Austrotforum

Historical bits (1).." THESE STANDARDBREDS...WHERE DID THEY COME FROM"..

To answer that question,we must go offshore and back in time,to the family tree of that "most magnificent of mongrels",the English thoroughbred.As recorded history will have it,the gallopers who continually cut across our Sky Channel coverage are descended from just three Middle eastern stallions ,the Byerley Turk,which came to the UK in 1688,the Darley Arabian imported in 1704 and the Godolphin Arabian which entered the Earl of Godolphin's stud after the Darley Arabian's incredible son,Flying Childers had set the turf on fire.They were desert horses and the arabs had practised selective breeding for many centuries so a strong gene pool was part of the package.The net effect of these three horses and their descendants can be seen in the much larger speed machines of today,very few ponies get to the top of the galloping tree in this country.

Enter Messenger,a grey thoroughbred ,foaled in England in 1780,and winning eight of fourteen starts on the turf.1788 saw Messenger imported into America to assist in the restoration of horse numbers after the War of Independence.He was an outstanding sire of gallopers,but,as was the practice in those times,he was put over all types of mares.He is described as having large nostrils and a fiery eye.He was never tried at the trot,but was said to exhibit a long stride and a high knee action when trotting under sadlle.It was the speedy road horses that Messenger sired which later proved the grey to be the foundation sire of the modern standardbred.Three generations later,a horse described as,"the in-bred great grandson of a runner" (Messenger) began to extend the influence of Messenger's gait and speed.This horse,Hambletonian 10,which carried in his dam line a dose of Norfolk Trotter blood through Bellfounder,is present in the extended pedigree of every pacer or trotter in Australia and New Zealand today.And that,via the process of importation is WHERE THEY CAME FROM!!... Much much more to come.regards,Denis..

Bibliography...The Turf..(Roger Longrigg) Australia's Trotting Heritage (Max Agnew)..

Scroll down for "THE WEEK THAT WAS"..

Posted by dlsmith at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"TROT TACTICS"..30/04/2011..

For many years now,the super stallion Fake Left has collected trophies for his prodigious efforts in the breeding barn.Some of the sires key stats include,live foals..1331,starters 905,individual winners 805,total prizemoney,a blistering $50,783,568 and,average per starter,$ 53,456.The above including Blacks A Fake's $4.5 million as the richest pacer in harness history.Fake Left stood at Egmont Park,Oakey, a property which was bought by NSW based Burns Bloodstock in 2003 with a view to expanding their standardbred operation.The Burns family have not unearthed a Fake Left yet,but their flagship stallion PB Bullville currently boasts the impressive figures of 84 individual winners from just 122 progeny to have raced to date..


Burns Bloodstock has not lost hope for the sport in Queensland,and Paul Burns believes that a restoration of the "Double Q-Bred" bonus is one of the best tools to entice new owners into the game and to revitalise some who may be disillusioned with prizemoney levels.To facilitate this,Burns believes that the three levels of prizemoney which apply to the winner of a race,"Double Q-Bred","Q-Bred" and "Basic Prizemoney",should be printed in the racebook and a symbol identifying the relevant level should appear beside the name of each runner.It's easy to understand,and might persuade owners who regularly import horses into Queensland of the wisdom in keeping a mare in the Sunshine State and mating her to PB Bullville..You could do a lot worse..

The sport itself could do a lot better if it could find a simple recipe to build on-course attendances.Since bookmakers were consigned to the bin by the mobile conditioned racing format,(unbeatable favourites,and a betting rule which required bookies to set punters for a fixed minimum result...often $600 which soon cleaned them out),the prime reason for on-course attendance went in the same bin.Jeroen Niewenburg,a major harness owner and punter puts the ball squarely in the Government's court when he calls for a 10% on-course bonus for all for all bet types in a bid to lure the fans back to the track.Jeroen suggests that the $80 million that the government proposes to give racing over the next four years would be well spent on providing that 10% premium as it would be re-invested in due course and the betting tax involved would flow back to Treasury.Let your mind run with this,and think of all those gate receipts flowing to the host club,from there into additional prizemoney and from there to owners,giving them funds to breed or buy horses.It's a bit like perpetual motion and I'll bet Burns Bloodstock would find merit in it,as would many others..

Resultsville..Gold Coast 21/04..Deadly Smile (Pete McMullen for Shane Sanderson)..Sign To Inverell (Darrel Graham)..Jet Spot (Charlie Cini for Bob Foster)..Whata Shaw Thing (Pete for John McMullen)..Da Svidanya (Adam Richardson for Darrel Graham)...Albion Park 23/04 White Eye Markei(Darrel Graham)..Albion Park 25/04..Miss Falcon (Tom McGuire for Chris McGuire)..Gladys Emanuel (Scott Neaves for Graham Harriott)..Albion Park 26/04..Melton Claus(Pete for John McMullen)..Artzone (Trent for Geoff Dawson)..Mach Dreamy (Peter Greig for Jeff Wallace)..Delectable Dolly (Brett for Max Towns)...Redcliffe 27/04..Slipperyville (Gary Whitaker for Bill Crosby)..River Franco (Pete McMullen for Shane Sanderson)...Gold Coast 28/04..Astrophe (Pete for John McMullen)..Montana Flyer (Chantal for Tony Turpin)..Spiderman Two (Ricky Gordon)..Forte Denario (Glenn Dawson for Mark Rees)..Hanky Panky (Ken Belford)...

Selections for Albion Park tonight..R 1: E/w 1: Boydy Hart (S.Graham)..R 2: E/w 1: Dixie Bromac (G.Dixon)..R 3: Quinella 6-9: Gold Pay (M.Dux) and Jaccka Limon (H.Green)..R 4: E/w 3: Mia Amico (P.McMullen)..R 5: Quinella 1-8: Iguanette (C.Hay) and Falcons Legend (B.Cowen)..R 6: No 3: Pub Blitz (J.Wanless)..R 7: No 6: Fox Valley Appeal (G.Whitaker)..R 8: E/w 5: Marshall Law (G.Dixon).. R 9: E/w 1: Karter Brown (G.Dixon)..R 10: E/w 2: Une De Mai (G.Dixon)..

Posted by dlsmith at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"TROT TACTICS"..23/04/2011....

Easter is upon us,and while we might be looking forward to family celebrations,reality is still with us.Last Sunday's meeting with the Honourable John Mickel,(Member for Logan and Speaker of the House) had,as its main purpose,carrying the message to the Racing Minister(Tim Mulherin) and the Premier(Anna Bligh) that the participants in Queensland harness racing want well and truly OUT of the tri-code amalgamated body which is Racing Queensland Ltd.The rule of "first things first" applied on the day and the Member for Logan has undertaken to broaden his grasp of matters peculiar to harness racing which are not being considered by RQ Ltd in their decision making process.We as a sport have many problems at this point in time,but none of these are insurmountable,and,should we be able to break away from the amalgamated body,our new administrators may realise that it will rest on their shoulders to put the sport back up high on the list of entertainments.

One thing that should be considered by any or all racing administrations is the banning of the term"racing industry" in relation to what is a sporting event which supplies three things.Firstly,an entertaining and exciting spectacle,secondly,a betting medium,and,thirdly,a method of distributing prizemoney to a number of the race contestants.Our on and off course numbers continue to be eroded and this process must be reversed.The varous football codes,the cricketers etc all embrace professionalism,but,they never use the term football industry,or cricket industry.There is sound reasoning behind this,"industry" brings with it the perception of paid labour.In all seriousness,would you spend your leisure time and dollars watching someone WORK!!.Think about that..

It's on at Marburg Showground this afternoon..Marburg trots..Bookies,Beer,good cheap food and the best of country pacing.And,in move not to be repeated until this time next year,free easter Eggs for the kids.Roll up around 11.00am for the official trials and the last of five races will go at 3.30pm.Just the place for an afternoons fun and the chance to back a winner on the gallops as well as the locals..

An apology is due to the McCall family as I failed to record the passing of Beryl McCall due to long term illness some three weeks back.Beryl was the wife of Ronny McCall who at one stage trained a huge team of pacers from stables in Knight Street,Redcliffe for the Ingham brothers.What do you say about Beryl,other than she was a lovely,lovely lady.She is survived by Ronny and sons Norm ,Darren and Brian,and has Glamorganvale connections through Gail and Geoff Dawson..She is gone,but she will never be forgotten..

Resultsville..To Wednesday 20/4 only....Gold Coast 15/04..Maywyn Jasper (Pete McMullen for Shane Sanderson)..Rhudmore Ali (Pete McMullen)..Jordan Ashleigh (Trent for Geoff Dawson)...Albion Park 16/04..Acutabovethe rest (Ray Law)...Albion Park 18/04..Western Chill (Chris McGuire)..Ima Rolling Red (Tom McGuire for Chris McGuire)..Montana Flyer (Chantal for Tony Turpin)..My Mate Billy (Greg Elkins)Vancelot Robyn (Chris Petroff for Al Barnes)..Forte Denario (Mark Rees)...Albion Park 19/04..Hitemup (Darrel Graham)..Spiderman Two (Ricky Gordon)...Redcliffe 20/04..Slipperyville (Gary Whitaker for Bill Crosby)..Western Mail (Gary Whitaker for Bill Crosby)...

Selections for Albion Park tonight..(check drivers).. R 1: Box Trifecta 1-2-3: Boydy Hart (S.Graham)--Maria Callas (C.Turpin)--White Eye Markei (D.Graham)..R 2: E/w 1: Rockys Image(K.Dawson)..R 3 Quinella 3-4: Elzar (G.Dixon) and Karter Brown (B.Cockburn)..R 4: E/w 3: Kenmore Atya ( no driver)..R 5: Quinella 2-4: Place Your Bet (L.Weidemann) and Caesars Folly (L.Weidemann)..R 6: E/w 4: Falcons Legend (L.Weidemann)..R 7: E/w 3: Abbey Tiara (G.Dixon)..R 8: No 11: Forever Gold (K.Rasmussen).. R 9: Quinella 6-10: Emperor Montana (C.Petroff) and Montana Falcon (D.Graham)..R 10: Box Trifecta 4-5-9: Montrose Kid (no driver) --Une De Mai (G.Dixon)--Head Over Heals (No driver)...

Marbur selections this afternoon..R 1: E/w 8: Watchandwonder (D.Chalk)..R 2: E/w 1: DiaboloDancer (Clint wilson)..R 3: E/w 3: Melton Bon Baron)(P.McMullen)..R 4: E/w 5: Melton Assassin (P.McMullen)..R 5: E/w 2: Village Lou (D.Russell)...

Posted by dlsmith at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim Nicholls
Deputy Opposition Leader
Shadow Treasurer
LNP Member for Clayfield
Ray Stevens
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Racing
LNP Member for Mermaid Beach
21 April 2011
LNP pledges to resurrect the state’s racing industry
The LNP is committed to reviving and rebuilding the state’s racing industry after the long years of disgraceful neglect by the Labor government.
LNP Shadow Treasurer Tim Nicholls, who has the state’s major thoroughbred and harness racing tracks in his electorate, said he would be a strong voice for the industry in the shadow cabinet.
“I believe the industry has been treated shabbily by Labor – which has never cared about racing or the jobs and enjoyment it provides for so many Queenslanders.
“With me as Shadow Treasurer, and backed up by the passionate advocacy of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Racing Ray Stevens, the LNP will work closely with the industry in an effort to repair the damage caused by Labor’s policies.
“Labor has deliberately set out to wreck the industry – with plans to sell off iconic race tracks as well as closing and downgrading other facilities. People whose livelihoods are threatened have voiced their outrage – but the government is ignoring them,” Mr Nicholls said.
‘At particular risk under Labor policies are the state’s country and provincial clubs and facilities.
“The LNP is already committed to scrapping Labor’s disastrous one industry board proposal, and return power to separate groups for gallops, trots, and dogs.
“Under an LNP government Queenslanders will power the state again, not politics.”
Media contact: Tim Nicholls 0438 859145
Ray Stevens 0417 750 503

Posted by dlsmith at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Selections for Albion Park tonight...R 1: E/w 8: Spirit Of Oaks (M.Neilson)..R 2: First four 2-5-10-11: Something Slippery (J.Mccarthy)--Karter Brown (G.Dixon)--Our White Knight (C.Petroff)..R 3:Quinella 4-8: Mach Zephyr (S.Graham) and Caesars Folly (L.Weidemann)..R 4: E/w 2: Pub Blitz (J.Wanless)..R 5: E/w 3: Place Your Bet (L.Weidemann)..R 6: E/w 8: Tenderloin (M.Neilson)..R 7: First four 4-5-6-8: Effective Torque (K.Rasmussen)--Sterita (G.Dixon)--Torque In Motion (S.Graham)--Abbey Tiara (N.Rasmussen)..R 8: E/w 3: Connor Patrick (D.Graham)..R 9: E/w 3: Cullen Hanover (G.Dixon)..R 10: E/w 3: Boydy Hart (S.Graham)...

Posted by dlsmith at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"TROT TACTICS"...09/04/2011...

Sadly,by the time you read this,the 2011 Inter-Dominion Grand Final will have been run and won.It's a bit like Christmas morning when you charge out to have a look under the tree.Looking at the situation as far out as Thursday night,the No 2 barrier has put Blacks A Fake right in the firing line to win the Grand final for an unprecedented fifth time.Trainer/driver Natalie Rasmussen would be ecstatic with the draw as the Black Superman put in a fabulous run in his second round heat,taking big ground off a desperately driven Smoken Up in the run home.Apart from Villagem,the more favoured Aussies drew the second line.It's just a bit harder from there in a race where you need luck as well as incredible ability to get the cash..

The Hackett inquiry into allegations of team driving has found that,while the perception of problems remains,after close study of a great many race videos,and interviewing a number of paticipants,hard evidence of collusion is difficult to find.Acting Chief Steward,John Hackett,fully cognisant that this finding does not properly address the matter,will instruct his stewards panels to apply a vigorous proactive approach to any race tactics which appear not to be kosher.Hackett believes that this pressure will keep trainers and drivers focussed on their obligations to the betting public..Questions will be asked and satisfactory answers will be required.Combining that policy with an easily understood and punter-friendly racing format will go a long way towards selling our product to Joe and Jo-Anne Average-Punter.

Debbie Summerhayes is a hobby trainer based at Bundamba.This concerned and thinking lady has sent yours truly her thoughts on one factor which affects us in our fight (if our leaders are actually engaged in such a battle) to grow TAB turnover.

Debbie writes...."If you want a more graphic and instant idea why the corporates are leaving the Totes for dead click on to UNiTAB and see what it has to offer. Then click on to www.sportsbet.com.au and glance at the services available to
all punters big and small. Little wonder the tote turnovers are spiraling downwards.And the saddest aspect is that it’s the Tote that keeps the industry going.Profits from the corporates or at least the big operators go off-shore.That is why it is imperative that NSW retains its landmark Federal victory in the turnover tax case that is now subject to appeal by the corporates who wish to pay a percentage of gross profit,rather than a smaller percentage of their turnover,which at the end of the day,should be their correct,and much larger fee for the use of our product."

Today's big deals are the Farmcraft Equine Expo which runs at Rosewood Showgrounds from 8am to 4pm and features a huge trade fair, exhibitions,lectures,campdraft and rodeo to finish off..All things for the horse and horse lover.Marburg trots are racing with trials starting at 11.45am and the first of five races at 12.45pm.Bookies,Beer,Barbeque and the Best of Country Racing.Make it a big day out..go to both!!

Selections for Marburg today..R 1: E/w 5: Cold Ideal (M.Sullivan)..R 2: E/e 6: Sweet Sacrifice (L.Hinze)..R 3: E/w 1: Dreams On Spot (R.Gordon)..R 4: E/w 4: Bundy Sunrise (G.Whitaker)..R 5: E/w 1: Say Again (L.Weidemann)..

Selections for Albion Park tonight..R 1: Quinella 1-4: Duly Elected (B.Cowen) and Something Slippery (J.McCarthy)..R 2: Box trifecta 3-5-10: Rainbow Stride (J.McCarthy)--Makin Magic (G.Dixon)--Badge Of Honour (P.McMullen)..R 3: Quinella 3-5: Glengarry Sunrise (C.Turpin) and Girl With Promise (G.Dixon)..R 4: E/w 3: Astro Khan (T.McCarthy)..R 5: E/w 1: Maria Callas (C.Turpin)..R 6: Quinella 4-7: Abbey Tiara (G.Dixon) and Fleur De Lil (L.McCarthy)..R 7: Quinella 1-3: White Eye Markei (D.Graham) and Jollygood Gent (J.McCarthy)...R 8: E/w 3: Watchandwonder (D.Chalk)..R 9: E/w 5: Miniature Classic (D.Russell)..R 10: Quinella 6-9: Une De Mai (G.Dixon) and Willy Lightfoot (B.Birch)..

Posted by dlsmith at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Race 5 RACING HERE SATURDAY 23 APRIL PACE 3:00 PM
R1 Only. Penalty Free event. For horses that have not won more than $1, 500 in their last 3 starts. DC. MC. PBD/R. Prizemoney: $1,000
1850 METRES MOBILE START
Form Horse Trainer Other Eng. Driver Class Hcp
1 73664 SAY AGAIN B F Sheehy Lola Weidemann R1 C1 FR1
2 33754 HIGHVIEW ZEN NZ G R Dawson Glenn Dawson R2 C0 FR2
3 24235 FROM THE NORTH D L Russell Dan Russell (C) R1 C0 FR3
4 09544 MELTON BON BARON J N McMullen Peter McMullen (C) R1 C1 FR4
5 248s6 HOLY CAMP HARRY G L Walsh Glenn Walsh R1 C0 FR5
---------- Second Row ----------
6 66913 OZ STRIKER J M Pascoe Justin Pascoe R1 C0 SR1
7 76263 STILL STANDING B H T Copelin Gary Whitaker R1 C1 SR2
8 09s44 GDAY TIGE A M Schultz Chantal Turpin (C) R1 C1 SR3

Posted by dlsmith at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)