The Australian media led chiefly by Fairfax Newspapers and the ABC have the knives out for Australian Racing.With allegations of "race fixing", "smart drug use"and of star jockey Damien Oliver seemingly admitting to betting against his mount to the tune of $10,000 racing has had all the "wrong" publicity through the Spring Carnival.With the ABC running a story tonight about ex racehorses being auctioned off for slaughter and the almost certainty that there are more damning allegations waiting to be aired racing is on the ropes.
Australian Racing is awash with money but the people administering the sport spend it like a "drunken sailor".Today's AJC meeting at Hawksbury began with a 4 runner race for 2-y-o's, 3 of which were from the same stable.Prize money for this "egg and spoon" affair was $35,000.If you work in retail,hospitality or a racing stable that's about what you'd earn after tax for dragging your arse out of bed and going to work full time for a whole year.The racing fraternity may not like that comparison being highlighted but it illustrates how inflated the prize money levels have become at the expense of other areas of racing that are hopelessly neglected.
Unfortunately there is little hope of much change anytime soon with the vested interests that benefit from the status quo ensuring that all appointees to positions of power are committed to carrying on much as usual.Meanwhile, racing here will continue is slow but steady decline.
Spectacular event in Queensland this morning with a full Solar Eclipse.Palm Cove Beach where I am fortunate to live was thronged with visitors from around the globe.At daybreak there was such heavy cloud cover that the whole thing looked in danger of happening unseen but the clouds broke around 25 minutes before the full eclipse.Truly a breathtaking experience and I feel very lucky to have witnessed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment