Sport is made for betting

Eye-opening story of the depth of corruption in NSW harness racing from Brent Zerafa. There have been rotten eggs in NSW harness racing for years, and for a sport which isn't as well funded as their thoroughbred counterparts, it was often ignored, put down to coincidence or consigned to the 'too hard' basket. Harness racing, or trotting as it is often known, is often called the 'red hots', signifying regular short-priced favourites and that all is not necessarily above board. Add to that the level of dodgy characters involved, particularly using the sport as a legitimate way to launder money, and you soon see why the image of the sport suffers. When punters whose golden goose is being killed off start firebombing stewards' cars, you know they've found something serious. Probe into alleged trots misconduct AN ANONYMOUS phone call to Harness Racing NSW was all it took to set in place a chain of events that threatened to expose a rampant underbelly. Ne...

Irish racing stewards post a strong case for most useless in the world, allowing races to start while jockeys aren't yet on board , suspending a jockey for overuse of the whip despite the fact he dropped it at the start or an on-course bookmaker doing a runner after a history of struggling to pay up. Now we have another dagger in the back of Irish punters, but this isn't one under their direct control - this is a government issue, a government who set a very high standard for financial mismanagement and cluelessness. Irish bookmaking chain Celtic Bookmakers have gone into receivership with debts of over €6m, yet are still allowed to trade, taking money off punters as if everything was OK. If a bookmaker shows the slightest sign of insolvency, they should have their licence suspended immediately to protect the industry and the faith of punters. Yates bookmaking firm in receivership AIB has appointed a receiver to Celtic Bookmakers Ltd. A statement from the directors, f...

Australian racing is right up there with the best of the world on many fronts - the flagship event of Aus racing, the Melbourne Cup gets a local (not national unfortunately) public holiday; the prizemoney at stake considering the number of race meetings held each year; the facilities at Flemington; the press coverage etc... But the one issue where it really stands head and shoulders above UK racing in particular is stewarding and the regard for punters. National stewards decide to put punters first in overhaul of rules STEWARDS from around the country emerged from a two-day conference in Launceston with the punter in mind. A revamp of betting deductions issued when horses are scratched late, an overhaul of the rortable jockey-challenge betting, the old commission-agent bogey, etc, were on the agenda. Leading form student and respected punter Dominic Beirne overhauled the antiquated betting system. ''It will be a much fairer system and most kind to the punter,'' Ra...

You'd think before finding a jockey guilty and suspending him that they'd at least look at the replay.... Jockey suspended despite dropping his whip Irish stewards were left red-faced after suspending a jockey for breaching whip rules despite the rider not using the whip on his horse at any stage. Stewards suspended apprentice jockey Ronan Whelan for three days after charging the rider with excessive use of the whip on his mount Monivea in the Emirates Equestrian Federation Handicap at the Curragh on Saturday. The only problem for stewards was the fact Whelan had dropped his whip in the process of leaving the barriers. Stewards come down hard on jockeys for making mistakes, how about the industry coming down hard on this mob of incompetent buffoons? This wasn't a bush track with amateurs, this was The Curragh on Irish 1000 Guineas day!