ANOTHER week, another track drama in Victoria.
Today’s races were moved away from the Geelong Synthetic track to a heavy 10 at Pakenham.
Genius stuff.
This is the excuse they gave at Racing Victoria.
Pro-Ride undertook routine maintenance of the Geelong Synthetic track this week to ensure it’s at its optimum for the remainder of the winter period, but ran short of the binding agent being utilised which thus resulted in an inconsistent racing surface being delivered.
So because some contractor, which gets paid more than $200,000 a year, couldn’t do its job properly, the industry suffers.
You only have to look at today’s fields at Pakenham to see they should have called off the whole meeting and run a 12-race card at Geelong on Tuesday, starting at 11am with 30-minute gaps between races.
But that would make too much sense.
There were 128 acceptances for the Geelong program and yesterday just 48 horses started.
That’s a miserly 37.5 per cent.
With two three-horse fields and two with five, it was easy pickings for some connections.
Luckily those that scratched aren’t going to put out too badly.
Racing Victoria has announced that compensation will be paid to those horses scratched from today’s race meeting which was transferred late yesterday to Pakenham from Geelong Synthetic.
“The connections of each horse scratched after the transfer was effected will receive $600 compensation in recognition of this transfer resulting from works not being satisfactorily completed by our contractor Pro-Ride, rather than due to the impacts of inclement weather,” RV chief executive Rob Hines said.
“We have also waived the standard scratching fee for today’s meeting and where acceptances warrant it, we will consider options for splitting races over the coming weeks to afford those horses another opportunity.”
So at least that is something.
The real story is the synthetic track.
Geelong has been a great servant to the Victorian racing industry for quite some time now and it’s clear the state needs another synthetic track.
The new racetrack at Tynong, which will be ironically run by the Pakenham Racing Club, is the obvious location, as it’s based on the east side of Melbourne – a region where a lot of meetings are abandoned in the winter.
But that’s a story for another day.
We have a cracking program at Flemington tomorrow and that’s where our attention goes now.
I’ve decided to preview race six on the card, the Winter Championship Series Final over 1600m.
Flemington Race 6. Odds courtesy TAB Sportsbet.
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1. CHOSEN TO FLY
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Hasn’t put a hoof wrong this prep but is untested over the mile.
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$18
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2. LORD PYRUS
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Not for me.
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$26
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3. DOUBTFUL JACK
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Won this race by a massive 6.5 lengths two years ago and I give him a massive chance tomorrow.
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$18
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4. GLANEUSE
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Needs to grow another leg.
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$41
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5. YULALONA
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Could run a cheeky race but you’d be backing her with no real confidence.
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$41
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6. THERE’S ONLY ONE
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Have to respect the stable at the moment but for some reason I prefer Doubtful Jack over this mare. Luke Nolen factor?
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$4
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7. GOLD SAND
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Would have to improve and won’t.
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$21
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8. GAIL
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A favourite of Melbourne Racing in the past, I like Gail but I can’t see her turning the tables on some of these.
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$13
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9. SOPHRYOSYNE
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Making up the numbers.
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$18
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10. STONEBLACK
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Might be one of the multiples.
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$18
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11. SUSSURO
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Definitely a factor considering she’s in winning form. Slow track won’t be a concern.
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$14
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12. POPULATION
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Form is horrible, so I can’t tip him, but it wouldn’t surprise to see him run a good race.
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$51
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13. FUTURE SOLUTION
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Well in the market but I prefer others.
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$9
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14. GALILEO GOLD
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Won extremely well the other day but prior to that had been disappointing. I’ll be happy to risk him but a repeat of his last run would have him right in this.
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$9.50
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15. CANNONBALL
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Shouldn’t have been allowed into Australia.
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$101
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16. MENADOS
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Lightly raced gelding with a big future but is up against some pretty seasoned opposition. A win wouldn’t surprise but I’m happy to risk.
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$3.80
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17. IT’S PRINCE
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They should scratch.
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$81
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18. SAPTAPADI
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Won’t be getting a run.
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$41
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This is a good race and one that should be competitive. I give winning chances to a few horses, mostly because a lot of them are stepping up to 1600m after lead-up runs. The horse I keep coming back to, though, is Doubtful Jack. He’s no superstar but he’s better than a lot of these and he finds suitable conditions today. Have something each-way on him at really good odds.
