Racing NSW right on track with Rosehill transfer decision

WHETHER they get to race or not, the Racing NSW decision to transfer Saturday's Rosehill races to today was definitely the way to go.

Ken Callander - dinkus

WHETHER they get to race or not, the Racing NSW decision to transfer Saturday's Rosehill races to today was definitely the way to go.

Racing needs leadership and, by putting Saturday's prizemoney up for grabs today, those investing their lives and their money in the industry know that those at the top of the tree are genuinely looking out for them.

What's more, us punters need something to bet on.

How many remember the Golden Slipper was postponed to a Wednesday in 1963 when it was too wet to race on the Saturday and the South Australian Pago Pago beat a class field, including Time And Tide and Heirloom, four days later?

IT is great to see Tommy Berry keen to continue his racing career in Australia and live out his childhood dream of riding big winners at the Melbourne Cup carnival despite the temptation of earning huge dollars in Hong Kong.

I'm told Tommy could have had Darren Beadman's old job of stable jockey for John Moore if he had wanted it. Berry has ridden 17 winners in the two months he has been in Honkers and the punters love him.

I ORIGINALLY thought the new Randwick grandstand was going to be fabulous, but now I realise its shortcomings when in operation.

Those who designed it didn't realise that punters, unlike spectators at football or cricket matches, go up and down to their seats in the grandstand six or seven times a day and those who sit in flash restaurants stay in the one position all day.

The high-flyers' Chairman's Club and Members Dining Room should have been at the top of the stand, not on the first level. Surely those who designed Randwick had a look at Rosehill and Canterbury and saw how these tracks work so well and are so user friendly.

I was amazed to find out on Saturday that the fourth level of the grandstand had been sublet to a company intending to run some sort of private club.

Too much was attempted with the $150 million budget when redesigning Randwick. The pulling down of the less-than-20-year-old betting pavilion, which cost $7 million plus, was silly and wasteful as it deprived the track of a decent betting ring and the public of some undercover space, which is at a premium in the new set-up.

As for the $16 million spent on the Theatre Of The Horse, what can you say? It was a good idea, but is not workable and a new parade ring will have to be built where the old one used to be.

THOSE who love jumps racing (count me among the fans) would have loved the Kevin Lafferty Hurdle at Warrnambool yesterday when Wells beat Gotta Take Care, Macedonian and Black And Bent.

Black And Bent, the Australian record-holder with 10 jumps wins in a row before his previous start defeat, was not beaten far into fourth spot. But with 72kg to hump he found it tough against the up-and-comers.

Punters knew what they were doing on the race, backing the winner into $2.90 favouritism.

BREEDING whiz Tara Madgwick pointed out in her Breednet publication during the week that despite more than 3000 yearlings being sold in Australia last year, the winners of all five two-year-old Group 1 races this season were bred and retained by their owners.

WE have plenty of top riders in their 20s in Sydney - Tommy and Nathan Berry, Blake Shinn and Brenton Avdulla included.

But are any of them better than Craig "Froggy" Newitt, the kid from Tasmania, who chalked up his 100th winner of the season (all tracks) on Black 'N' Tough at Moonee Valley on Saturday?