may seem to be inscrutable, it’s the unscrupulous that cause them to be put in place. It’s the way it has to be.

Waller strikes out

While we all enjoy ourselves over this period, spare a thought for the Chris Waller stable. Waller has had just one winner in his last 50 starts.

A look at the NSW metro training premiership shows him far and away on top, courtesy of more than double the starts of any other trainer, and plenty of nice types.

Wrong time of year for the star trainer and his huge troop of runners, natural variance, or something else? You’d expect him to turn it around. Waller recently announced that he’d keep his Flemington stable small, committing to maintain his 25 boxes despite massive interest from owners to fill more.