NZ racing
Paddy Lewis25/11/2009 11:43:00 a.m.
FIRSTLY, a disclosure: I am, somewhat unwittingly, a shareholder in a harness racing breeding conflagration.
By that I mean that my expert wife and her expert brother burn money breeding and training supposedly brilliant nags in their spare time in the hope that it will become a viable business some years down the track. Or alternatively, high quality glue.
I was always a thoroughbred racing fanatic. My best friends at school were all sons of top thoroughbred trainers (I got to ride the odd dog at trackwork, which was exhilarating to a young fella), one of my best mates is the son of a Group One winning owner, and I had always seen harness racing as a way to spend a Friday night before rugby when I was at university.
You see, we weren’t allowed to drink on Fridays (back in the good old days when we did what coaches told us) and so rather than sitting at the scarfie flat looking longingly at the fridge, we used to take $10 each and go to Forbury Park. As an occasional sociology student, I noticed a real difference between harness people and thoroughbred people.
Harness people do it tough. There is no NZ nation-stopping day for them like the Melbourne Cup. Christchurch (bless their violent and deviant hearts) partially stops for Cup Week. But it’s not an event for the whole country.
Thoroughbred racing crowds were the glitterati of the racing world. Looking back, it was just because I saw more rich people at their meetings than I ever did at harness meetings.
Since marrying in to a harness racing family, I’ve gained a grudging respect for that side of the sport. I’ve also gained an insight into why it’s almost completely buggered.
When I was in Australia a couple of months ago, the big harness racing news was New Zealand trainer Geoff Small banned for two years after (so-called) champion horse Changeover tested positive for the anti-bleeding agent tranexamic acid. Another charge of a similar nature against Small’s horse Zenad has been adjourned in Victoria until next month.
In January this year, Small was fined $18,000 by New Zealand’s Judicial Control Authority. Three of the breaches involved breaching prohibited substances rules.
In late August Harness Racing New South Wales disqualified Small for two years on a positive swab charge involving Changeover.
Anyhow, Small was recently nailed by the NZ authorities – given a six month ban for scratching one of his horses in a manner detrimental to harness racing and abusing a course vet.
At his hearing, the prosecution noted the “significant history of offending” by Mr Small. The hearing noted “Mr Small’s poor record of conduct-related offences over a long period”. The relevant penalty rule Small was facing was Rule 1001 (2) which states:
Every person who commits a serious racing offence shall be liable to the following penalties:(a) a fine not exceeding $25,000; and/or (b) suspension from holding or obtaining a licence, for any specific period or for life; and/or(c) disqualification for a specific period or for life.
So what did they do? They gave him a six month ban from training and a $5,000 fine. But they deferred the six month ban so Small could go to Cup Week and race Changeover in the New Zealand Cup.
In Australia they banned him for two years – no question. Here, the harness racing bosses let him have two weeks grace to see if he can get a big payday (he didn’t).
No wonder that branch of racing is only slightly ahead of greyhounds in the poor cousin stakes of NZ racing.
By that I mean that my expert wife and her expert brother burn money breeding and training supposedly brilliant nags in their spare time in the hope that it will become a viable business some years down the track. Or alternatively, high quality glue.
I was always a thoroughbred racing fanatic. My best friends at school were all sons of top thoroughbred trainers (I got to ride the odd dog at trackwork, which was exhilarating to a young fella), one of my best mates is the son of a Group One winning owner, and I had always seen harness racing as a way to spend a Friday night before rugby when I was at university.
You see, we weren’t allowed to drink on Fridays (back in the good old days when we did what coaches told us) and so rather than sitting at the scarfie flat looking longingly at the fridge, we used to take $10 each and go to Forbury Park. As an occasional sociology student, I noticed a real difference between harness people and thoroughbred people.
Harness people do it tough. There is no NZ nation-stopping day for them like the Melbourne Cup. Christchurch (bless their violent and deviant hearts) partially stops for Cup Week. But it’s not an event for the whole country.
Thoroughbred racing crowds were the glitterati of the racing world. Looking back, it was just because I saw more rich people at their meetings than I ever did at harness meetings.
Since marrying in to a harness racing family, I’ve gained a grudging respect for that side of the sport. I’ve also gained an insight into why it’s almost completely buggered.
When I was in Australia a couple of months ago, the big harness racing news was New Zealand trainer Geoff Small banned for two years after (so-called) champion horse Changeover tested positive for the anti-bleeding agent tranexamic acid. Another charge of a similar nature against Small’s horse Zenad has been adjourned in Victoria until next month.
In January this year, Small was fined $18,000 by New Zealand’s Judicial Control Authority. Three of the breaches involved breaching prohibited substances rules.
In late August Harness Racing New South Wales disqualified Small for two years on a positive swab charge involving Changeover.
Anyhow, Small was recently nailed by the NZ authorities – given a six month ban for scratching one of his horses in a manner detrimental to harness racing and abusing a course vet.
At his hearing, the prosecution noted the “significant history of offending” by Mr Small. The hearing noted “Mr Small’s poor record of conduct-related offences over a long period”. The relevant penalty rule Small was facing was Rule 1001 (2) which states:
Every person who commits a serious racing offence shall be liable to the following penalties:(a) a fine not exceeding $25,000; and/or (b) suspension from holding or obtaining a licence, for any specific period or for life; and/or(c) disqualification for a specific period or for life.
So what did they do? They gave him a six month ban from training and a $5,000 fine. But they deferred the six month ban so Small could go to Cup Week and race Changeover in the New Zealand Cup.
In Australia they banned him for two years – no question. Here, the harness racing bosses let him have two weeks grace to see if he can get a big payday (he didn’t).
No wonder that branch of racing is only slightly ahead of greyhounds in the poor cousin stakes of NZ racing.
