The verdict: High stakes battle as racing prepares for tough stretch

As administrators do everything possible to keep the wheels of racing turning, the reality is that we are still only at the tip of the iceberg of the hurdles racing businesses face amid the COVID-19 fallout.

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As administrators around the country do everything possible to keep the wheels of racing turning, the brutal reality is that we are still only at the tip of the iceberg of the hurdles racing businesses face amid the COVID-19 fallout.

The fact racing is still going for the moment provides a little glimmer of hope and allows incomes to be derived, and hopefully it continues for some time to come. However financial pressures outside the racing bubble will contribute equally to the difficult road to recovery.

Sale companies Inglis and Magic Millions have tallied more than $300 million in yearling sales this year so far. You can bet they are carrying a big chunk of red ink in that figure with little prospect of a return in many cases.

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Trainers and syndication companies could find it tough to sell shares in yearlings amid the coronavirus crisis. Picture: Magic Millions

Trainers in turn will find it tougher to sell the yearlings they have bought and so will syndication companies. Carrying debt will be the new norm.

Of more immediate concern, is trainers’ ability to recoup unpaid training bills, which they have had a habit of carrying for extended periods over the years.

We’ve seen the revenue collapse of race clubs and they will come under further pressure when trainers struggle to pay rental fees for stables.

And what of punters that provide the returns for racing to distribute? Discretionary spends for entertainment purposes are going to tighten up too.

It’s going to be a domino effect not seen before. It underlines how the ability to keep racing for the moment is of desperate importance for so many livelihoods.

EAGLE FARM ON HOLD

Eagle Farm will be shelved from the new zoned racing model, with Saturday meetings to be held at Doomben for at least the next three Saturdays. Racing Queensland and the Brisbane Racing Club have agreed to use this window to conduct a mini-renovation on the track after remediation works have been conducted in recent weeks.

MINJEE MAGIC AFTER ALL

Rob Heathcote and Glenlogan Park’s Steve Morley didn’t waste any time stitching up a deal to buy Minjee from Highgrove Stud’s Ron Gilbert soon after she was passed in at last year’s Magic Millions sale. The $140,000 looks a bargain after her big win at Doomben on Saturday.

“I told Ronny I love this filly and asked him what’s wrong with her,” Morley said. “He said she was low risk on X-rays. Anyway she’s walking up and down as Rob arrives, I’m looking to buy her for Glenlogan, Rob comes up and says, ‘I love her, I’ll take her’.

“Unbeknown to me he had already seen the filly. So we split her half and half.”

Heathcote said he made a beeline for Gilbert as soon as she was passed in.

“Ron said she was a $300,000 filly all day long,” Heathcote said.

“Steve and I both loved her. Both of our vets said give her a bit of time and it would be 100 per cent. We got the filly for half price.”

Minjee (right) could prove to be bargain buy for trainer Rob Heathcote and Glenlogan Park’s Steve Morley after scoring a big win at Doomben. Picture: Trackside Photography

Gilbert said it’s yet another example of how the market place overreacts to X-rays at yearling sales.

“She had some minor knee issues and that affected the purchase price,” Gilbert said. “She should have made double what she made. It just shows what a heap of rubbish this X-ray issue is a lot of the time.

“I understand vets have to be cautious in the advice they give their clients, but good luck to the buyers who are prepared to overlook it, because they get a substantial discount in the purchase price.”

Glenlogan Park are in raptures with the family, as they paid $220,000 for the full-sister this year, who will be trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

EASTER RETURNS REDUCED

Gilbert predicts next month’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale will fall by 50 per cent in the wake of the coronavirus, which will see it conducted as a wholly online auction for the very first time.

“I line it up with the stock market and what’s happened there,” he said. “Horses will be similar I think. People who are shrewd will be buying some nice horses at a big discount.”

The Highgrove horses have been stabled at Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley for inspections.

Mark Du Plessis had a rough day at Doomben. Picture: AAP

LUCKY BREAK FOR HOOP

Fears Mark Du Plessis had suffered a broken leg after being kicked by a horse at Doomben thankfully proved unfounded, with X-rays clearing him of serious injury. “Mark is all good, no break and should be fine. Just a bit sore for a couple of days,” his manager Cameron Partington reported.

SMOOTH OPERATOR

Michael Cahill took a few rides to get back in the winning groove, but his silky touch was back in spades on Saturday, partnering Minjee and Sofie’s Gold Class to win.

While Cahill’s return is back on track, Jim Byrne is back on the sidelines. Byrne resumed from a broken leg earlier this month, but has had complications this week and doctors have advised he needs “another couple of months” on the sidelines.

ROUGH FOR ROCKY

The Capricornia Yearling Sale race series will go ahead in Rockhampton as part of zoned racing, but in accordance with other winter features going by the wayside, they will have reduced purses. The 2YO reduces to $75,000 and the 3YO will be $50,000, but two additional races will be programmed in the spring/summer for graduates of this sale.

Originally published as The verdict: High stakes battle as racing prepares for tough stretch