Reneged is set to run at Rosehill on Saturday

Congratulations to Tye Angland on reaching 100 winners for the season!!! 

It is amazing what a difference a few inches make in racing. Husson Eagle and Invincible Al ran terrific races at Flemington with both horses running close seconds. Patrick Payne has these horses going very well and they are likely to head to ‘Finals Day’ at Flemington on 8 July where they should be very competitive. We had a good week with Chalmers running a nice second at Newcastle and Tough Vic was 4th at Warrnambool and is now ready to step up to 2000m.

The sectional times run by both Husson Eagle and Invincible Al were exceptional with Husson Eagle’s being the best 1000, 800, 600, 400 and 200m of the race. He had to change direction at the 100m to find a gap and would have won easily if he hadn’t had his run impeded.

Have a look at Invincible Al’s sectionals and comments posted on Racing.com: ‘It will be cold consolation for those who were on Invincible Al, but the effort of the Patrick Payne trained speedster could not be faulted. He produced some of the standout splits of the day. His 32.58secs final 600m was the fastest of the day, he was the only horse for the day to break 22secs for the final 400m (21.85secs) and his 11.17secs last 200m was also the best of the day. The 10.68secs it took him to cover the 400m to the 200m was the fastest 200m section recorded for the day.’

I have been very pleased with our overall results this season and I am hoping we have a strong finish to the year. We have some nice chances this weekend with Savoureux and Reneged running at Rosehill, Annaman is kicking off his preparation at Caulfield with Darren Weir. Isthmian is likely to resume at Tamworth on Friday.

Hussy’s Glow is running at Sandown today. She is in great form and it will be interesting to see how she handles the step up to 1600m. If she runs well she may well join Husson Eagle and Invincible Al at Flemington on 8 July. This would be quite a feather in Patrick Payne’s cap with three runners of the five he has in work for us running in good quality races on Melbourne’s biggest day of the winter.

AMMALGAMATION OF TABCORP AND TATTERSALLS

The impending amalgamation of these two companies will create a very powerful tote. The income distributed back to racing from this new entity is vital to our industry. It was interesting to read Peter V’landy’s press release regarding the difference in returns through the TAB as opposed to the Corporate Bookmakers. 7 cents in each dollar wagered with Tabcorp goes back into racing as opposed to about 1.5 to 2 cents from the Corporates.

If you use these figures across the $6 billion wagered on Victorian racing in the past 11 months you see just how vital it is for the TAB to remain strong. If all the $6 billion went through the TAB then $420million would be returned to the industry. If it all went through the Corporates only about $100 million comes back.

This is a huge difference with the Corporates and Betfair product fees set to rise to a minimum of 2% but this isn’t nearly where they need to be at. As owners it is important to remember that most of the stakes money we receive comes from the distribution from the TAB and Tattersalls.

Another interesting statistic is the difference in where the turnover is generated in the two big states. Racing NSW has invested a lot of money raising the profile of country racing with 55% of betting turnover in the state generated from provincial and country racing. In Victoria 45% comes from country racing. I was pleased to see RVL announce the introduction of Country Series with a final to be run in the city. Hopefully these types of initiatives will help raise the interest in our sport in the bush. The Country Championships in NSW have been a great success.

THE EVEREST

The interest in the $10,000,000 Everest race is gaining momentum. I don’t think it matters if we get overseas runners or not. Our sprinters are amongst the very best in the world and highly regarded. The only issue with that is that it is becoming more competitive at the yearling sales but that’s the price we pay for the success our horses are having overseas.

It will be interesting to see the final makeup of the Everest field. Personally with the race still about 13 weeks off I would be waiting if I had a potential runner to try and get the best deal. The only downside I see is that the day does coincide with Caulfield Guineas day which is one of Melbourne’s best days of racing and traditionally attracts the best trainers and riders from Sydney to Caulfield.

This year this is unlikely with a really exciting day’s racing and huge stakes money on offer at Randwick. It is hard to see the best riders coming to Melbourne with the 5% for an Everest win worth $290,000 to the winning jockey with the winning rider in the Caulfield Guineas receiving $60,000. In any case as racing enthusiasts we can look forward to an amazing day with terrific racing at both Caulfield and Randwick. Hopefully one day the two big states can get together and coordinate their programs.

To view all of Prime Thoroughbreds' yearlings Click Here