Page 2 - Racing Editor News Today

Internationals have shown "zero interest" in booking flights for Melbourne Cup horses, RSN Racing Editor Matt Stewart writes.

The Ramsden winner gains a free ticket into the Melbourne Cup and prior to his last start flop, Persan would have appeared the obvious of the 10 Ramsden runners to sweep through Saturday and be competitive in the first week of November. Persan had a marathon 11-run campaign last year finishing either first or second leading up to his Melbourne Cup fifth, after a first-up third over 1400m in Wangaratta last April. Maher said Persan was among about eight horses currently in Australia that Maher...

RSN927 BAFFERT’S PREAKNESS WAITING GAME May 12, 2021 8:51 am By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Medina Spirit is far from out of the woods on the eve of the Preakness Stakes as sentiment turns on his trainer Bob Baffert, who has now found a second potential cause of the colt’s failed Kentucky Derby drug test. Baltimore and will be allowed to run “after following rigorous conditions” of entry according to race officials. But pre-race swab samples for the Preakness will not be available ...

CLIFF BROWN – FROM “TERRIBLE” TO LION OF SINGAPORE May 12, 2021 3:33 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Big Singapore to a land of giants. He’s under no illusions about where he will fit in or how difficult the task of matching motors with the new giants of the game. Speaking on Racing Pulse in Mornington this morning, Brown reminded listeners of his humorously downbeat personality, as he prepared to reignite his local career after 12 years in Singapore. Brown said he was “a little...

RSN927 IS CHRIS BROWN THE SECOND BILL VLAHOS? May 11, 2021 10:43 am By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Over a decade after Bill Vlahos robbed punters of millions of dollars, and now faces jail, a similar story of alleged high-rolling deception is unravelling in Perth. Just like Vlahos, baby-faced alleged fraudster Chris Brown drew punters from all walks of life into his world of punting promises; businessmen, farmers, former school mates, sporting stars, racing figures. Creditors are chasing $...

RSN927 KAH IS QUEEN BUT NO WAY SHE’D TACKLE THE ANNUAL May 10, 2021 3:28 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Jamie Kah took it in her stride on Saturday when she arrived at Caulfield to ride six hotpots. But the idea of following her fiancé Clayton Douglas over the scary-big obstacles at the Bool – a different story. Kah the superstar played temporary second fiddle to Douglas last week at the famous TAB Warrnambool May carnival. She had a handful of rides, for no winners, and seemed co...

RSN927 IS BOB BAFFERT FIT AND PROPER? May 10, 2021 12:34 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Is Bob Baffert a serial cheat or serially negligent? Or this time – Baffert’s umpteenth drug breach – is America’s most celebrated horse trainer the victim? Again? “I got the biggest gut-punch in racing, for something I didn’t do”, Baffert insisted after his Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive to betamethasone and may be disqualified, pending testing of a reserve sample....

RSN927 WARRNAMBOOL IN MAY, THE GREAT ESCAPE May 3, 2021 2:32 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  When jumps horses were dropping like flies a decade ago, prompting Racing Victoria boss Rob Hines to conduct a crisis meeting in the Warrnambool steward’s room on Grand Annual Day, racing was confronted with a couple of unimaginables. The three days of the 2009 May racing carnival were the darkest in jumps racing history. Six jumpers had perished in 14 days. Twelve had died in 12 months and th...

RSN927 WILL SCANS ONLY RULE OUT MELBOURNE CUP? May 3, 2021 12:29 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  What options remain if a horse is scanned out of the Melbourne Cup? According to Racing Victoria, future racing options for a horse who fails a Melbourne Cup CT scan “would depend on what it shows.” “Each would be assessed on its individual merits,” a spokesman said, adding that RV would communicate with international and local vets and trainers in coming weeks to “address their quer...

RSN927 AMATEUR OR MEGASTAR, THE AMBULANCE STILL FOLLOWS April 21, 2021 11:31 am By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  As death of a female amateur jockey in England last Sunday is a reminder of the unique risks of the only sport that has an ambulance at its tail. Whether hero or toiler – like ill-fated English amateur Lorna Brooke – the danger is the same, day in, day out. In no other sport does the dark cloud hang lower and heavier and more relentless over its competitors. You wonder why the...