Worner back in the saddle?

Illustration: Rod Clements

Could Tim Worner be heading to the racing world? His year-long gardening leave that followed his departure from Seven West Media last August is up any day now.

And Margin Call reckons the odds are shortening for Worner to end up in the sport of kings. Sure the racing world is awash with rumours, but racing has been one of Worner’s passions away from the office.

Indeed he had a Darwin Cup entrant earlier this month, the six-year-old galloper Live And Free, which he co-owns alongside Seven presenter Hamish McLachlan, his brother Gillon, the AFL chief, and cricket legend Michael Slater.

It finished a lucky seventh.

Worner could potentially be a candidate to replace David Attenborough who recently announced he will be stepping down as the wagering giant Tabcorp chief. There’s also a board seat vacancy at Tabcorp since its chairman Paula Dwyer retires later this year, to be replaced by board member Steven Gregg.

As a longshot punt he could take a senior role at Sky Racing, which would see him combine his racing and broadcasting.

All the options would involve turning his back on Racing.com, which he helped set up in 2015 backed by Seven West Media, Racing Victoria, with CrownBet as their wagering partner.

Palmer cops a pasting

Western Australians have awoken to Clive Palmer’s image plastered across The West Australian’s front pages this week. Mostly grotesque images.

Editor Anthony De Ceglie has led the colourful parochial campaign against the Queensland billionaire.

Palmer has been unpopular in the west on two fronts, his campaign to break down the border to stay at his $4.6m Applecross home to oversee his mining empire, plus this week’s $30bn damages claim over his Balmoral South iron ore project.

The latest mash up had Palmer’s face on a cockroach.

“He won’t go away,” the West’s Friday front page screamed. On Thursday his face was more aptly slapped on a cane toad, where he was labelled a “pest”.

There was also a face swap as popular villain Dr Evil, the nemesis of the comedic English spy Austin Powers.

There was no rapturous laughter from the WA government at his damages claim with legislation quickly passed by parliament on Thursday night designed to quash the claim by Palmer. And De Ceglie’s paper was there at Government House to photograph WA governor Kim Beazley sign off on the emergency law to protect the state which Palmer will challenge in the High Court.

Palmer has since labelled Western Australia a “banana republic” and “outlaw state”.

Hermes fire sale

An oil portrait of the piano playing Madame Adeline de Nogaret, dated 1820, once part of the collection of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace, is among the items listed in the contents auction of property developer Gary Baker.

The 150 items that could gross $1.1m have been listed as his 37-year-marriage to Karin Upton Baker, the boss of Hermes, comes to an end. The painting could fetch up to $60,000 at its August 25 auction through Shapiro Auctioneers.

Details are scant on the French School-style painting, although its provenance includes the style-setters Leo Schofield and the late Martyn Cook.

All up there are 52 Hermes items, from boots to dresses, jackets to suitcases.

Baker is selling 12 Hermes bags which could secure $200,000-plus. He’s also offloading 12 Hermes ties and pocket squares likely to fetch $3600.

Amid the Hermes horde is a 1940s L G Humphries & Sons art deco diamond bracelet, with a $150,000 estimate.

Lowy unplugged

The documentary on Frank Lowy, who changed the way the world shopped, hits the Foxtel screens 7.30 Sunday night after premiering at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, then the Sydney Film Festival, last year.

The insights were filmed around the time Sir Frank, who turns 90 in October, faced the difficult choice whether or not to go with the Westfield Group sale to Europe-based Unibail-Rodamco.

It traces the story of the billionaire’s past as he grappled with family, work and ageing.

The film, What Will Become of Us, was directed by Oscar-nominated documentary director Steven Cantor. Born in 1930 in what was then Czechoslovakia and forced to live in a Hungarian ghetto during WWII, Lowy lived as a refugee in France, Cyprus, Palestine and Israel before making his home in Sydney in 1952.

He admits his start in life made him “harder than I otherwise would have been”, but it also left him determined to ensure his family would never have to face the uncertainty he did.

Following Lowy back to the small town in Slovakia where he was born, then to Budapest where he was living when his father Hugo disappeared at Auschwitz, What Will Become of Us shows the billionaire in twilight reflection.

His decision as to whether to sell was one of the hardest he’d ever made, especially coming without the guidance of his closest ally, wife Shirley who’s been suffering from Alzheimers.

Lowy, who lives in Tel Aviv, spoke from Israel during Lag b’Omer in May, contrasting the COVID lockdown with his Holocaust years.

Class action heats up

Justice Michael Lee, the Federal Court judge overseeing the shareholder class action against logistics provider GetSwift and three executives, has faced an application that he recuse himself from hearing the matter.

Lee has vacated the looming September 15 trial date.

GetSwift and its managing director Joel Macdonald, the former AFL footballer, filed their interlocutory application this week on the grounds of apprehended bias.

Justice Lee is also presiding over the hearing brought by the ASIC against GetSwift, Macdonald, former company president Bane Hunter and former general counsel Brett Eagle. Lee has reserved his decision on the recusal.

They argue Lee can’t hear both trials without giving rise to a risk of bias because of the overlapping issues.

The Phi Finney McDonald-led class action was lodged in April 2018, with Elizabeth Collins SC pursuing the matter. GetSwift and Macdonald are represented by Matthew Darke SC, instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

Island retreat

It seems the Foxes aren’t the only weekenders keen to get down to Phillip Island in a chopper.

Peter Anastasiou, the executive chairman at the biopharma company Immuron, and wife Kristine, could possibly be minded to do so having snapped up the historic 33 hectare Trenavin Park at Ventnor.

They’ve owned on the island since 2009, and are keen to give the 90 minute commute to Smiths Beach a miss.

Andrew Fox, Lindsay’s son, typically gets down by chopper, being responsible for the Grand Prix circuit which Linfox has owned for 16 years.

The historic Trenavin Park sold recently for $8.15m, having had a price guide of $7m to $7.7m, through Christie’s international Prestige Homes of Victoria listing agents Sean Cussell and Marcus Heron.