Racing Rallies For Injured Toole

All The Best: Peter Toole

Some of horse racing biggest names have voiced their well wishes for jockey Peter Toole who was severely injured after falling at the first fence aboard Classic Fly in the John Smith’s Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree on Saturday.

Toole, who had partnered 30 winners so far this season, is reported to be in a stable condition whilst under an induced coma at the Walton Centre for Neurology in Liverpool as doctors try and reduce the bleeding on the right side of his brain.

The conditional jockey’s employer, Lambourn trainer Charlie Mann, is keeping in close contact with the rider’s parents, who are with him at the hospital.

“The plan now is to give Peter a CT scan before bringing him out of the coma, but if it gets too late today to have the scan, they won’t wake him up because they want him to have a quiet night and he will have it tomorrow,” Mann said.

“We won’t know anymore until the doctors get the results back from the scan.”

Among those saying prayers for Toole was champion jockey Tony McCoy who wrote on Twitter: “Thanks for all the messages about Peter Toole will keep u all posted when we get some news let’s just prey it will be good news.”

Television presenter Nick Luck also tweeted: “Peter Toole in critical condition. Thoughts with him & family.”

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Professionalism in racing

Glad to see the rescheduled meeting going ahead at Newbury tomorrow. Awful scenes last Saturday with the freak electrocution of two horses before the first race. You just can't write procedures in a manual to deal with something as bizarre and unexpected as that. Criticising the officials for running the first race after that is easy in hindsight.

One thing that British racing needs to get right though is its professionalism. Jockey Hadden Frost on Tuesday went for home a lap early in a three-mile chase and then ended up with egg on his face when crossing the finish line only meant he had a lap left to go. The jockey made a mistake, fair enough. But to let him off with just a slap on the wrist isn't good enough. This is a professional industry. Punters lost tens of thousands on that horse across the country; they get nothing back for his incompetence. Stewards said the penalty range for this infringement was just 10-14 days, so he got the midpoint of 12 days. Soft as butter.

This isn't the first time it has happened, and it won't be the last. Do racecourses make any effort to stop this from happening? Nope. Why not look at other sports and see what they do? Harness racing around the world has races over a few laps, as does athletics. What do they both use to make it clear there is one lap to go? They ring a bell as they pass the winning post the penultimate time. Crystal clear. It doesn't even need to be a real bell which requires someone to stand there, it could be electronic and activated remotely. IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.

Just like when jockeys take the wrong course in a jumps race when they are supposed to know exactly where to go. Jockeys should do their homework for every race at every course, it's their job. But, in the heat of the moment, they can lose concentration and their minds go blank. It happens to all of us at some stage. Why not do everything feasible to avoid it like put out a few traffic cones where they switch course? It's not that hard. Start looking at racing like a business rather an amateurish hobby and so much can change.

I've harped on it before and will say it again. If British racing wants to become stronger then it has to stop taking the piss with punters. It's a professional industry, if you want it to be treated as such, then start acting like it from within. Punters deserve better, and when that happens, bookies will be more willing to contribute to funding the sport...Posted byScott Fergusonat23:31

Harry Findlay To Quit Racing

Harry Findlay is one of racing’s most infamous horse owners and for years has played a very dangerous game of playing the odds, more recently to his financial detriment. So much so that it now looks like the time has come when he bows out of racing.

His most famous horses are the incredible Denman whom he co-owns with Paul Barber and Big Fella Thanks, who is tipped for the 2011 Grand National and they are but two of the once 80 race horses that he owned. But Findlay isn’t just another horse owner, he’s known as Britains premier punter ans plays the odds as a profession gambler, always chasing that elusive big win. Reportedly, at one time, worth over

Greyhound racing boosted by Sky

The coverage given to greyhound racing on Sky TV is proving vital to the sport.

The satellite channel showcases the vast majority of the sports major events and they also spread their coverage across as many tracks as possible throughout the United Kingdom.

Seeing the best dogs in action regularly on the TV, allows punters to gain knowledge of the dogs and also to get an idea on various dogs running styles and also their form lines. It also ensures that vast numbers of punters who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the sport are able to sit and watch it from the comfort of their own homes, something that can only do it good in the long run.

With the Greyhound Derby getting ever nearer it is a key time for greyhound followers to be tuning into the Sky open race action, as form clues for the Derby will be on offer with almost every race. What’s more, with the channel likely to promote the event with its usual brand of glitz and glamour, it should attract more than a few interested viewers.

The Trainers Championship meeting at Wimbledon on March 22nd promises to be a cracking night and punters looking at the Greyhound Derby odds will no doubt pick up plenty of tips. The top six trainers from 2010 face off on the night with all their main protagonists going head-to-head in a series of races over the Derby course.

If you’re a dog enthusiast it’s a meeting not to miss and it’s available live in your living room thanks to Sky sports.

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Perth racing faces a critical decision

When a state capital of over 1m people has two racecourses close to the city, the inevitable pressure to sell one of them will occur as the popularity of horse racing continues to diminish relative to alternative entertainment options. Racing in Western Australia has been strong in recent years, with metropolitan prizemoney embarrassing South Australia and making it a viable option for owners and trainers. But that has come at a cost - Perth Racing has robbed Peter to pay Paul and now they are struggling to cope with interest payments of $1m per year.

Premier puts Perth Racing under the pump

WA Premier Colin Barnett is mounting pressure on cash-strapped Perth Racing to sell Belmont Park racecourse to make way for the development of a 100,000 seat football stadium.

With Perth Racing to announce major prizemoney cuts this week, the WA industry is supporting Barnett's call to dump the ageing Belmont as a winter racing venue.


Traditionally Ascot is the A-grade track in Perth, while Belmont is the venue during winter, which allows Ascot to recover for its feature events late in the year. In recent years, Adelaide have moved from three racecourses to one (sold off Cheltenham, gave Victoria Park back to the parklands, built an extra track at Morphettville and invested in a bigger provincial circuit at Murray Bridge) and Brisbane has merged its two metropolitan raceclubs in the hope of eventually selling one of the racecourses off and creating a supervenue with the cash.

The state government wants to build a huge stadium for AFL close to the city - whether they need to build it for attendances of 100k though is debatable in a state of this size. If the government gets its way, what will happen to the WACA (a great AFL stadium surely becomes a great cricket stadium) and Gloucester Park harness track? Prime land on the edge of the CBD, not much more they can do to develop it....

WA racing could handle one city track - they have strong provincial clubs including Bunbury and Pinjarra, wet tracks in the west are far less frequent than in the east so wear and tear on the racing surface isn't a big deal. Turning Ascot into a super-venue with better facilities, perhaps an extra turf track to race on and racing for better prizemoney is likely to be a winner.Posted byScott Fergusonat13:14

Weekend Racing Preview

Cheltenham Festival

Plenty of top class action this weekend, dear reader, as we enter the ‘final prep zone’ for fancied horses tuning up for the big Cheltenham Festival. And where better to tune up than Cheltenham racecourse itself? As well as Cheltenham tomorrow, there’s also high class action at Doncaster today and tomorrow, and an informative fixture at Punchestown on Sunday.

Today at Doncaster sees my first – and possibly worst – Cheltenham Festival ante-post wager bid for a win at the fourth time of asking. Step forward, Franklino (3.05 Doncaster), who runs in the same colours as Mille Chief and Walkon, and had hopes that this one would be as good. The 25′s each way taken by me back in September, and advised to you as coming straight from the horse’s (well, Choc Thornton’s) mouth, is looking more like a 100/1 shot currently.

But such is the fickle nature of ante-post markets that one tidy victory today could propel him up the lists. In reality though, I suspect his smart trainer will more likely target the Fred Winter which might be right up his street.

He takes on another well-touted type who was disappointing so far over hurdles in Empire Levant from the Paul Nicholls stable. That Empire is still available at 20/1 tells you about the murky and less than top class Triumph picture, and I suspect we’ll know more after the weekend as there’s also a tip top juvenile hurdle on the Cheltenham card tomorrow.

The other race of interest to me today is the 1.00 Fontwell, where Definity will be bidding for another short priced notch for the novice chase system I mentioned to you recently. Since I mentioned it, there have been six winners from nine runners (albeit, all at odds on, as that is a rule of the system), for a small profit using Betfair – when we’re betting at the margins we need to take the bits and pieces of bonus offered there.

Unusually in such a small sample, two of the three losers to date tipped up. We’d normally expect maybe one in ten to do that.

Onto tomorrow, and all roads lead up Cleeve Hill and to Cheltenham. There will be Festival market movers aplenty, starting in the opening JCB Triumph Hurdle trial at 12.55. Here, although the entries are not yet finalised, it looks like Smad Place will take on Grandouet. Given that they are first and second favourite for the Triumph Hurdle itself, expect one of these to contract and the other to skid in the lists.

If you want a bit of value though, the one who beat Empire Levant last time – on hurdling debut – is Colin Tizzars’s Third Intention. He’s currently 25/1 for the Triumph but that is bound to at least halve if he lifts the spoils here. Given that he probably works with Cue Card at home, he could be pretty useful, and I’ve had a couple of speculative quid (

Leopardstown confident of racing on Sunday

Double for Jason Foster as the Springbok hots up Triple dead-heaters set to meet again at RomfordMinnies Penske lands the feature race at HoveHoney Trampas crowned Coronation Cup champBAGS/SIS announce a 100K boost for Bags dogsRead Full News Service Search News Archive

MP welcomes Commons debate support for racing

Double for Jason Foster as the Springbok hots up Triple dead-heaters set to meet again at RomfordMinnies Penske lands the feature race at HoveHoney Trampas crowned Coronation Cup champBAGS/SIS announce a 100K boost for Bags dogsRead Full News Service Search News Archive

Australian racing sets the standard again

Australian racing is right up there with the best of the world on many fronts - the flagship event of Aus racing, the Melbourne Cup gets a local (not national unfortunately) public holiday; the prizemoney at stake considering the number of race meetings held each year; the facilities at Flemington; the press coverage etc... But the one issue where it really stands head and shoulders above UK racing in particular is stewarding and the regard for punters.

National stewards decide to put punters first in overhaul of rules

STEWARDS from around the country emerged from a two-day conference in Launceston with the punter in mind. A revamp of betting deductions issued when horses are scratched late, an overhaul of the rortable jockey-challenge betting, the old commission-agent bogey, etc, were on the agenda.

Leading form student and respected punter Dominic Beirne overhauled the antiquated betting system. ''It will be a much fairer system and most kind to the punter,'' Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy said yesterday.

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Trainers will soon have to report all relevant procedures administered to a horse. At present, wind operations, bone-chip removals, etc, do not have to be reported, although there is a rule where a trainer has to report to stipes anything that may affect a horse's performance in the week before a race. ''The rule currently is in relation to what's happened in the lead-up to a race,'' Murrihy said. ''Stewards believe it should be mandatory to report things like wind operations and this will be made public.''

Also in the article was a mention of changes to a particular betting market, jockey challenge, where rorting has been noticeable in recent months. The Jockey Challenge is betting on the rider with the most wins (but also carries points for placings) across a meeting. Certain people had exploited markets by learning of last minute pick-up rides before the media and betting firms. Some punters won out of it, but THE MAJORITY lost - thus stewards acted to shut down the exploitation to protect the rank and file punter.

Never let it be forgotten - it is the rank and file punter who funds the industry. Piss them off by inconsistencies which see them lose more/faster than they should, and they will find other hobbies to spend their money on.

Here's more on the mechanics of the changes to the non-runner deductions scale.

Deductions - better go coming for punters

“Currently, let’s say you’re betting on a country meeting and they are betting 170 percent, the scale is designed down at 105 to 110 percent and it’s a bonanza for bookmakers.

“This scale takes into account the prices of all horses in the race and the percentage that’s being bet.”Posted byScott Fergusonat11:40

Fairyhouse offer free racing on Thursday

The abandonment of the scheduled high class two-day National Hunt fixture at Fairyhouse on November 27 & 28 robbed Irish racing fans of a chance to see some of the biggest names and hottest Irish prospects in action ahead of the crucial Christmas period. But in an innovative move, the Fairyhouse management have decided to re-stage the main races on Thursday 2 December and are offering free entry to anyone able to rearrange their schedule and attend, writes Elliot Slater.

All plans hinge on an improvement in the freezing weather conditions, and it looks likely to be touch and go as to whether or not Fairyhouse will recover in time to take advantage of the enterprise of the racecourse management and racing tips for today.

If the weather does ease, those attending on Thursday will be treated to a top quality show, including Grade 1 races such as the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle in which Solwhit, Voler La Vedette and Hurricane Fly are amongst a strong list of entries, the Drinmore Novices’ Chase, which sees the return to action of the very smart Miakel d’Haguenet, and the Royal Bond Novices’ Hurdle that has attracted the very promising pair of Zaidpour and Perfect Smile.

In total Fairyhouse plan to offer an eight-race card that combines the best of the action that had originally been scheduled across their Saturday and Sunday fixtures. The races will be re-opened to allow fresh entries to be made in the hope that as many quality horses as possible will take their chance and get a run at a time when the weather has become so unpredictable.

Fingers are very firmly crossed that a thaw sets in across Ireland from the weekend onwards and that the efforts of the Fairyhouse executive are rewarded with a memorable and highly informative day’s racing.

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Racing bracing for the big freeze

Posted on November 30th, 2010 in Sports Betting Blog

The Arctic conditions that are currently gripping both Britain and Ireland do not bode well for the prospects of seeing racing on turf on a regular basis for some time to come. With overnight weekend temperatures dropping to as low as -15 degrees in parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, both the horse racing tips and betting industries will be hoping that we are over the worst and that things will improve quickly, writes Elliot Slater.

If the forecasters are correct however, there could be precious little racing on turf over the next two weeks, whilst all-weather racing is no certainty to go ahead with temperatures dropping abnormally low and trainers and jockeys experiencing hazardous travel conditions trying to reach racetracks up and down the country.

There is sure to be a dip in revenues for the betting industry on British and Irish horse racing as a result of the weather and betting office customers are likely to be bombarded with virtual racing, greyhound racing and numbers games as firms bid to try to keep the tills ringing, but it’s hardly the most appealing fayre. Coupled with the generally difficult economic trading conditions, a prolonged spell of cold weather could have a serious impact on the finances of the racing industry, coming right on the heels of a recent announcement that prize money funds have been slashed for 2011 with some tracks likely to return to prize levels last seen in the mid-1980’s!

For trainers, jockeys and stable staff, the freezing weather brings with it many challenges in trying to keep horses fit and healthy when the only real exercise options are available in indoor schooling or walking in snowy conditions. Long term race target plans can be thrown out of the window, and all a trainer can do is try his or her best to keep horses happy and warm, hoping that conditions ease and they can get back to business as usual.

Judging by the forecast though, business as usual could be some way away.

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