Page 5 - Racing Editor News Today

RSN927 FIVE STRIKE LIMIT A SAFETY ISSUE, SAYS APPRENTICE February 15, 2021 5:49 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Laura Lafferty, who rode the winner of the first race conducted under Racing Victoria’s experimental whip rules, said a five-strike limit compromised jockey safety. Lafferty won a benchmark 64 aboard Jazz Star at Colac yesterday, the first of five races being held as RV puts into practice its push for further whip reform. The series, conducted only in 1600m races, will culmina...

RSN927 WHY ARE OUR TOP SPRINTERS RUNNING AWAY FROM THE NEWMARKET? February 15, 2021 1:28 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Over the course of well over a century, the Newmarket Handicap had established itself as Australia’s most famous and sought-after sprint race. It always enticed big fields, ranging from proven stars with big weights to hopeful lightweights, and carried a big purse that was the holy grail shimmering at the top of that famous straight. Like so many historic and famous ra...

RSN927 RAY HUXLEY; ROGUE, RACONTEUR, RACING POET February 12, 2021 4:49 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  I was having a coffee this morning with that great writer and raconteur Andrew Rule. We were talking about our great mate; marvelling at the many shades of Ray Huxley. Huxley died this morning, beaten to the wire by cancer. He confronted cancer head on, without blinking, as he did with every battle, including the epics Hucca waged at the racetrack. In the early days, first as a copy boy a...

RSN927 PADDOCKS ARE FOR COWS. WHY NOT A SEAMLESS SUMMER OF SPRINTING? February 11, 2021 12:23 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Would program continuity – as in eliminating the gap between spring and autumn – bolster flagging sprint fields in Melbourne through the summer? Spartan sprint ranks, highlighted by a lacklustre field of six in last month’s Australia Stakes at The eight-horse field for Saturday’s Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington is hardly spilling over but at le...

RSN927 PSST, THE LIGHTNING IS ON THIS SATURDAY, PASS IT ON. February 11, 2021 4:44 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  The pop-up races are polarising but you can’t say they’re not talked about. And talked and talked about, and marketed to the hilt. Every single feature race run in Sydney has been cast into the shadow of The Everest. First, Sydney over-promoted the half-disappointing and waterlogged Championships, at the expense of the Golden Slipper Stakes, which for decades had shared t...

\FROM CHARCOAL STICKS TO GREEN AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE – BUCHAN, A YEAR ON FROM CHARCOAL STICKS TO GREEN AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE – BUCHAN, A YEAR ON February 10, 2021 3:38 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  Just over a year ago, bushfire roared through the Buchan Valley. Dozens of homes were consumed by it, one human life was lost among an incalculable number of flora and fauna. The racetrack was also surely gone. The fire had galloped straight through it, turning trees into charcoal...

RSN927 By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  As horse racing has galloped into a more high-tech and informative era, the demand to know more has increased. Things that once occurred without anyone noticing, like far-flung jump-outs and even public trials, are no longer seen only by Johnny On The Spot or noted only in printed results. They are recorded and viewed by a click of a button. They are timed and analysed. Some are not easy to track down, buried down “rabbit warrens,” as trainer Dan Bo...

RSN927 BLOCKBUSTER FUTURITY FIELD, AT A BUDGET PRICE OF $500K February 9, 2021 5:49 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  It’s worth one tenth of the stake-money but the Futurity Stakes is shaping as every bit as good as the All Star Mile and a dream lead-up to the $5 million race. The established weight-for-age Futurity – as opposed to the third-year running of the pop-up All Star – is shaping as a mirror image of the far richer race. Betting markets are not identical but they feature i...

RSN927 ALL STAR’S WOBBLING BUT STILL ON TRACK February 8, 2021 5:13 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  There were blips over the weekend but the All Star Mile‘s headline horses remain on track for next month’s $5 million race. Mystic Journey and Arcadia Queen‘s campaign is back on track despite a COVID travel scare. Another big-name All Star horse, Russian Camelot, will trial at Werribee tomorrow before a potential Futurity Stakes clash at Caulfield on Saturday week with All Star r...

RSN927 REVIEW HAS POTENTIAL TO REKINDLE THE MELBOURNE CUP February 4, 2021 5:13 pm By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor  In less than eight weeks, Racing Victoria will lay bare its new rules for international horses. Whatever is revealed, whether that Werribee is retained or abandoned, vet checks are ramped up or entry dates are dramatically changed, the new rules will dramatically change the look and feel of the spring carnival, and most notably the Melbourne Cup. Those who believe the internatio...