Even great Gai must obey the rules

GAI Waterhouse is correctly tabbed Racing’s First Lady. She is the face of the sport, an ambassador par excellence. But she is not above racing.

Gai Waterhouse

GAI Waterhouse is correctly tabbed Racing’s First Lady. She is the face of the sport, an ambassador par excellence and the racing person best known to the people in the street.

But she is not above racing.

Last Saturday week I was fined $106 on the way to Rosehill for doing 70kph in a zone marked 60kph. It was on a six lane highway and I think the speed limit is ridiculous, but that is the rules of the road and if I want to continue driving in NSW I must abide by the rules.

It is the same with Gai, she has to abide by the rules of racing, which the stewards again consider she did not by failing to report lameness in the horse Rockabil this week.

Racing is financed by the punters in the pubs and clubs of Bankstown, Penrith, Wagga, Grafton and wherever and the Racing NSW stewards want to make the sport transparent to give these investors the confidence to bet.

Gai may think she is the best person to know whether a horse in her stable is lame or is fit to race and she may be right, but those punters who backed More Joyous in the All Aged Stakes might not necessarily agree with her.

John O’Shea reported to stewards before Wednesday’s Newcastle meeting that his horse Savvy Nature, who won the Spring Stakes, had a slight problem and he did the same with Kingdoms before the Hill Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. Both horses were inspected by officials and given the all clear, absolutely no problem.
If it is good enough for John O’Shea it is good enough for Gai Waterhouse.

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It is the same with Glen Boss. Stewards, from a safety perspective, don’t want jockeys standing high in the irons with 50 metres to go in races to celebrate and the Boss Man was fined $2000 for the offence on Mr O’Ceirin at Caulfield.

Terry Bailey, the Chief Steward, summed it up to me yesterday, “I know people see us as the fun stopping police and we don’t want to take the theatre out of racing, but there is a level of tolerance.”
Again they are the rules.
 

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Do we need to look more closely at the movement of the rail on racetracks following the brilliance of Randwick on Saturday with the rail in the true position and the fiasco at Caulfield with the rail out nine metres?

Why in the hell were jockeys still moving off the rails in the last race at Randwick when Barbed and Angel Bee in particular plus a few others had used the fence to their advantage.

It made the difference between winning and losing for Josh Parr on Sessions in the last and he must have been giggling when he was presented with such a clear run from midfield.

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There is no room for sentiment in the “knock ‘em down - drag ‘em out” world of racing, but I was tickled pink to see Peter Snowden lead in a winning treble with Guelph, Barbed and Sessions at Randwick.

Not everything has gone right for the big Darley team in the first few months of the season, but give him the cattle and bring on the big days and Snowden will get the job done.

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Opinion, a winner at the Royal Ascot carnival formerly trained by Sir Michael Stoute and part owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, will arrive in Australia on Saturday to join the Chris Waller team. After a fortnight’s quarantine at Werribee he will enter the trainer’s Flemington stables and could be seen in the Moonee Valley or Geelong Cups.

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What a gallant mare Streama is. She made it eight wins, three G1s, four G2s and a Listed race, when she won the George Main Stakes on Saturday and there is more to come.

I also thought the run of the runner-up Royal Descent was tip top with this staying mare right on target for the Caulfield Cup.

Keep an eye out too, if she runs at Canterbury on Wednesday, for Royal Descent’s young sister Chateau Lafaite, who is supposed to be pretty good.

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RIDE OF THE WEEK

Blake Shinn on Toydini at Newcastle on Wednesday. An absolutely top notch jockey.

RUN OF THE DAY

Guelph. She’s back. Looked a million dollars winning the Tea Rose at Randwick.

FORGET IT RAN

Puissance De Lune. Had little more than a barrier trial when they walked in the Underwood Stakes.