Speaker 1join the conversation text us on 0 4 double 9 7 3 6 7 3 6 live across australia this is giddy up with gareth hall
Speaker 2yes good morning this is giddy up with gareth hall on this wednesday it's the 23rd of september it's a big hello to you listening on your local rsn 927 and sen track dials wherever you may be listening on the scn and rsn app of course if you're listening to us a little later on on the podcast a big hello to you and watching us on racing.com it is a jam packed show on this wednesday morning we've got the wednesday agenda team troy caustons and calvin mcavoy will join me to kick it all off i'm really looking forward to our beyond the barriers this morning ozzy kerr one of our leading owners in the sport of thoroughbred racing but boy he's got some story to tell um in his business life and then of course um with the he has now regarding all of the horses that he owns so i'm looking forward to catching up with ozzy to listen to his story it's going to be fascinating stuff speaking of fascinating tanya fullerton the mrc ceo will join me just after 10 30 that will be really interesting after that statement the mrc sent out yesterday so i'm looking forward to catching up with tanya we'll find you some winners just before usually we have bag of tips from 10 to 11 but because um tanya's been good enough to join us the only time she could fit us in was at 10 30 so we're going to have a little bit of a chat with her and we're going to have a little bit of a preview the geelong meeting the first part of that 10 o'clock hour then we'll interview tanya and then we'll preview the warwick farm meeting with mickey gannon then we'll go around australasia basically to find you some winners today across the three codes the best from the west with darren mccauley looking forward to that and then of course we have the weekly chase jason adams and georgie frugia to join me oh four double nine seven three six seven three six to join our conversation giddy up always brought to you by bet three six five it's never ordinary when it's brought to you by bet three six five it's never ordinary when it's brought to you by bet three six five it's never ordinary when it's brought to you by bet three six five what's gambling really costing you for free and confidential support visit gamblinghelponline.org.au let's get stuck into the wednesday agenda send in your
Speaker 1questions on oh four double nine seven three six seven three six to the garrard's horse and hound message line it's time for
Speaker 2the wednesday agenda team causton's and of course slash larkin hasn't stopped trading winners this week and troy causton joins us now the president of the australian trainers association hello to you
Speaker 3morning gareth needed to we were having a little bit of a lean run
Speaker 2unstoppable now oh that's thank christ and from a trainer's perspective like um obviously you've got to keep to your processes i would imagine just like us punters when we're losing you just got to keep you got to keep the
Speaker 3faith yeah do the same thing over and over again and um as i get older i understand it more it's these runs that you go through as a trainer and when we were going through it i knew that it was happening and i i can handle it probably will handle it quite well um i knew that it was about to turn and uh luckily it has do you change anything or you just keep like usually not but but um we we did have a couple of little issues that we that we got on top of and rectified and uh back on track well and truly because
Speaker 2there's so many different variables that like can have a trainer have a run out so could they change feed there could be a virus that goes through the stable um like i talked to trainers simon miller told me one day his team went firing because they couldn't use the pool and he used to use a lot of his training um and i think that's a good thing because i think that's a good thing because i think that's a good the majority of the time to be honest gareth and
Speaker 3it's a really interesting conversation is it's slow horses unfortunately yeah and what happens is when you've got a stable of our size we've only got 80 in work yeah we don't have 400 in work the the when you get on a bit of a slow run and you've got those slow horses there's a process to get rid of them you can't just sack them straight away we're not big enough to be able to say and then these people are putting so much money so we at it's because they're they're not good enough um and it's a process it takes time but then you get
Speaker 2the momentum that changes because you'd heal rip who's at 41 storms down the outside and nearly wins and then yeah yeah the universe changes in a way and your luck goes your way yeah exactly and
Speaker 3and you find that and you start drawing a little bit uh barriers a little bit better and stuff like that everything sort of goes with its
Speaker 2runs calvin mcavoy hello to you morning gareth when's the last
Speaker 4time you had a bad run um no we you know we we've been through many of those runs and yeah it's difficult and i think troy made a good point a lot of slow horses i think when you're at a size that is not in the hundreds of horses the run seems to go a bit longer i think the bigger trainers that um might have more horses mightn't feel it as much because you know those 50 outs or whatever it might be might happen in a weekend whereas i've seen that
Speaker 3happen with chris waller in a weekend you know 50 outs not often but i've seen it happen chris wall
Speaker 2is interesting because he has two group one winners there on saturday and then a horse like joker's grin that wa is watching with interest um runs out the back so he would have like he's he's lucky to have so many good horses in his stable but the emotions there like you're a two-time group one winning trainer for that day and um a couple of the other stars fail it's all about managing expectations and chris
Speaker 3waller is very very
Speaker 2good at it um jesus was a big news day yesterday lads um well first of all we'll start off with the um mrc and obviously what's happening there with the caulfield track it was an unbelievable day and i think it was a really good day and i think it was a really good day and i think it was a really good day and i think it was a really good day and i think it was an unbelievable statement released by tanya fullerton and the melbourne racing club um and i read our review found no safety issue with the caulfield racing service the turf plugs were correctly installed the track as presented was safe for racing and the rail did not need to be moved the track subsequently raced safely and fairly throughout the meeting dozens of exactly the same turf plugs remained on other sections of the track that continued to be raced on after the rail movement with no issues for jockeys and horses and then racing victoria on behalf of their stewards and this is a quote from their general manager of integrity services jamie steer they replied saying based on all the evidence available to us we stand firmly by the stewards decision to order the movement of the rail on race morning at caulfield the stewards must prioritize horse and rider safety at all times they were not prepared to compromise that position the circumstances presented to them on saturday the stewards acknowledged that the track staff at all venues endeavor to present an optimum racing surface for race meetings i'm going to talk a little bit more about that in a little bit more detail in a little bit more detail on this occasion stewards identified areas of concern with sections of the track in the home straight several riders subsequently raised similar concerns with the stewards and it goes on um so tanya fullerton will join me at 10 30 and it's going to be interesting i'd love to get her thoughts on the statement there from racing victoria as well but um at the end of the day there was a solution according to the mrc and it is regarding having an independent track walker that person is going to be damian oliver now it says in this release after discussions with racing victoria the initiative will be implemented for the remaining major mrc meetings including this week's manicato stakes the caulfield guineas and the caulfield cup now this is an independent track inspection process designed to avoid the situation that we saw on saturday um any safety concerns identified by damian oliver will be raised directly with racing victoria stewards who will assess the issue and determine whether any safety concerns identified by damian oliver will be raised directly with racing victoria stewards remedial action is required ahead of racing um and then tanya fullerton's quoted saying saturday showed the importance of ensuring any concerns about a racing service are properly assessed with the appropriate technical input before significant decisions are made on race day the stewards were placed in extremely difficult position with concerns raised by jockeys less than an hour before the right the first race was run so regardless what you boys or the opinions of um different people in the industry there there's a solution that they think will fix the problem where we won't see this happening ever again where we have the rail moved an hour before the first race troy do you think that is a that the right move to have an independent track walker like damian oliver um the day before group one meeting and it's not just the i found this interesting it's not just a caulfield flemington
Speaker 3as well yeah it'd be interesting to see what um flemington and liam think of that um i don't have i haven't spoken to any of those guys about it is it going to fix i'm not sure i'm not geez you wouldn't be a track manager at the moment for all the tea in china would you like i wouldn't i know horse training's hard but managing tracks is um even harder at the minute and under enormous scrutiny but um at the end of the day uh jockeys welfare and horses welfare has to come first so far be it for me to um cast opinions or anything
Speaker 2like that it's an interesting situation that we got at the moment because in my time covering this i've never seen a situation where there is divide between say a race club and a jockeys association like the jockey so um that's going to be interesting when i have a chat to tanya fordson is there a situation where we can like do we need to have one like a sea of race tracks where the pra decide to look after the race tracks from now on um and so you don't have that divide between a race club and a and a and a governing body gets back
Speaker 3to what i talked about um a couple of weeks ago with mergers what you know how how good would it be if we had one company and you know i don't care who runs it whether it be liam o'keefe michael suey together or sam bennett's all all three of them um and they look after every victorian victorian track we could combine services we could combine you know think about the um the spend that we have if we put everything together and do it as one um i think it'd be a fantastic outcome
Speaker 2And at the end of the day, Kelvin, if the jockeys say it's unsafe, then. You can't really argue with them.
Speaker 4Yeah. Well, yeah, it's very hard, very hard to argue, isn't it? I think it probably comes back to, we spoke maybe a month ago about, um, leaving the rail where it is. Well, that simply just wouldn't work in this situation because if the rail was in the true all the time and you know, um, Turf doctors or whatever they call it, where they put the new patches in, well, that's going to be all over the track. And if the jocks can't go around them, um, so that would never work. Would it coming back to these situations?
Speaker 2So at the end of the day, the rail was moved four meters to the 11 meter mark and the track play really well. I thought there on Saturday under the circumstance, I think everyone was nervous to see how the track will play, but it played well when you have a look at all of the key performance indicators, they were through the roof. Crowd was great. Turnover was terrific. Turnover was up 9% and credit
Speaker 4to the, um, the MRC team to get the rail moved and basically get on time. That was a minor effort because I think it normally takes a good hour or so to move a rail.
Speaker 2And. Did you have any. Any problems with the way that the track ratio horses there?
Speaker 4No, we, we won race too. Um, so no, I personally didn't. I wasn't there early in the day. Um, and therefore I missed all of this sort of, uh, situation until later in the day. But, uh, I thought the track race beautifully. Did the trainers association, the, the,
Speaker 2do you get asked about this? Or is this a jockey situation?
Speaker 3To be, to be honest, I've got to say I was moving house on Saturday, so I wasn't even there and then all of a sudden my phone. Started blowing up, uh, just before the first, I had no idea what was going on. Hadn't even been listening or watching, but, um, it, it really is. It's a jockeys, you know, and I'm not trying to pass the buck here, but it's the jockeys that are going out there and they have to make the decision.
Speaker 2Uh, and this is my opinion on it, regardless if the jockeys are right or wrong. Um, they're always riding under these circumstances because if something does happen, then, um, everyone's in a really bad situation.
Speaker 4So I think it's, it's been amplified Gareth being a big group one race, meaning, I mean, there's been many times over the last couple of years where, you know, we've had runners at, at country tracks. Um, and I can't remember what it was. Kynan, for example, where Tony who's walked tracks and been a jockey for, you know, all his life, the jockeys called the races off because of, they thought it was slippery and he went out and just couldn't believe it, but that wasn't a headline meeting. So it wasn't really spoken. And the other thing
Speaker 3is that, um, yet, yes, we want to run, but it's the jockeys that have to ride. And, and the last thing that we want is a horse coming down and a jockey getting injured or, or, you know, far be it for me to say, losing their life on a cotton track. And all of a sudden the trainers association have pushed to, to get the meeting to go ahead. You know, where, where do you stand when it comes to that sort of stuff? So the jockeys, um, they, they have to keep the training
Speaker 2horses and let my understanding with all this is that even you get like, and we've heard it on this show on a few occasions that former jockeys have a different philosophy on how the world works. How the world works compared to the modern day jockeys, especially the ones that have become trainers. Correct. Yeah. And they've got different generations. So I find that really interesting as well. So, um, I don't think there's ever going to be a perfect answer here and it's a situation that there's going to be like the MRC believed that they've done nothing wrong and the jockeys are going to stand by what they believe, um, they saw there or the, some of the jockeys there on, on, on Saturday. So we'll, we'll listen to Tanya Fullerton. It'll be interesting listening to Tanya.
Speaker 3And hopefully it all gets sorted out and we can discuss racing.
Speaker 2I was there. Like, I think we can nearly all move on now because at the end of the day, it was a really good day's racing at Caulfield on Saturday. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Speaker 3And Sunday's going to be amazing. I've looked at the fields.
Speaker 4It's fantastic. And the other thing, I mean, credit to the MRC, what they did on Saturday, they acknowledged all of the group one winning trainers and jockeys that have won group ones at Caulfield. Um, and that's just a lovely thing for them to do. And, um, yeah, so we, we, the people that are involved. I think thank the MRC for that as well.
Speaker 2Yeah. But once again, it can't happen. We can't have a situation when the rails out seven meters and then it's 11 meters before hour before the first, um, talking about the Manicato it's out 30 meters, the rail. Now, um, if, if they didn't move the rail there on Saturday, the rail still would have been out 10 meters. So it's out 30 meters on Saturday. It's going to be, or Sunday afternoon, it's going to be interesting to say how it all does pan out. Um, looking at the Manicato, it's a beauty, isn't it? There's, there's some stars everywhere. You look, the more I look at this race, Baywax is going to be awfully hard to beat because it doesn't look to be too much pace in saying that the rail is at 30 meters. So a lot of people want to be on pace or a lot of the jocks want to be on pace there on, on Sunday.
Speaker 4Yeah. I think Barry is going to make barriers that little bit more important, isn't it? But, um, yeah, Baywax, I'm very excited to see him, um, in this race. Should he draw a barrier three?
Speaker 2Look out. Yeah. I think it's more interesting now. Um, whether you like it or not, because the rails out 30 meters is going to be some hard luck stories. Um, it'd be interesting to see what the tempo is like Baywax on paper looked like he's the only real speed in the races at three 50 live another day can go forward. Jimmy star needs to draw a gate.
Speaker 4What about Caulfield at 13 versus the old Mooney Valley where the Manicato was run? I mean, I wonder how we'll find out after Sunday.
Speaker 2Yeah. Um. I think it's a good idea.
Speaker 4many numbers did you get and
Speaker 2how many horses did you, I
Speaker 4can't disclose. You're one of the great networkers of all time.
Speaker 2My competitor is over there. I tell you what, you're getting a little nervous that your man, Tony G, I heard him get interviewed there on Nick Luck.
Speaker 4Never mentioned me once. Not once. He said half yours has got no chance. Nah, he's good. I thought he spoke beautifully on his interview. Yeah, he was great. What a good story.
Speaker 2Now, this is what we had to say in a discussion there regarding the fee and stakes. If there was only four or five nominations there on, or acceptances there for the fee and stakes on Sunday. There's talk that could be five horses. There might be a few more in the fee and stakes. But if there's not enough horses for it to be in the quaddie league, would you consider moving it early to the, say, race one or race two on that program there on Sunday? For the fact that Mr. Brightside will be there, you guarantee that he'll be competing because he'll go and compete on a good four. But if it's a track upgrade, which there's a strong possibility if the rain doesn't come, that would be a track upgrade at the back end of that meeting to a good three, he would
Speaker 4be scratched. What do you think of that, Kelvin? I think it's a silly idea. Why? Why? Because, I mean, you know, we wanted a, we wanted a wet track for half yours and the
Speaker 2Caulfield Cup. But you can't make it rain.
Speaker 4All right. But it's going to be softer at race one than it is at race eight.
Speaker 3Caulfield Cup's never going to be a three horse race. My point of view is, I get the fact. You agree with me, Troy, don't you? I do. I agree with you as far as it being a three horse race. We do. And nobody wants that as part of the quaddie. And, and I, and trust me, they, I don't reckon they will have it if it is. Oh, you know, I don't know, but, um, we don't need a three horse race as part of the quaddie. But. I've got a question about this. Sorry to butt in. No, you are butting in. Oh, you finished. Yeah. But I don't think that we can change races just to suit a horse. I disagree with that. And, and as much as I love the boys and bright side, we can't be doing that just.
Speaker 2But if it's a three horse. Field. Now that, that's a different question. And it's out of the quaddie. And, and you can get like, it's a good four. It's like every horse loves a good four.
Speaker 3There's going to be no turnover on it.
Speaker 2If there's only a three horse race. And you get to like a chance for the fans to go and watch Mr. Brightside in an earlier race. Like I, I can't see a problem with that.
Speaker 3It's not stupid, but you shouldn't do it. It shouldn't be a precedent. Put it that way.
Speaker 4The risk for the boys coming out and saying that they're not going to run them on a good three. The, the protocol in place by Racing Victoria is to start a meeting at a four. And get to a three. Yes. So every, you know, unless we get rain and have a wet spring, nearly every race he's going to be contesting is probably going to be a good three. So it's going to be hard for them. The other question I've got is in Europe, like you go to, um, ask that the best four races, the first four races. They do it.
Speaker 3They do it very differently.
Speaker 4Is there turnover way down?
Speaker 3Yeah. A hundred percent. I don't know if it's way down and I can't tell you what, um, it is compared to ours, but I know ours is much better later in the day.
Speaker 2That's why, like, I think the 10th race. I don't know if it's on Derby day. It could be on Derby day. The 10th race on Derby day is always in the top 10 turnover races for the entire season in Australian racing.
Speaker 4And is there a, there a day during the carnival? Is it the final day where there's only nine races?
Speaker 3Um, yeah, I think. Yeah. We need to get a 10th race on that day.
Speaker 4Champions, Oaks and Derby. Why? Because, because the turnover is huge. The last race, it will be fantastic for the industry and give the participants another go. Running through the carnival. Speaking of 10 races, when I talk to a lot of the track curators, they say, this is the
Speaker 2reason, yeah, I know it's their last meeting, but this is the reason why it makes it difficult for them to get their tracks. Okay. But what's the downside of having a
Speaker 410th race on champions day where they're not racing for how long afterwards?
Speaker 3Yeah. And they need to look at turnover and what it's returning to the industry. Yeah. I'm strong on that. Yeah. I agree with you.
Speaker 2Yeah. Will you bring that up with Len O'Keefe? That's the first time you've, yeah, absolutely. When you talk to him. I've got no problems with 10. 10 races. More than the Merrier for us on a Saturday. I think the VRC won it. I think Racing Victoria won it.
Speaker 3Yeah. I'm not sure about the VRC, whether they won it or not.
Speaker 2Well. How many, um, so there's only, I don't know how many will go into the fee and stakes. Pride of Jenny hasn't been put down yet. So, so there's only three horses, but that will change as the morning unfolds. Yeah. Um, but it'd be interesting to see where they do place that race.
Speaker 3And are the boys going to scratch if there are only three runners or are they just going to let him go around? It's going to be fascinating. They will scratch if it's a, if, if, if there's three runners, do you think they're going to scratch because of. Yeah. If it's a good three. I disagree. I don't reckon they will.
Speaker 4Yeah. I bet that he'll run.
Speaker 2On a good three. Yeah. Well, they've told us like he's, the races, the races that he's failed in have been on a good three and they say he jars up and he's a nine year old. Better put him in the paddock for the autumn then.
Speaker 4Yeah. Well, they might get rain. You never know. I mean, Cox, was it Cox Plate Day a few years ago? It was a heavy track or something. Champions Day was a heavy track. I suppose it can happen.
Speaker 2What's your philosophy? Good threes. Your horses pull up okay from competing on good threes?
Speaker 3Oh yeah. The majority of the time, unless you've got an old, um, you know, horses have lots of issues and you do get like a heel rip, jarred up a little bit, but he jars up when he has a trot and canter in the mornings at Flemington.
Speaker 2Plenty of text messages coming through on the Garrett's Horse and Down text line. There is a difference between the plugs being installed properly and the plugs being safe on race day. MRC playing with words. The track is past. It should have been sold years ago. That's from Sean. Don't know about that, Sean. And it's about to get an upgrade as well, isn't it? They've only got three more meetings left.
Speaker 3And in fact, like it's taken. It's taken a lot of work from Moonee Valley being down.
Speaker 2Yeah. Hi Garrett. Did you realize that Rikki Ling crossed counter with both three-year-olds when they both won the Melbourne Cup? Maybe the 2,500 meters is okay for the Derby. That's from George from Mill Park.
Speaker 4European bred. Yes. Bred a bit different.
Speaker 2I really enjoy this hour each week with Kelvin and Troy. It provides lots of learnings about racing or punting on horses. A question for both. Is there any signs that a horse needs a spell prior to going around in a race or does it just show up with a flat performance on race day?
Speaker 4Really good question. Yeah, both. Completely both. I mean, normally if the horse is showing signs that they need the spell, they don't turn up in the race. We normally see that. 100%. But a lot of the time, more times than not, you can have an horse absolutely bouncing that you feel everything's going right and then they put a flat run in.
Speaker 3And you get a gut feel that it's coming, that end of prep run's coming, but you can't put your finger on it. And I'll often say in my pre-race reports, we might be at the end of the preparation, but we just need to find out because they're not showing me anything to scratch. Otherwise I wouldn't run.
Speaker 2Do you get nervous? Do you get nervous when they smash the clock on Tuesday morning? Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3And I think that that way of training has really slowed right down. We used to, I remember we used to, everything would be running up 32, 33, 34 on a Tuesday morning. We don't do that anymore. I think we look after them a lot more.
Speaker 2So from a punter's perspective, and I know you two, I don't know if you like a punter. I think you do from time to time, Calvin. I don't know about you, Troy, but how do you know when to, like, if you've got a punter or a punting owner, then how do you know when, when to pull the trigger?
Speaker 4I think it's, I think a good recipe for having a bet is running a good horse in a bad race to start with. And what I mean by that, you're pretty, you know, pretty early if you've got a horse that looks like it could be, I'll use La Polo for example. He was always showing us really good ability. He went to a synthetic maiden and he was $3.10. Like that to me is a great bet. That is just bet. And then, you know, he's then gone on and won in town. Yeah. And so, um, when you're running a good horse. That's either a maiden or running in a low grade race, that's much easier than running a good horse in a good race. Like every race this Saturday.
Speaker 2I suppose that runner at Swan Hill is a perfect example.
Speaker 4Yeah, I was going to bring that up.
Speaker 3Yeah. So we, we, we were supremely confident going into that yesterday. We had Harry Coffey on at Swan Hill. We knew the filly. It was a great run first up in a very, very good race.
Speaker 4He wasn't confident last week, Gareth. It's all changed very quickly. No, you, you've been on fire.
Speaker 3About that filly I was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you had asked me, you didn't ask me.
Speaker 2Also like last week. Talking about a race being on Tuesday, like we're not that far ahead. We've got to concentrate on the next two days, let alone trying to work out who you've got at Swan Hill. But yeah, that was a, coming out of that good form race back to Swan Hill. Yeah. And it made sense.
Speaker 3And she, I think she paid $2.20. I didn't have a bet. Christmas. I think young Will might've. I think Will likes a bit of a punt. It's good. I don't discourage him.
Speaker 4He paid for dinner last night. Did he really? Oh wow. This is Will Larkin of course. And I've never seen that before, so.
Speaker 2Good morning boys. I've got a question. I'm a ball maker by trade, but I'm currently. Starting to get my trainer's license. Given how competitive racing is. Do you think a blue collar trader can still make it to the top? What's the one piece of advice you'd give me?
Speaker 4Well, one, one thing, um, about this great country is that everyone can have a go. And, um, you know, it's very different to say England where I think in England, if you are a young bloke that wants to have a, have a go at training, you kind of need to get 30 or 40 horses behind you to start here. You can get one horse, two horses and, and, you know, chip. Away slowly, but it's very expensive and work cover, you know, you need to have, I think the only advice I'd say is have a bit of a bank behind you when you get
Speaker 3going or, or go to a stable, see if you like it first. It's cause it's, it's grueling. The, the hours are hard and, and we do it because we love it so much. And there's no feeling like winning a group one, but see if you like it first before you you're all chips in, but can he make it a hundred percent?
Speaker 2I think the perfect example that gives everyone inspiration. If you love this game and you want to do it bad enough, then you can do it. You can do anything really. Absolutely. Dennis Pagan proves that. Yeah. A hundred percent.
Speaker 3He's a Derby winning trainer. Yeah, exactly. Um.
Speaker 2Might never happen again then. No, no. At what point do you trust people to do their job and not listen to unqualified people? AKA jockeys, MZG played turf seven days before a preliminary final and didn't notice a thing. They do this for a living and turf people live, eat and breathe turf. And I'm one of them. A plug wouldn't be put in with the hope it works. Come on. That's, that's the other perspective. That's where the MRC coming at.
Speaker 4Was that a comparison to the MCG that is that what you said? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. running around on it is a bit different.
Speaker 2Yeah. And I'm not
Speaker 3sure if I'd call jockeys unqualified.
Speaker 2Yeah. No, that's what they do for a living. But at the end of the day, whether the jockeys are right or wrong, they are always right. I'll tell you who is unqualified to talk about is me. Yes. Issues when the rail gets shifted and woods, the plugs are needed. So we'll have plugs galore come Caulfield Guineas today. Is Troy expecting a big run from Avery Anna?
Speaker 3Yes. I think she's a really, really nice filly. It looks a nice race today. But she'll run super well.
Speaker 2Yeah. Can we have a spring SEN function on with Troy Boyd, Calvin Hawks and Hunter? My three favorite shows. Wayne Hawks charges too much, doesn't he? Yeah. And we can have Johnny drinking with the punters at the bar. You know what? Johnny O'Neill hasn't drank for two decades. Everyone thinks he's always. Yeah. There you go. Hey, we're going to take a break. We're going to talk about the Derby and the Victoria Derby going to $3 million starting this spring, straight after this break. This is the Wednesday Agenda. Join the conversation.
Speaker 1Text us on 0499 736 736. Live across Australia. This is Giddy Up with Gareth Hall.
Speaker 2Well, there was some big news in the afternoon there yesterday. Racing Victoria alongside the VRC, but this is Racing Victoria putting the money in. The VRC Derby is now worth $3 million. So it's up a million dollars. And that kicks off this spring. And this is on the back of the review from the Asian Patent Committee. Racing Victoria and the VRC don't want the Victoria Derby downgraded to a Group 2. So they're going to try their very best to make sure it's the best possible race. And starting and by doing that, they're starting by increasing that prize money to $3 million. Your thoughts on, to $3 million. Your thoughts on that, Kelvin?
Speaker 4Um, yeah, fantastic. Especially when you've got the favourites for the Victoria Derby. I'll start. No, I'm going to start. What about the State of Rest for next year? Next year, too. Yes. I mean, so we've got. Did that sell quickly, Gareth? It was sold before we walked out of the studio. But no, look, credit to Racing Victoria. Um, they're not sitting on their hands. They're trying to do something to, to protect the race. And the more I've thought about it over the last few weeks, yeah, let's try something before we change the distance. And I think they're doing that. So well done.
Speaker 2Yep. Troy. Oh, good.
Speaker 3Fantastic initiative. And as I said, I'm not an agitator. I just don't want to see it, um, get downgraded. Yeah. And doing this. And doing this is at least trying something different. So we're coming up with a solution. If this doesn't work, then we have to look at it again. Um, I know that Aaron is in, which, which really makes me happy that he's in contact with Racing New South Wales about making the three-year-old Patton in spring better. So that's exactly what we need. We need, we need New South Wales and Victoria talking together to really pump this up and get it going.
Speaker 2Well. But they're not going to change their date of the champion state. How do you know? Well. If I was a betting man, um, yeah, I don't think.
Speaker 3Well, you don't know, like a Graham Hinton might be listening to our show. I might think, oh, we're going to have Graham Hinton on later in the week.
Speaker 4Big fan of the show they tell me. Yeah. So we'll get him on. And Gareth, can we get a bet 365 futures market for the Derby next year? Just to see where that state of the rest is?
Speaker 2Well, I don't, yeah, yeah. What's its, what's its name?
Speaker 4Oh, he's out of Felica. He hasn't been named yet.
Speaker 3You can't name them until you sell them. Yes. Oh, he's sold.
Speaker 4Don't you worry about that. Now tell me this.
Speaker 2So we're not going to get, I don't think it's going to be the best example this spring, whether we get a better fuel or not, because most of the trainers I would imagine who have got three-year-olds. But at least something's happening.
Speaker 3Correct. You know, they're doing something about it. And the VRC aren't, they're not just sitting on their hands saying, oh, let's just see
Speaker 4what happens. $3 million is a lot of money. We won't get a better field this spring. Why not? Because. We might get some New South Wales horses. Yeah. And there's horses that, um, I think are probably aimed for a Caulfield Guineas that maybe the trainer wasn't so sure whether they'll. Well, you know, press on and run, but. Yeah, they will.
Speaker 3And an unlucky spring champion runner might think, oh, well, I'll have a crack at, you know, they run fourth in the spring champion. Let's go down.
Speaker 4It's not going to make it a worse race being worth a million dollars more. That is for sure. No, I reckon it's great. And they needed to do something.
Speaker 3And you know what? I sit here and, uh, well done. They've done a great job.
Speaker 2And so they also wanted to make the point. So after this year's, um, Victoria Derby race in Victoria with the VRC, we'll talk to their stakeholders. I like the trainers association, the jockeys association and the clubs to work out what is the best trip for the Victoria Derby, but not just that the lead up races. Can they, can they, as you point out, can they tweak the three-year-old, um, races heading towards the Derby? So that'll be interesting. Yeah. Spot on. Um, but at least they're on the front foot and they're being proactive. Exactly right. So, um, yeah, it's worth 3 million this year. We're going to take a quick break. It's 838. We've got plenty more to discuss straight after this here on Giddy Up.
Speaker 1Text us on 0499 736 736 live across Australia.
Speaker 2Welcome back to Giddy Up. There's been so much discussion regarding the cup weights and Chris Waller ignited the debate once again on Sunday on correct weight. When he told the Newton boys that he doesn't know if you'll be starting early on. We'll talk about that in a minute. But, um, I think he understands that she, um, I don't know, I don't think he thought that she deserves 58. Um, but when you have a look at the horses that she was handicapped against, um, she probably did deserve that 58, but I think he's more concerned on sending her around with 58 on her back and whether that will break her heart or not, um, and will affect her performing at her best. In preparations to come Calvin, I thought that was interesting and yeah, it's be intriguing to watch now with Eliana goes to the Melbourne cup.
Speaker 4Yeah. Um, Chris has been very vocal previously about not running a four-year-old mare in the Caulfield cup. And so whether that sort of comes on to now being the Melbourne cup with that weight, I mean, yeah, it's what it is, is a reflection of the, I'm not going to say lack of quality because I think that's disrespectful, but they're not those big, heavy hitting Ascot gold cup winners that are coming out here. So I, I, I mean, we've got 59, I'm not happy about that, but I understand David Hagan and he's explained it very well. What could he do? Um, we, the jockeys wanted the weights up, you know, the, the industry in fairness, the
Speaker 3industry, one of the weights up. Cause we, we discussed this at the forum, which we had before, and we were all in agreeance that we thought that it gave us a better spread and it stopped the compression of weights. And then you've got, um, you're trying to look for nine or 10. 10 jockeys to ride 52 or under. I mean, we want Mark
Speaker 4Zara, James McDonald, Damon Lane to be in the race. Um, there's no doubt about that. And, but it's very different to the old days where there was a 48 and there's, you know, 49 kilos. So, um, I understand where it's come from, uh, from David Hagan. I mean, yeah, but 59 in Melbourne cup is going to make our job very difficult.
Speaker 2Yeah. So explain the concern that Chris Waller has then with a mare having 58 on her back going around at Flemington over the two miles.
Speaker 3I, I, I don't train Eliana, but I assume that he just thinks that it's, um, too much of an impost on her and it's going to give her too much of a gut buster. Um, that's the other thing. There's so many other races that he can go for.
Speaker 2Can one race like that hurt their chances of performing at their best going forward in a next preparation?
Speaker 3It's hard to quantify. I'd say absolutely. Yeah, it can. Of course it can, but it's hard to quantify, isn't it?
Speaker 4You know, it was Birdman, the horse that, um, ran in the Melbourne cup. Was it Buckaroo? And Chris came out after and said that it was. Never again. Yeah. He saw that horse and what it took out of him. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I think all horses are different, like, but it's two miles at Flemington on a firming track with any weights, very difficult.
Speaker 2And I, and I think that that's what he, that's the point he wanted to get across when he was having a chat to the Noonan boys. He goes, I'm not, I don't want to sound like I'm whinging, but you don't have to, you don't say those horses, you don't say those horses when they get home and I have to patch them up. Well, that's right. Yeah. Um, so there's a few text messages coming through, which we'll get to in just a moment. The big question now, Calvin, and don't sit on the fence here, half yours, surely when I'll ask you this question, Troy, before I get Calvin's answer, if half yours is going to win a big group one this spring out of the big grand slam races, a Caulfield cup with 57 and a half, a Cox plate weight for age at Flemington against horses like Sir Delius or a Melbourne cup with 59 on his back. What's the best race for him?
Speaker 3I want to see, and personally, I want to see him in a Cox plate. Um, is that his perfect race? Probably the Caulfield cups, his perfect race, isn't it? But I want to see him in a, I want to see him in a Cox plate. Cause I reckon he's flying. I'm not sure. Yeah. What the little bloke up there.
Speaker 4Calvin? Surely. A little bloke. Yeah. Um, you're
Speaker 3a little over me.
Speaker 4Yeah. Look, our plan's always been the Cox plate. Um, but we're.
Speaker 2He's $26 into $14 with bet three, six, five after the cup weights came out there in the Caulfield cup. Yeah.
Speaker 4Okay. We know that. Um, and that's why it's been very, we've been very vocal in saying, um, the Turnbull is going to be, it's moving day and it's certainly moving day for him. Um, we feel the horse is going very well. He worked exceptionally well yesterday morning. I think he really is in good form and the Turnbull run will tell us if he's going to be competitive in a Cox plate against those horses at 2000 meters or where the Caulfield cup is a better option. Everything's open, right? Um, the, the Caulfield cup. Historically, he's actually a very good race for top weights, Melbourne cup. No, um, Um, so we're just reserving, um, a decision until we see how he runs. I think he'll run very well in the Turnbull. Yeah. So why can't he run in all three? Yeah. Why can't he? That's what I was going to ask that. He definitely can. Yeah. That was the next question. That's not out of the question either. He's a gelding. Why not? It's not out of the question.
Speaker 2Yeah. So that's what, so are you more likely than unlikely going to a Caulfield Cup?
Speaker 3If I've backed him in a, if I've backed him in a Caulfield Cup, if I'd done my money or
Speaker 4you think I'd be okay.
Speaker 3As if you haven't discussed it.
Speaker 4Come on. Oh, of course we've discussed it, but I'm telling you now, like we're bullish that he'll run well in the Turnbull. Now, if he runs, if he's, he, he, he ran very well against Sir Dillius Saturday.
Speaker 2So what happens if he, if he wins the Turnbull, you won't go to a Caulfield Cup?
Speaker 4I think if he wins the Turnbull, he'll go to the Cox Plate. Yeah. I think if he finishes three lengths behind Sir Dillius and those horses over 2,000 metres, it probably makes the decision, doesn't it? Yeah. He'll go to the Caulfield Cup. And everyone's asking, we've got jockeys asking. And, and. And at the end of the day, we've got a very good horse and we've, we don't need to make a decision until the race.
Speaker 2No. And that's a very good point. Like why. What price is he in the Turnbull? He's in the Turnbull stakes. Bear with me. I'll get that up for you right now. The Turnbull stakes. We're betting. We are betting. It sounds like. So Dillius is 250. Ozzie cares about the joiners. Birdman at $4. I wonder if he goes there. He probably will now because she's alibi is going to a might and power. So Aliana 550, Cosmic Crusader 11, Buckaroo 13. Half yours for 13. I thought it would get better than that, Kelvin. Have you backed him already? No, but. Tony G has.
Speaker 4Anyway, he's going well. I'm really looking forward to the race.
Speaker 2All right then. At 8.47, I'm going to take a break. I'm going to discuss Peter Moody. It's a fascinating move to go to a might and power with over 2000 metres and then back to 1500 three weeks later in a different state and a golden eagle. We'll discuss that next. Plus your text messages on the Wednesday agenda. Hey, Kelvin, I didn't realise. I've had a few trainers just text me then how important it is with your decision regarding the Caulfield Cup. Because weights will go up if half yours comes out. Yeah, they will. Because you're going to need a maximum 57.
Speaker 4Yeah, 57. So, um, yeah, there's a bit of moving around happening there. Do you feel pressure that you have to make? No selfies, aren't you? Not at all. I've had some phone calls from trainers as well, but like, we're just, we're doing what's best for our owners and our horse. And, you know, it's, let's be honest, it's a good position for everyone to be in if they're talking about having your own in the Caulfield Cup.
Speaker 2Were you surprised when you heard that Moods, and I like, I reckon Moods is only the, one of a few trainers that would do this, go to a 2000 metre weight for age group. One, and then three weeks later, go to a golden eagle over 1500, Troy.
Speaker 3I like it. Yeah. Yeah. I really like it. It's going to, it's going to give him a chance and Kat, uh, to freshen her up. And then she's got another trip up to Sydney. I really like it. I think it's, um, it's a good combination. It's going to be really interesting.
Speaker 2Is it like he's done it before? Yeah. I think one of his greatest ever training performances. And for mine, when you look back at Black Caviar's career, that was the, that was her greatest achievement, I reckon. CFO stakes. Back to the thousand metres of a lightning within a week. Yeah. Um, would it be harder to do that or would it be harder to get Sheet Alibi to go from 2000 to 1500 within three weeks?
Speaker 3Oh, I think, um. Neither, they're both champions. Yeah, exactly. And that's probably the main point. Like they're both absolute superstars. So, um, it probably makes it a little bit easier when you're talking about with those sorts of horses.
Speaker 4Yeah. But the, the, the might and power, like she's a dollar 50, uh, is a million dollar race, is it? So. Yeah. I think it's, I think it's ballsy, but. Um, you know, Moods and Catherine know their horse well, and, and he's always said that he'd love to see her at 2000. And I think it's probably a little bit of an, an entree as to what we might see in the spring, maybe the autumn, definitely the spring next year.
Speaker 2And it's interesting because like, he's not going to Sydney. He didn't want to go to Sydney twice with her because there's a $5 million King Charles now she would have had to take on Autumn Globe, but it would have been some race, but he's sticking to his guns. He knows the mare well, we'll stay home. I'll go to the 2000. What price is she going to start in that? Oh, she's a dollar 50 at the moment.
Speaker 4The decision was either a trial for zero money or a 2000 meter trial for a million.
Speaker 2And she'll probably scare everyone off as well. Even, even though it's over the 2000 meters.
Speaker 4She won't scare Bob Peters off, will she? Um, I don't know what Cosmic Crusader. They're going to make it.
Speaker 2They might be going to the Turnbull with him and then they're going to, it's moving day for him. Then they're going to make a decision whether they go to a Caulfield Cup or a Cox Plate with Cosmic Crusader. What weight's he got in the Caulfield Cup? Um, I think it's 50. You've five. I'll have to double check that. Who knows what weight they've got now, because it's up to you. I mean, there's three horses.
Speaker 4There's three horses that are very well weighted in the Caulfield Cup that come to mind is Graham Begg's mare. She's a hustler. Yes. Zaran and obviously, and also Kings Valley. Did you see it's run? It was very good.
Speaker 2Yeah. Hey, um, Carlton Rising's in town. He's rocked up. He was jogging around Canterbury the other day. So I think he's into a dollar 30 now with bet three, six, five. Overs. Who deserves to be shorter? Um, him. Carlton Rising or Autumn Glow? Carlton Rising. Carlton Rising. You know, Autumn Glow's a dollar 20. She is shorter. Surprise Mickey Gannon and David Gailey yesterday on our future show. Um, can we have. That surprises me as well. Yeah. Let's get through all these text messages before Ozzie Kerr joins us. The horses that clock times on the Tuesday before Cox Plate Day before Mexlin on the day. Um. You don't see them running.
Speaker 3We're talking, we're talking. They're good horses too. Yeah. And I, and yeah, it's a bit different.
Speaker 2Can you please ask? Calvin, if half yours going to Caulfield Cup. There we go. We've asked that. Reducing the Derby to 2000 ensures the continuing breeding of sprinters leading ultimately to quarter horses. Breeders need to get back to the Tessio philosophy that the Derby winning post 2400 meters is the basis of thoroughbred breeding. That's from John Evans. Gary, could you please ask Calvin if half yours is still open to race in the Melbourne Cup with 59? Yeah, it's open. Of course. You're still going there regardless, aren't you? Maybe. Yep. Um, maybe. All right, Chris. Oh, morning boys. Love the show. If you're moving races due to being part of the quaddie, what about when you have autumn glow or king rising in the quaddie? You're not moving that. A three horse race with Jenny in Brightside and another gives you more options than say 90% of people standing one out would never happen. That's from Camo from the gong. That's a good point you make. Very good point you make. Throwing an extra million at the Derby won't solve the problem that breeding in Australia is for sprinters. That's why our 2000 meter plus horses are average.
Speaker 4There is a lot of, um, listeners to this show, Gareth, that love Derby horses and, um, yeah, I'd be very open to talking to them all about going to the sales next year and buying a Derby horse because we find them difficult to sell, but we're keen to buy them.
Speaker 2What is the difference with Japan's racing culture that allows them to continually improve their elite staying ranks? Their Derby is their number one race steal.
Speaker 3Patience from their owners.
Speaker 4Yeah. And it's a different philosophy. And I think, um, Yoshida's just bought like 150 group one winning mares. They only breed like they're, they're, um, um, their bloodlines are exceptionally strong.
Speaker 2Hi boys. The boost of the Derby is great. The race that needs a similar boost to say 2 million in the might and power, which, which has suffered at the hands of the hill stakes in the last few years. She's alibi, uh, she's a alibi 2000 back to 1500 in 1997. Bart Cummings had Catalan opening in the Caulfield cup. It ran third behind Martin pound Doremus three weeks later, he dropped it 800 meters to the Emirates in at one moods might not be Bart Cummings, but. He's all, he's a Queenslander don't bet against him. That's from text from Bundy. I don't think we're betting against him.
Speaker 4I think, Hey doc, um, ran over a mile in the Maccabi, but even drop back to Manicato on one at three weeks. But it's people compare
Speaker 2what Bart Cummings was doing 10 years ago. They're training horses different. You would know better than your old man. Work for Bart. Very much. So, yeah. Um, where are we going next? Uh, yellow Jersey. We haven't mentioned him yet.
Speaker 4Uh, pulled up, saw in, in his feet and there was a bit going on. There. So he's going to put it guys, and just going to be completely reset. Start again in the autumn, but very disappointing.
Speaker 2Hi guys. Don't know why. See, well, I was not happy. Horses similar to very elegant, both superior stays in the wet. Chris could just place, um, the magic touch on Eliana. Like he did with very elegant, improved at 20 links from the Cox plate. Third to a massive cup. Win a very elegant would have beaten far that Maccabi Dever and secretariat that day. Just saying, um, the pace was on for her that day. It really suited her. Very elegant. She was a great horse. She raced away. Um, any winners, something for the battlers. You were close last week. Yeah, I think another day. What's that? Horses that horse caught one day at a time.
Speaker 4Oh yeah. She went good. Um, we've got two runners on Sunday. Um, Jabba first run for our stable in the 1100 three-year-old very nice horse. I think he'll, if he gets around, we'll be hard to beat and boys bounce in the start. Two runners, two very good chances. When's that Sunday?
Speaker 3Yes. Uh, what have I got? Verdo Saturday at Mornington who is absolutely. Going very well and Harry's yacht didn't get a run last week, but runs in the Testarossa on Sunday. You'll be watching.
Speaker 2Oh, you'll be at Mornington cause you're not a real big AFL fan. Uh, no, I'll be watching. Have you got a winner, Gareth?
Speaker 4Um, pride of Jenny
Speaker 2and the Fiend Stakes we'll just win for fun. Okay. Yeah. You know where you're trying to wear your socks? Yeah, I haven't got my socks just yet. Yeah. Tony hasn't set you up yet. No, got to go. Thank you, Calvin. Thank you, Troy. That's the Wednesday agenda. Aussie care to join me next for beyond the barriers. See you next week. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. ♪
Speaker 1Join the conversation.
Speaker 2It is great to have your company. Really looking forward to our next hour with Beyond the Barriers. Ozzie Kerr, one of our leading owners in the sport of thoroughbred racing in this country, will be my special guest. And after 10 o'clock, we'll find you some winners at Geelong with a bag of tips. And Cam Luke will be our form expert for that. So looking forward to that. He's been in fine form, Cam Luke on the tip. And then after 10.30, Daniel Fullerton, the CEO of the MRC, will join me. So that will be interesting. But it's now time for Beyond the Barriers as we kick off our second hour. And I've been looking forward to this interview for a long time now. We've tried to get him into the studio on a few occasions, but it hasn't quite worked out. But Ozzie Kerr joins us this morning. And he's one of the most intriguing people, I reckon, in the racing game. And he has got some story to tell. And he's about to tell some of it on this morning's show. Ozzie, thanks very much for joining us, mate. Morning, Gareth. Thank you for having me. First of all, and this is a common question I get asked a lot by Ozzie Kerr. So where did you make all of your money so you can buy all of these horses?
Speaker 5I'm still trying to make it, Gareth. But now, look, I've started in a few industries. And unfortunately, I've got a personality that gets bored. I've got a personality that gets bored pretty quickly. So I've hopped around in a few industries until I found the right niche. And I started, obviously, in clothing first. And then moved to hospitality. So I had a few bars and restaurants and hotels and even a karaoke bar. And then I moved towards property. And now I focus mainly on just developing sort of large land subdivisions in the outskirts of Melbourne. So really affordable housing. So we're a builder slash developer. Dabble in a few. We do a few things, but mostly that's our main game. That's where all my staff are hired.
Speaker 2Yeah. So did you find a passion for property and all that? Or that just, how did that all come about?
Speaker 5The truth is I didn't make as much money as I'd hoped I'd make when doing clothing. And then I did the same with bars where we had really successful venues and restaurants. And I just go back every week and there was no money in the account. And yet I was successful in the sense of the perception of them. And it just, I just wasn't going anywhere. So, um, I did, I sort of tried a couple of property plays and, um, and what do you know, there was at the end of it, there was a little bit of money in the account and bought a nice, nice car and just, and, and from there it just kept going. So, and obviously when you start being successful in an industry and you start doing well, um, you start to enjoy it more and yeah, and I'm just, it's just taken off since then.
Speaker 2Did you always have that in your blood to be an entrepreneur? Whether it be in the clothing industry, the hospitality now.
Speaker 5The property. Yeah, I think so. Look, I come from a family that, um, probably wasn't as, as fortunate financially as sort of most. Um, so, um, growing up, um, look, I was probably the happiest child. Like I don't have any regrets to, um, my growing up. I loved it. Um, but look, you know, I, we used to live in a, I got this four siblings and mom and dad and grandma at the time. So that's like eight of us. We probably lived in a three bedroom house. Um, you know, mom and dad in one grandma and another one with my sister and the four boys shared. One room, you know, like it was, it was great growing up and I'm really close with all my siblings. So, but yeah, there was that drive of just wanting growing up. The drive was just, I saw how hard dad worked, um, seven days a week. We never got to see much cause he just worked. Um, and I just, I had that drive that one day I just wanted to pay off dad's home. So it was that drive as a young lad and yeah, I was sort of entrepreneurial even when I was 16, 17, you know, selling t-shirts in, you know, 40 clubs. I, I remember that, you know, the best part of it is. You know, I played footy and, um, I had every footy club, uh, you know, guys in the footy club selling t-shirts for me. And it was, yeah, it was a good little system.
Speaker 2Can you remember that moment when you were able to buy off your old man's house?
Speaker 5Uh, I must say dad's dream was always to own a little sort of hobby farm. Um, so when I was in the position, I just bought him a little, uh, sort of, you know, eight, 10 acres up at Dramana and red hill. And now it's become, you know, the home to about 30. So I've got 16 nephews and nieces and there's about 30 of us that live there and he loves it and has his animals, has his goats and his sheep and some chickens and, and, and his veggie patch. So look, you know, that's, that's quite rewarding that I was able to do that for dad. Um, and especially in these sort of later years, um, and it's probably given him an extra 10, 15 years of, of something sort of to look forward to every day. So yeah, like a purpose. Yeah. Yeah. It's great.
Speaker 2Um, reading through yours, your story as well is that, um, we see you with a. Successful business person, and that enables you to do what you do in the racing industry, but it hasn't been Smith sailing. And, um, there was a, it was a quote that I read in the paper there, um, when I was having a look at it, that you had to sell your cars, um, to, to put, to put food on the table for your family.
Speaker 5Yeah, look, there's, um, look, I'm not going to say I'm the only one that sort of, you know, got to this point without doing it hard, because I just believe that anyone that does become successful has had those. Uh, journeys and those hiccups along the way, and I've had two of them, like probably everyone else. And, um, I think if you don't have those big hiccups in life and I call them hiccups because, you know, you bounce back from them. Um, yeah, I probably went through that maybe two or three times earlier where I'd sort of lost everything. Um, and you just have to make a decision. Like, you know, you drive a nice car, you've got that car, but there's other things that are more important in life. And, you know, I, you know, I did, I didn't have a house at the time. Um. Um, you know, I was getting married, um, didn't have much money and I had two nice cars. Well, when I say nice, um, you know, that were nicer than the average car and had to sell them to pay off a few bills and, um, and, you know, and start again. And that was fine. Um, and you know, you get going again and look, it's fine. Like I've always had the confidence that I didn't need, it didn't matter if I lost everything, I could start again. Cause I always believed that I had the sort of the mouse and the IP upstairs to go again. Um, so I think that helps a lot. I think a lot of it does come down to the self belief. And I think when you get in those positions where you're about to lose everything or, or have not much left, if you haven't got that self belief, it's really hard to come back.
Speaker 2I was listening to a podcast the other day and they said like, how do you become a millionaire? And the first, the first part of becoming a millionaire is actually believing that you can become a millionaire.
Speaker 5Yeah. Look, there's a lot of people along the way that give you that confidence, that support, um, because there's always that self doubt. You know, when you sort of on that journey, um, and especially when things go wrong, um, you start doubting yourself, but look, when you've got a lot of people that give you that confidence and that, um, even the support, like I just remember when I, I, when I didn't have much, and that wasn't that long ago. Um, how long are we talking? Oh, I reckon I got maybe 15 years ago.
Speaker 2It's not, it's not long ago, really.
Speaker 5No, it's not. Um, and, um, look, I had the ideas, had the concepts, but you just, you still hadn't actually, you know. I was probably more 18 years, but yeah, 15 to 18 years, time goes by, but, um, it's just moments where you've got people that believe in you and back you and, um, look, they do see, you know, that you're struggling, though, you know, they do support you financially and say, look, well, I'll invest with you, do this, and you give away a lot, um, when you get started. Um, they do take a lot more than what you'd like to give, but you're, you're not in that position to be greedy and you've just got to give it and you just keep working your way through and they, they're always there. They're still there. They're still there now, 18 years on, and that's the beauty about it. They just, you just ask for more money now and you give them less.
Speaker 2Do you see others, do you see people like Ozzy Kerr was 18 years ago now in business? Um. Like, and help them along the, the, the journey.
Speaker 5Look, I, I love seeing people having a go and I always give support to those having a go because you always look back at those times and, um, yeah, look, no one really comes to mind, um, at the moment, um, because, you know, it's just, it is much more difficult now in my industry because you've got so much money that comes now from overseas and competing with the big institutional guys. So, you know, I was fortunate that I sort of made it, um, before that money came and now it does get harder. Yeah. And now I'm competing with the sort of really big institutional guys, so.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Ozzy Kerr's my special guest for Beyond the Barriers here on this Wednesday morning on Giddy Up, one of our leading owners and what a journey that he's had, especially in the thoroughbred industry and we're about to hear all about that and how he got stuck into the racing game straight after this here on Giddy Up.
Speaker 1Welcome back to
Speaker 2Giddy Up, it's 11 minutes past nine and this is Beyond the Barriers, one of our leading owners in Ozzy Kerr. Ozzy, we just talked about your, your life and how you got to the spot that you're in now so you can afford these horses. So where did your love for the racing game come from?
Speaker 5Oh, look, I don't think it was, I never had the love for the racing game as a, as a kid. Um, there was sort of, for me, um, and my family. There was a lot more important things in life, um, more, you know, than, than horse racing. Um, but I think for me, sort of being a gradual buildup, um, with, you know, a little bit of success and understanding the game more. And I think the more you understand the things that go behind the scenes, um, the more passionate I've become, um, unfortunately now. It's like, it's too much. Um, it's about finding that balance, but now it's like, you know, you wake up in the morning, you're thinking horses, you go to sleep, you think horses, you're trying to work in meetings and you're thinking horses, but, um, yeah, look, I think it's just been building and as, I just think as you become, as you get a little bit of success along the way, that drive gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
Speaker 2And, um. It becomes addictive in a way with the success that you have.
Speaker 5It does. And you just, you think that, you know, if you win, you know, you get greedier and you get like the right word, probably addicted. You're right. Um, and then you win a, you know, a big race and, you know, I was happy to just win, you know, a benchmark race at Bendigo at one point, you know, I was just happy to go there and, and then now you sort of win a group one and you're already thinking instead of celebrating for the next six months, um, which is what you do when you first win one, you know, you're already thinking about the following week or the week after, so.
Speaker 2So do you still get that enjoyment out of it? Like you did say 10 years ago?
Speaker 5Yeah, I think I, I think I enjoy it more. Um, then I, well, I definitely enjoy it more now because I appreciate how hard it is to actually win them, um, how hard it is to actually get a horse there sound, um, have everything go your way, the right barriers, the right running in the race. Like just, there's so much that goes into actually winning that race or especially in a group one that you do appreciate it. And, and I just think that a lot of the times it's more of a relief when you win it before you get to enjoy it. It's like, oh, we've pulled that off. Fantastic. And then you get to enjoy it. Yeah. So is it a business or is it a hobby? No, it's definitely not a business. Um, although, um, you know, some would say that we've sort of probably could turn it into a business with the sort of success we've had with those colors. Um, we've been really fortunate, but, um, no, look for me, I don't want it to be a business ever. Um, like I understand that, you know, the industry is entirely a business. Um, but just for me, I have a business and that keeps me busy already and keeps me focused on what I need to do. And. Um, and my problem is I'm so into the detail in what I do. Everything I do is so detailed that, um, I'm like that in my business and with horses, I'm as detailed as you can be without it being a business. And I'm, and it would bother me if it was just a business. Um, I would make different decisions and decisions that probably aren't the right decisions, um, you know, for maybe a horse or the owners. And so for me, the way it is at the moment, it's, it's the right balance of passion. I love it. Um, but, um, look, we don't like to lose money, that's for sure. And I think anyone that says they're happy to just lose money, um, you know, it's a load of shit because it doesn't matter how much money you've got, you know, you work hard to make that money and you don't want to lose money. So, um, and we're, we've been in a great position over the last, probably seven, eight years where, um, you know, all our owners, which are mostly friends and family, um, they've done really well and they probably don't have to put their hands in their pocket and they're just been rolling from, you know, you know, success from previous horses and, um, building up their stable.
Speaker 2And there's been a lot of really successful business people that have failed in the horse racing business. Um, what's been the secret to your success?
Speaker 5Look, I, I, I say that a lot and I, I always go back to a gentleman and I won't name, but there's a gentleman that, that had a little bit success early with us and, um, and he did really well. Um, but then get that greed sort of takes over a little bit where you just want to buy everything and all of a sudden everyone's. Ringing them and every trainer's ringing them and every agent's ringing them and, and, and there's no filter and you literally keep buying into every horse there's FOMO and all of a sudden you've got, you know, 40, 50 horses instead of five and then you can start losing money and then you lose that passion. And, and all of a sudden you're thinking, well, you look back and say, well, I've lost all this money and you get out and then that guy probably doesn't even watch the races anymore. And I just remember he used to go to the trials and the jump outs and used to ring me 10 times a day and he loved it. So. Look, I'm mindful of all of that for our owners. Um, our biggest success is probably what we don't buy. Um, and that's not really spoken about, but that's what, that's our model. Um, it's the horses that we say no to is where we become, are so successful. Um, and it's easy to say yes to many horses because you've got so many agents trying to sell your horses every week. And I go through, through this with my property business, you know, I'd have 15 agents off of me, 20 properties a week, and you've just got to filter through. Um, you know, what's the right horse, what's the right race, sort of what's the right, right horse that you want to target those races with and, and really focus on that sort of detail instead of just buying everything that comes your way, just because someone's told you it's a good horse or, um, you know, it's, it's, that's probably been the success of what we've got as a group. How does that, how does that
Speaker 2process work now then?
Speaker 5Yeah. So, um, look, we would look at probably as many as anyone else does, um, you know, and we start, like, like I said, we wouldn't buy many horses. Um, it's sometimes it looks like we've got a lot of horses because we don't retire our horses to stud, so we're not really breeding them. So our horses just continue racing until they're eight, nine. So there's always, you know, those horses like a buckaroo, um, you know, he's, I think he's eight now, whatever it is, and he's still, he's been racing for four years and like, you know, Birdman will continue to race for hopefully another four or five years. So look, our, our process is we look, really look at. Um, sort of acquiring one or two Europeans a year, um, if we're lucky, um, and probably, you know, four or five out of New Zealand a year, um, and then a few yearlings, but we, but it's not a lot, but if you keep doing it every year, you start building your stable and because we're not retiring many of them, you know, it builds and it's great.
Speaker 2And so how does it all work then? So do you take the majority share and then you get your partners involved?
Speaker 5Yeah. So the way it works is quite different than a syndicator. Um, like I would just, we'll do the form and the data with Matt Becker, one of our agents. And I think, um, he's probably been one of the instrumental guys for the success of, you know, of these, of our group is because he's so trustworthy. He's one of the trust, most trustworthy people I've met in racing. And I think that's, what's kept me in the game. Um, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much, um, if I hadn't met someone like him, because you just trust him. I'm working all day. He's doing the form, he's doing the work and I know there's no bullshit. There's no side deals. He's just straight out straight shooter and, and he knows what he's talking about. So look, he he'll do that work and then, um, we'll find a horse. I'll look at it. Um, I'll look, watch all the replays, you know, I'm probably happy to buy probably 20% or 25% of the ones he puts up just because of just the, you know, it might be like, I don't think I could sell that one or I don't think I want that one or we've got one similar, but, um, and then we'd buy them and, um, Matt and I would buy them. We'd vet them and once we secure them, um, and bought them and, you know, most of the times I'll just pay for them, um, just so they're locked away. And, um, and then I just send it to a small group of about 15 owners. Our owners, it's a very small exclusive group, um, and just good people. And, um, whoever snaps them up, they're normally done probably in about 30 minutes to an hour. And, um, I'll reserve, you know, something between, you know, 15 and 25%. I don't really take the entire horse anymore. Um, just because it's actually quite boring for me owning, you know, a horse by yourself. No one really cares about celebrating a group one by yourself. So I just like having all really good people around us. And, um, and yeah, that's pretty much how they all join. And it's really, it's a very similar group between all our horses. Yeah. Good people, good business people. And, um, you know, we have a policy and if you break that policy, you're sort of out the door.
Speaker 2Um, Aussie Care is my special guest here beyond the barriers here on this Wednesday morning. So, um, what is that policy?
Speaker 5Ah, look, you know what? You've got to respect each other. Yeah, that's, that's probably the most important thing. Um, there's no one individual bigger than the entire group. It's probably mindset. I had playing football, you know, um, you know, there's no one player bigger than the whole team. And I think we've got that view across the group where, you know, there's a lot of, you know, there's 10 or 15 owners. Um, you can't have one person sort of, you know, being, you know, controlling all of that and making all the decisions and enjoying all of the fruits that come with that success. You know, you've got to spread that, um, and, and, and just being, you know, no abuse. To a trainer, like not, not interested in abusing, you know, the jockeys and the trainers and all that stuff that we get. So yeah, it's normal, normal, normal stuff that you'd expect from an employee in a business, um, you know, in an office that you work together. You just want that respect, mutual respect.
Speaker 2You want it to be an enjoyable experience because.
Speaker 5You want everybody to enjoy the experience together.
Speaker 2So, um, so whose decision then is it to scratch Buckaroo and Birdman on Maccabi Diva Stakes Day?
Speaker 5Um, look, ultimately whenever decisions are made, you've got, you might have to. I think in Buckaroo there's maybe eight people in that horse and, um, you know, we speak to, we inform everybody. I normally inform everybody about what's going on along the way, but you can't have eight people ringing Chris Waller, like just forget it. So like Chris will ring me when the time's to make a decision, um, he'll put his case forward. Um, I'll have my view already knowing Chris will call, um, and we discuss it and, and we put our pros and cons over about 20 minute chat for both Buckaroo and Birdman. And then we either both agree or, um, you know, we'll agree or to disagree. And then we make a decision and we let everyone know. And in that situation, um, the pros were, um, look, we didn't think we could beat She's Alibi. Um, and you know, the cons were, we weren't sure if they were fit enough to, to go from 1400 to 1800. Um, they were just light, um, Buckaroo obviously struggled to get the, the, the trip. He was a little bit fat and that was probably clear in his run, whereas Bert man did get through. So we're quite lucky where one of them was actually fit enough to run the 1800. So at the end of the day, is it your decision? Oh, look, I don't like to say it's my decision because I'm really much, I'm very much guided by the trainers. So, you know, look as an owner, managing owner, I'm pretty much making the decisions for on behalf of the group. Yeah. Um, but I'm not going to override Chris. If Chris is adamant to run and then we run. But if Chris is on the fence, then we're just, we're just having a discussion. Um, and, and same with Karen, you know, the same thing, Karen, look, they're really good. Both those guys are really good to talk to. They're so easy to work with. And, um, and it's just a, it's a friendly discussion and you're just weighing up the options. And sometimes look, like they're the best trainers, but they're training a thousand horses or 800 horses, right? They've got a lot going on. And sometimes you, you know, you, you let them know about things that they might've thought of and like, Oh yeah, that's a good point. And then, you know, they're on the other side. But generally they're, they're on the money. Anyway, you don't normally have to make those decisions too many times.
Speaker 2Why Chris Waller and Kira Mo when you have a look at your stable, the majority of your horses are with those trainers now, obviously this is success speaks for themselves, but have you ever thought about maybe having a private trainer or say your philosophy behind choosing your trainer?
Speaker 5Yeah, look, I, we, we, we do have horses with other trainers and I started with many trainers. Um, you know, I'll probably had about eight, nine trainers. Before, um, it just gets hard to start managing all of those trainers as well. And, and you, and you gotta have good relationships with everybody, which is great. But look, um, Chris and Kira, look, they've got the facilities, um, you know, they've got a good team behind them and the results speak, you know, for themselves, for themselves, right? Like the, these guys and, and as big as, um, Chris Waller is as a trainer, as big as Kira Maher is at a trainer. Um. Um, you'd be surprised how accessible they actually are. Um, especially someone like you. Yeah. Well, yeah, well, I guess that's probably a reason why we're there, right? Like if they weren't accessible, um, then you'd probably say, well, you know what, let's go the next level down or let's go find another trainer that, that might not be a Chris Waller yet or Kira Maher, but might, may be in, in years to come with support because a lot of the trainers, I don't think, I don't think there's that much between them myself. Um, I just think a lot of it comes down to opportunity and the horses that they get.
Speaker 2So a couple of questions there then. So what makes them so great Kieran and, and, and Chris, when you talk to them and watch them train a thoroughbred?
Speaker 5Well, I think it's no different than, you know, two guys running a property business, you know, it's really, you know, the, the attention to detail, those guys, the attention to detail is, is, is just amazing. It's phenomenal. Like, um, they're across so many different parts of their businesses, but yet they're really on top of it and you can speak to either one of those guys anytime about one of your 500 horses and they can tell you everything about them. Um, so I think that's big, but then on top of that, when you have so many horses, you end up hiring the best people as well. So you end up getting that really good support, um, in your stable where the smaller stables obviously can't afford to hire those sort of people. So look at all, it's sort of, you want to support the smaller stables because you want them to grow and become a successful stable because you need all of those smaller stables and, and their boutique stables. Um, but at this point of time. You know, those two stables for us are out, they probably carry about 80% of our horses. Um, and we're pretty happy with the results.
Speaker 2And you can probably give us a rare insight that not many people can, um, because you've got horses with, um, a big group of horses with both Kieran and Chris, to me interviewing them, they seem to be two different people.
Speaker 5Yeah, they, they definitely are two different people. Um, they're both, well, they're both two different people to the average person because they're both quirky in their own ways and they're very unique and different.
Speaker 2You wouldn't see Chris Waller at the pub having a beer like you see Kieran from time to time. Different characters in a way.
Speaker 5Yeah, but I think that's only because you're probably, you're probably closer to Kieran Ma personally than you are to Chris Waller, right? Yeah, yeah. But those who are close to Chris Waller would see a different Chris Waller than what you see on the track. Um, so look, you know, I've had, I've had drinks and, and, and dinner with Chris and, um, you know, it's, it's great fun. Yeah. Um, but Chris is probably not a guy. Um, you know, wanting to go to a function with, you know, 10 or 15 people and that's just not him, but one-on-one is a bit different. And, and Kieran's different as well. Like Kieran's a unique beast. If you speak to Kieran, he's probably scared to go out and have drinks with me. So, so look, they're, they're unique and you know what? They're so good at what they do. They have to be unique. They've got their own strengths. They've got their own personalities. Um, and that's what makes them successful and it'd be boring if everybody was a hundred percent and
Speaker 2they could probably make it in business outside of racing.
Speaker 5Yeah, that's right. They've, they've got the skillset, um, and the drive and the detail that I think those sort of, those two guys, it wouldn't matter what, what they did in life. You know, they could, they can go into another industry and they'd still be very successful in what they do.
Speaker 2Ozzy Kears, my special guest for Beyond the Barriers, one of our leading owners. We'll take a break and come back with more of Ozzy straight after this.
Speaker 1Join the conversation, text us on 0499 736 736, live across Australia.
Speaker 2This is Beyond the Barriers. Um, our special guest here is Ozzy Kear, one of our leading owners. And, um, it's been really interesting to listen to you on a host of different topics so far, Ozzy, but, um, who's your favorite horse? Um, what do you think your greatest strength is? What do you think your greatest triumph has been?
Speaker 5Look, there's, there's a few, and, um, and once you really like the names, you'll find out, you'll see why it's so hard to actually pick one, but you know, like the ones that like very elegant, she was just an amazing, you know, filly and mare, and she won 11 group ones in a Melbourne cup. Like you just can't go past that. Um, and like, she's got to be the standout for me. Um, and then you have horses.
Speaker 2She's back with very elegant. Um, it's been much discussion regarding Chris Waller. And his philosophy with Eliana going to a Melbourne cup with 58. Now your man carried 57 and a half. I think on that, um, on that first Tuesday, November, and we can watch the replay here on racing.com, but was he always going to the Melbourne cup with her?
Speaker 5Look the year before we wanted as owners, we wanted to go to the Melbourne cup. Um, and cause she, I think she won it as a, she's a six year old. Yeah. Yeah. We want to go the year before. And Chris was just like, no, she's not ready. We don't want to go there. And look. He's pretty stubborn on the sense of these four year old. I mean, he calls them Phillies, these four year old Phillies, um, especially in the spring. That's what he actually calls them. Yeah. Um, he's really, um, conscious of, of, of taking them to the races, to the sort of Melbourne cups, um, and, and really deep into the spring. Um, so the following year we thought, oh, um, we've done our time. We've waited. I think she ran third in the Cox plate. Yes. Um, it was a good run and I don't think he was a hundred percent. Uh, convinced of going to the, um, Melbourne cup. Um, I think it was on his mind and I think it was there, but, um. Did you have to talk him into it? I must say, um, or hats, uh, off to, to Bray because, um, Bray was the one doing the convincing, um, at that time. He sort of convinced Chris and I think, oh, I don't know if he convinced him. I think he, he had a conversation and said, look, we want to go as owners and, um, and Bray was sort of leading that charge at the time for us. And, um, yeah. And, you know, I remember Bray ringing me, asking me what I thought. And I said, well, mate, it's a Melbourne cup. You know me, I'm going to want to go. Um, so, you know, as owners, you probably don't see the horses every day and you don't know what's going on behind the scenes as much as the trainers do. Um, so you always want to go to those big races. That's what we were in it for. Um, so we're always going to say yes. And, um, we had one in the race incentivize, um, which we thought would, would win, would win. Um, we were very. Very confident, um, that he, I think he'd come from three wins in a three group ones in a row and he was incredible and we just thought he'd just win. Um, and look, that's racing, right? You know, he, he hurt himself in that Melbourne cup and he kept running. I think he ran second. And honestly, I don't think any horse would have run like he would, he should have run last because I could see where he did it just up the straight and he just hung on the second. Um, and you know, probably if she doesn't go, well, if she doesn't go, he probably. wins anyway so what was the
Speaker 2feeling like obviously um you win another melbourne cup but incentivize was the horse that everyone thought would win that
Speaker 5day oh look i'm not a big punter but i had a little bit on very elegant at 21 so i was sort of pretty happy anyway but nah look um we would i was i won't lie i was definitely cheering for incentivize i was i'm watching him in the run the whole way and um until the last sort of 300 where you saw very elegant on the outside i just didn't know what i was doing it was very hard to cheer which one like you just sit in there and it's a very very weird feeling because um you know your other horse beats the one that you think's going to win and it takes about i reckon it took about five minutes to settle it all down and say okay well we won but it was one of the greatest performances
Speaker 2we've seen in a melbourne cup that day by your man yeah yeah
Speaker 5and then you know you talk about like that she's you know she was one of the greatest horses we've ever had and probably one of the greatest horses you know in the last sort of two decades but then incentivize was one that I thought was just had that much ability and he was just unlucky where you know he got injured and that sort of ended his racing career but who knows what he could have done um like his wins um when he went to peter murdy was just phenomenal that that six-month period it was just like crazy it was yeah so do
Speaker 2you do you regret going to france with her
Speaker 5fair elegant no look i think it was i think in life um i'm just a believer that i don't really have regrets we make decisions and those decisions are the reason for your next decisions and what you learn from them and look in hindsight if we hadn't gone who knows what would have happened she was probably at the end of her career anyway um but going there um didn't work out um in the end um but you live and learn from those decisions and um again i don't really regret things in life i just sort of i learn from them and make better decisions the next time and you know that was a decision that we sort of made as an ownership group um and yeah it didn't work
Speaker 2out a couple of great tried horses in a way horses that you purchased that have been up and up and going apart from an international perspective but incentivize and hitatsu yeah um how difficult was it to purchase both those horses because once they see someone come like you do they know that you're trying to buy them or do you have to keep that on the hush hush we well now
Speaker 5we do but um we never used to no no look um we're very fortunate that we've bought those horses but those horses are available for everyone to see yeah and there's no one else put any any bids on them so it's not like there was 10 10 people trying to buy that horse and you're paying overs for them um that was is that when we bought them even when we bought them you really didn't know what you had um like would they have sold very elegant if they knew very elegant was going to win 11 group ones and 18 million prize money and a melbourne cup big by zed no yeah not nothing by zed exactly no um and same as the incentivized like um you know steve was a trainer that that had incentivized um you know if he thought he was going to be that good i don't think he would have sold so they're the chances that you take um when you sell these horses and um most times like i said earlier on in the in the conversation it's the ones that we don't buy is where i think we get our wins from because you could buy a lot of these horses and a lot of them get traded every day that don't come out and win a race or still running around in benchmark races even very expensive internationals are bought can you an example no i don't want i don't want to um i don't want to uh upset any trainers or or agents that buy these expensive internationals but you can just see them going around every saturday how
Speaker 2many have you knocked back this time around say this spring over the next three over the last three i haven't bought it i
Speaker 5haven't bought a horse so we would have knocked back nearly everything um yeah haven't bought a horse is that because of the ct scans or you know no to be honest i think the ct scans are over overrated i mean people complain about them but you know what i have a lot of friends who um you know they're rules that have been set in place for you know the better of racing and um you know i didn't like the way they were done earlier but they fixed all those problems it was more about communication they fixed that um you know but look i think the ct scans aren't a bad thing because ultimately at the end of the day it stops us from spending so much money on horses that you they're high risk yeah so and and they're scans that you probably
Speaker 2have you seen the difference in perception i have in a way like i'm this is not about if they have been the right decision or not but i think they had to make they had to make racing victoria had to do something didn't they because when you go into your school sports and you talk to the mums and dads who don't follow racing and they say you got a melbourne cup runner have you found that the the reception has changed in a way now since there has been no fatalities in in the cup look i think they had
Speaker 5to make a decision at the time um unfortunately we were the ones that copped it yeah yes i was vocal on that um and i think in hindsight and i i know no one's going to come out and say it but i think that process was wrong um but you know by rv yeah but i think what they got out of it like i said when we made mistake we all make mistakes i think they've gone out and um acknowledged it probably wasn't the perfect process they've gone out and improved it they had to make a decision really quickly to change it which they did um and i feel like they just left nothing on the table to sort of any levers to sort of come back but over time they've actually gone and and really changed the way they've managed that and i think now you've got a really good balance um from what it was to what it is and i think that's now um getting communicated across you know through europe um you know when i used to speak to a couple of trainers um and owners in europe three years ago they're like no way i'm not coming to victoria forget it this is crazy what you're doing there but they don't say that anymore you know just know there's a process um even this year a few horses failed but gareth they should have failed they shouldn't have been bought anyway yeah um you're not going to buy those horses and you don't want to buy those no so i think they're doing you a favor um in a sense it's forcing you to to do that extra little bit of dd and um so i think i think
Speaker 2it's a good thing um there's so much to ask because there's so many different horses you've got but while we're on the melbourne cup it's the most special race to you is it still look i think the melbourne
Speaker 5cup was the most special race for me starting off because i wasn't really a huge passionate horse person starting and growing up that's all i knew yeah like you know you you went to school and um it's the melbourne cup the melbourne cup it's far lap you know at my age it was all about the melbourne cup um when i was younger at school and it was all about far lap and um and that's what growing up um so yes that was always the sort of the main goal for me you know and and i think as a child when you grow up there's certain things that stick in your memory and um you know the melbourne cup you know you might have your favorite car that you sort of had a poster on the wall and then when you end up one day buying that car like maybe it's not the coolest car anymore but you still think it's the coolest car because yeah you had it on your wall when you're 15. so it's it's those things and the melbourne cup i think is no different for me um but then now as i'm more involved in racing i love all the races um and i'm probably more in love with the horses than more than the race itself um so for me i can get really attached to a horse and um more so than the actual success of the race and then when it does win it's more about a relief because that that horse deserves it and i think i had that feeling um and it wasn't even my horse but you know on saturday when um angel capital won like i was actually like i'm never really cheering a u-long horse that's competing with us like you're just not and i had one in the race and um you know when when angel capital crossed the line i was actually quite happy i was like
Speaker 2oh for the horse yeah i was like
Speaker 5about time like i really wanted it to win and i had that joy um you know for the the trainer and and the jockey and the owners so it's it's changed a little bit from you know the way i used to see um racing and and now it's a lot more about the joy of my ownership group so it's a lot more about the joy of my ownership group so it's a lot more about the joy of my ownership group so it's a lot more about the joy of my ownership group and my friends and family and and look it's like a club like our group's just like like i love them to bits um you know they take up about 75 percent of my day and there's about 150 messages a day in whatsapps but they're just such a tight-knit group and um yeah and they love it and they're amazing and so that's probably the best part of racing for me is our our core group um that's stuck stuck fat
Speaker 2all the way through yeah it's 9 41 this is beyond the barriers with aussie care more from aussie straight after this here on giddy up join the
Speaker 1conversation text us on 0 4 double 9 7 3 6 7 3 6 live across australia this is giddy
Speaker 2up with gareth hall i think here's my special guest for beyond the barriers and um yeah there's a lot of text messages coming through as well so who is your most who's your favorite horse
Speaker 5right now um i think it's hard to go go past sort of jimmy and and and now birdman i mean um jimmy's always sort of been our favorite um just because he was so quirky and he was so good um and he probably still you know he's still up there as well our favorites but birdman sort of slowly sort of clawing some ground there um and um yeah look i i'd still say jimmy's probably one of my favorites okay
Speaker 2and he's been a great story like he gives he gives us hope in a way like he didn't cost that much did he under the
Speaker 5oh no he was 200 or something slightly more yeah yeah not much and um yeah look we don't pay a great we don't pay a lot of money for these um joint sort of new zealand horses and even in europe like you know i know there's perception that they that they are expensive but we try to buy these progressive horses under the radar yeah i'd rather buy two of them cheaper than one big one and then go wrong so green gots has been a great horse it's another one that wasn't expensive we bought him out of a trial he was a great horse and he was a great horse and he was a great horse he he trialed on a heavy 10 when we bought him um he hadn't raced and um we didn't really know what we're going to get and yeah he's been a group one winner and like between those two i can't remember what the number was but i i think they've won maybe 18 million yeah
Speaker 2yeah unbelievable something just crazy they paid the bills for a few others i would imagine they have they have they've paid the bills um can you take us inside the inner sanctum if it's okay you don't have to but last week we green gots taking on autumn glow we had jackie and jimmy and jimmy and jimmy and jimmy and jack turnbull on he said oh natch has got something up his sleeve yep and i was fascinated to think what was nash going to do and i didn't think he would do what he did there on saturday well do you did he talk to you about what he was planning to do to beat her or can you take us inside the thinking there from the camp now
Speaker 5look i think i think what we try to do in these situations is not talk about it too much because it gets out it gets out and these jockeys and trainers want this element of surprise it's not a surprise if everyone knows about it um you know unfortunately in our group you've got you know people inside the john o'neill yes you can say that um you know you've got to be careful get excited yeah they get excited and you got people people and it's not just john it's you know it's literally there's other people in the group that that um you know talk about it and it does get out yeah but it's the element of surprise these jockeys want a surprise and it's not really surprise if if jay mac knows what you're about to do yeah um so we don't talk about it too much we leave it to the jockeys um for their
Speaker 2surprise but you would like to know wouldn't you do you have that is it just um is it is it mar and you that talk to now look sometimes sometimes
Speaker 5you ring the jocks look i try not to get involved with the jockeys i don't like giving them instructions because i feel like um i'm stepping over that mark um yeah and it's hard not to do so i do like i spoke to karen yesterday um you know about jimmy star and i was like i don't want to ring even though i've got a great relationship with ethan um and i'll speak to ethan after the race yeah no problem and i'll speak to the jockeys after the race and they all ring after the race they try
Speaker 2and ring you to get right so i don't know yeah they do
Speaker 5they do and um you know we we do our best to sort of share it around but my my conversations with jockeys are normally post race yeah um just to see how that horse went or whatever it is and um a lot of times they're sort of spruiking how good their ride was and let's keep me on it but um before the race i try not to get involved because i've seen it happen many times before where you've got you know three owners giving them instructions everyone's ringing everyone wants to feel like they're giving instructions and they're ringing jockeys telling them what to do you go forward i've seen the my form guys told me the pace the pace maps here and my form guys told me this and there's five different form guys giving these everyone gets confused yeah so if you just leave it to the trainer the trainer knows best um and that's what i normally do if i've got a view um i'll ring chris or i'll ring karen and i'll say what about this this and this and i just leave it at that how do you deal with this?
Speaker 2i'm pretty good gareth i have 250 staff yeah so i'm used to
Speaker 5i'm used to having some disappointments yeah and and a lot of kids um so it's it comes with the parcel um like again like you can't win every race and you can't get the best ride on every single horse and you can't get everything go your way and if you did you can't win every race and you can't get the best ride on every one i don't think i'd be in the industry anyway like i'd be bored um so i think as much as we want to win every race um you can't no and it's when you lose and when you get unlucky and then one goes your way it means more yeah you
Speaker 2know what um will you buy a horse now for a derby because it's worth three million would i buy a horse for what for a derby now because it's worth three
Speaker 5million um probably doesn't change too much of what i do the answer is probably no um if i've got a horse that's good enough to go to the derby yeah i'd go there yeah of course over
Speaker 2the spring champions now because it's worth two million at two thousand well at the moment
Speaker 5at the moment the derby's over 2500 the spring champs over 2000 so the horse needs to be suited for that trip um but no i'm not really one that's going out looking to buy horses because a prize money's going up yeah in a certain certain race um i haven't had a runner in a golden eagle and that's worth 10 million yeah yeah i like i just thought if i have the right horse to go to that race we'll go to that race but i'm not going to go out and buy a horse specifically to run in a golden eagle because you know if it doesn't win a golden eagle
Speaker 2what do you do what do you do yeah yeah hey we're going to take one more break and then we've got a few more questions coming through um and then we're going to ask you about your horses for the spring carnival so we'll get to that straight after this here this is beyond the barriers on giddy up our special guest is ozzy kerr join the
Speaker 1conversation text us on 999-736-736 live across australia this is giddy up with gareth hall
Speaker 2ozzy kerr is my special guest for beyond the barriers ozzy um do you prefer tried horses or yearlings i like fast
Speaker 5horses so if i buy a nice horse out of the yearling sales i prefer healing depends when you ask me but right now um yeah i've got we've got obviously jimmy star's brother um in canto star so he was bought as a yearling he was bought as a yearling and he was bought as i think he was about 250 um you know he's a nice horse we've got there and um previously we've had a bit of success you know with tagaloa because he was i think it's 300 and he won a blue diamond and um do you breed many i never i never used to and i'm not that good at it um i tried and i was pretty terrible at it um and i think you got to stick to what you you do best and um there's much better breeders than me and i'm not that good at it and i'm not that good at it and i'm not that good at it um but i've started now with a different approach and i'm probably going to breed quality now more than just quantity um i had once i'd had up to about 10 15 mares and i wasn't very good at it and now i'm starting why oh i just think you've got it it's got to be a business like when you're breeding you're breeding really for a business and i'm just wasn't into it for business um so for me i just want to keep everything and race everything and that's not really a good breeding model um so now i've got like i've you know we're going to breed we've got um uh sarah sue we've got um like a lucy we've got molly bloom we've got scarlet oak um we've got um a few like they're all group one winning mares yeah so we're just taking the path where we might only breed five or six but we'll breed those breed to sell breed to race um well the plan would be to probably breed to sell and if they don't sell we'll just read to race yeah that that's a good sort of um backdrop for us so i don't see it many yearling sales nah gareth i actually haven't been to any um not been to one no i think i walked into one after cool and got a one the magic millions a couple of years okay yeah and i just i just walked in and my heart was just beating so fast and people everywhere and and it's like and everybody wants to just come and i was just like mate i've got to get out of here i just ran i was just i got out of there that quick um and probably saved myself a couple of years and i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like i'm just like a million bucks on that
Speaker 2day so they see you coming yeah
Speaker 5they do and um nah
Speaker 2look you must have that ability to say no i some people don't but well most people don't
Speaker 5right it's really hard and then they have to pay the bill three months later and like i haven't got the money but no look i actually um say no 99 of the times i actually and i think people get sick of um ringing they stop bringing you after a while because they know you're going to say no respectfully i say no it's just not for me but um i think that's one of the hardest things to do in life right you say no you say no and um it's always easy to say yes to everybody and and be the good guy and um it is a gift to do that in a way like
Speaker 2it is a strength of people yeah yeah exactly i struggle i struggle with that big time most
Speaker 5people do like not 99 percent of people it's easy to say yes and keep everyone happy and and then deal with the problem later but i'm saying no it's not easy and it takes a certain skill set to be able to say no and and still stay good with those people and um would you
Speaker 2say no to jimmy star and amenicato he probably needs to draw well with the rail being out 30
Speaker 5it's going to be difficult for him um with the rail out um i still have a lot of faith that he'll bounce back but i've had that faith for the last four starts yeah he's had i just think there's something there like you can't trial that well every time um and you can't work as well as he has been and the trainer can't tell you that he's flying and the jockey can't tell he's flying and then every time it comes to race day it's just there's something that's not right and i'm hoping that we've sort of worked that out um on the weekend and um and he bounces back and um look i'm not going to give up on him that's for
Speaker 2sure um have you if he does run well have you got your slot ready to go for the
Speaker 5everest uh there's been people on hold and on reserve for a long time gareth and um and they've been constantly touching base just keeping us lukewarm um and and i've pretty much said the whole way along that um like jimmy has to put his hand up yeah you know when he's ready and we'll know and um whether that's the everest or or not um probably more unlikely than likely at this stage okay unless he come out and did something special you know on saturday um and then we'd have those discussions but right now there's no point could you get into a mile this prep look let's see what happens on saturday let's see what happens on saturday i think i think with jimmy star i just want him to run well um if he's unlucky and he doesn't win and he runs well at least we're getting closer
Speaker 2yeah i'm going to take one more break and then i'm going to ask about a few of the other spring stars um a lot of questions coming through who's your number one selection for the lexus melbourne cup this time around you'll have a few opportunities to win the great race once again so we'll discuss all of that um with aussie care for beyond the barriers here on giddy up on this uh wednesday morning join the
Speaker 1conversation text us on 0-4-double-9-7-3-6-7-3-6. Live across Australia, this is Giddy Up with Gareth Hall.
Speaker 2Aussie Kerr has been good enough to join us for a little longer here because it's been a really interesting chat for Beyond the Barriers. So let's talk about your Melbourne Cup hopefuls. Who is your best Melbourne Cup chance right now on the 23rd of September at 10 o'clock?
Speaker 5Look, Zarin's got to be up there after this weekend. I've always had the belief that he will be a true Melbourne Cup contender.
Speaker 2And we thank you. We're on at $21 after you gave us a good puss out of the day on Giddy Up.
Speaker 5I did. And I just think that he's now starting to come into his own and it's great. Again, that's another horse that you get the relief because no one really saw what we saw when we purchased him. And now it's starting to really show. And now there's the believers, but up until last week, the horse was no good. No. No. No. I think you sort of had some queries on him early.
Speaker 2Well, I think, yeah, I think that. Which is normal. When you watched him in the winter, you thought, geez, he needs to improve. But you, you were a hundred percent right when you said on this show that he'll win a Caulfield Cup or go close. And now he's what, $5? We bet $3.65.
Speaker 5Yeah. So he's definitely one that I, where everyone thought he was going average in winter. I thought he was going perfect for what we wanted. He was only going to have a couple of runs and Kieran's done a great job. And, you know, a big shout out to Jack Turnbull because, you know, he's been managing. So well, and I ring him every couple of weeks on him and he keeps saying, no, no, he's coming good. He's coming good. And so he's one that's very exciting. He's still got to get into the race, but he's in the Caulfield Cup, but I'm pretty sure he'll get in the Melbourne Cup. Yeah. And then there's the James J. Braddock, which is, you know, exciting.
Speaker 2He's your pride and joy in a way. Yeah. Look. At the moment anyway.
Speaker 5Yeah. I think you, when you buy a horse after, like he's had, he had one start on a heavy, like probably 12 here. Like it was, it was so bad. Track he ran on and, um, he'd only had that one win. Um, and he was a two year old. I think it was over, might've been 1400. I can't remember now, but, um, and he won well. Um, and really don't know what you're buying at that point, you know? Um, and we bought him a year ago and, and to now have him win the main Derby lead up and, and run, you know, third in an Epson Derby and all that stuff. It's very exciting for all the owners. Look, Garth, like here's another example. Like I bought him on my own, um, because it was very hard. It's very hard to sell a horse to your mates when you're, you're buying a horse that's won a maiden over 1400 or 600, a heavy 10. And, um, when I thought. Who persuaded you there or why did you like him? Oh, look, Matt and I just did. Matt Becker. Yeah. Matt. Yeah. Matt Becker, which I talked to only pretty much for all my advice on all these horses and we run through the pros and cons. And, um, Joseph rang me at the time and said, look, I've got this horse, but you might like him anyway. We took the chance. We took, we sort of said, well, let's back Joseph on this one. We don't know if it's any good, but we're going to have to take our chance on it. It wasn't expensive. Like, you know, he was the price of a, you know, a yearling at Easter. I think average price of a yearling. Like he wasn't overly expensive. Um, and then when we knew he was good, instead of sort of keeping the whole horse, which we, I like what we own, like I think 90% of him or 85, 85% of him, whatever it was. Um, we just put all our regular group that sort of are loyal to us. Yeah. Um. Um, that's what it's all about for us. It's not about the money. It's not a business. And, um, you know, when he, when he won the Derby lead up and then third in the Epson, we thought, oh shit, we've got a genuine chance. And then you bring all the people who have backed you on the journey. Um, when they don't know if all this is any good and they probably haven't even watched the replays, they've just come in because you've told them to come in, you know, you reward them with that. And now we've got some good owners in him that, you know, are great friends. Couple of questions.
Speaker 2I know we're running out of time. Um, James. James Braddock, trained by Joseph O'Brien. What makes him so great?
Speaker 5Oh, mate, you know what, there's the same attributes when you look at the Kieran Mars, when you look at, um, Chris Waller, when you look at Joseph O'Brien and, and, you know, you can say that across many other trainers in Victoria, in Australia and overseas, their attention to detail, it just comes back down to that. Just like 1%, the attention to detail. It's probably no different than the AFL coach, you know, the good ones, but the attention to detail that they have. on these horses and they just leave no stone unturned and that's what makes them so good um and their work ethic i think that those two you know they're in line with each other they're teaching and work ethic you can't have attention to detail and not work hard
Speaker 2craig williams it wasn't long as soon as the weights came out he was booked for this horse how did that all come about does craig ring you or you ring craig
Speaker 5it depends um when i've got a good one the jockeys are ringing me and yeah it's flat out when i've got one that's probably not it's unknown like james j braddock um craig wouldn't have even known who i'm ringing him so you sort of yeah sort of something i gave you that ride yep come and ride this one for me and i actually was i'd had a few vodkas that night when i rang him probably rang him a bit later than i should have i was out with the wife on a thursday and had a few drinks and i said now i'm going to get this bloke and yeah i put it on him a little bit did you have to talk him into it of course yeah of course of course i mean you know these the good jockeys don't want to take a ride this early they want to wait till they travel here sit on them in quarantine make sure they've traveled well and they're and they're the right horse um you know it's their grand final as well so you know they're look the one thing that's great about craig and some of these good jockeys is they also are believers in what we do so when we say we've got a nice one and we like it um you know they
Speaker 2back that as well i don't know if brownie can he ride 53 and a half in a cool field i didn't think
Speaker 5he could but i rang him the other day and i said brownie i've got craig on standby what do you think um for the caulfield cup um and i've chopped my leg off and you can run the melbourne and write him in the melbourne cup and he's like aussie i'll be riding 53 kilos there you go so he's like okay so look i still think the weights probably will go up in the caulfield cup
Speaker 2anyway calvin scratches
Speaker 5yeah so um i think it'll go up um do you
Speaker 2prefer do you like your jockeys wasting to get if they're determined no not
Speaker 5really no no it's not ideal no um i think i think ethan at 54. i'll be fine um 53 but look you can't you've got to give him the benefit of doubt you've got to back him and um we haven't made that mistake yet where they're wasted and they haven't been good so yeah he's a quality and and look to be honest ethan those colors with ethan um has just been they've been on fire they've been on fire so you know you've got to give
Speaker 2him a chance um there's so many like light imagery man winning a caulfield cup with harry coffee that would have been great um necessarily yeah but lighting for two men not that cup the australian cup yeah
Speaker 5yeah well i think um yeah the australia cup like we've got a we've had a good run gareth and um i'm pretty humbled about the success we've had but um you always want more and you keep driving for more and what would your
Speaker 2advice be like to people out there in business um with horses like i know that if you're a man that goes all in in a way yeah yeah what would your advice be
Speaker 5um look if you're getting into horses i think you've got to look i the first thing you've got to do is not say yes to everything because then you're not going to be in it for long all your chips are gone yeah but maybe just do a little bit of research yourself before believing others others and you know because at the end of the day they're like a real estate agent you know they're going to sell you a property if they're listed it so you've just got to uh maybe do a little bit of work and be comfortable that you think that's the right awesome and maybe get a little bit of success first before you go into the next one the next one and um look i just think as people get more more success in horses they just keep coming back into the industry so um for me i want everyone to be successful and um the more people that are successful in the industry whether it's through another trainer or another owner that's only a good thing because if you look at our horses at the moment running all these wait for age races like a lot of them have been bought out of new zealand or internationally and if you took all them out like i'm not sure that our races would rate very well especially in these bigger sort of wait for aid races um
Speaker 2we could we could talk all day um business yeah we could talk all day um business yeah we could talk all day um business your advice there uh
Speaker 5business again same thing look i still have the same work ethic gareth that i had when i first started um i was a very motivated man i had motivation because of my family and where i've come from and and how they were so but that motivation hasn't waived for me i still work like i haven't got a dollar um and i probably don't need to work and my kids probably don't need to work but i can tell you something my kids are going to work hard excuse that they're going to work just as hard as i did and um i'm not going to give them anything until they actually deserve it and and work their butts off it's a lot
Speaker 2of young trainers texting um what would your advice be to them so they can get a horse off you um
Speaker 5when you've got a good one and you think you've got a good one call me give me a call but make sure you get it right yes because if you get it wrong i'm probably not going to come back again so get it right um you don't have to give me five or ten just gonna give me one and you get the right one we'll put the right people in and we'll build from there and um and that's just normal right that's i do that every day in my business you know yes yeah you know if i make clients money um i know they're going to come back for more so i guess it's no different paulie sebastiani wants
Speaker 2to know will you be president of the carlton football club one day tell paul yeah i want to enjoy my phone i want to enjoy
Speaker 5watching the blues and um i'm not a i'm probably not a i'm probably a worse loser watching carlton than i am i'm watching my horse's game i'm watching my horse's good bit to be honest. So, um, but yeah, it's been a great run and, um, it's just so exciting. Exciting having all the Carlton boys, you know, existing Carlton players in Birdman. And then even some ex-champions like Murphy and Chris Judd. It's just, it's just great. And they've got the bug.
Speaker 2Like they're already saying what's next, what's next. Yeah. So it's good. Hey, Ozzy, we appreciate you coming in, mate. We could talk. You told me, I don't know what we're going to talk about for 50 minutes. I said, I don't speak to my wife for 50 minutes straight.
Speaker 5What am I going to talk to you for 50 minutes?
Speaker 2We could talk for another two hours, but I appreciate your time. Any winners coming up? I do think Jimmy will bounce back.
Speaker 5And if you've got a future bet, I think Mr. Miller. Will we get in the Epson? I think Mr. Miller will get in the Epson. He's now rated 88. I think he's going to be very close and I think he will run a drum.
Speaker 2Love your work, mate. Yeah. A lot of text messages coming through and inspiring, man. This bloke's an inspiration. Thanks for opening up, Ozzy. Yeah. So a lot of love for you on the Garrett's Horse and Hound text line, Ozzy. We appreciate you coming in, mate. And good luck for the spring. Thank you. And good luck. Go for your blues. Yes, go blues. Hopefully you'll be in the final Saturday in September next year. Who knows? Yeah, exactly. Good on you, Ozzy. Ozzy Kerr, my special guest for Beyond the Barriers. Bag of tips coming up next. Cam Luke's going to go through that card there at Geelong for us. And then at 10.30, Tanya Fultz and the CEO of the MRC will be joining me here on Giddy Up.
Speaker 1Text us on 0499 736. 736. The Giddy Up Bag of Tips for Oz Equipment Rentals. Supplying equipment to the construction, mining and roadworks industries.
Speaker 2OzEquipment.com. They're racing at Geelong in Victoria. This is the first meeting we're going to preview with Bag of Tips. All thanks to Bet365, Top Tote Plus, Oz Equipment Rentals and the mighty Ultima Hotel. Rails out six metres for this eight race program at Geelong. We're on a good four. Jimmy Dalton, the great man, joins us with an update there at Geelong at this afternoon's meeting.
Speaker 6G'day, Jimmy. G'day, Gareth. How are you going?
Speaker 2Good, thank you, mate. What are the conditions like there this afternoon?
Speaker 6It's cracking here today. One of the better days we've seen in the last couple of weeks. 19 degrees. Absolutely no wind to speak of. Fully blue skies. So a cracking day for racing.
Speaker 2I was in Torquay on Sunday. And I'll tell you what, on the surf coast, the wind was unbelievable. And I thought, geez, hopefully the wind's not the. It's not the same there on Wednesday. Because you can cop a windy day there at Geelong. But it looks like it's going to be perfect conditions there, mate. And we're on a good four. Any chance of an upgrade?
Speaker 6Look, there is a fair chance. I've put out 16 millimetres of irrigation for the week. Five of that went out two nights ago. I didn't irrigate last night. We actually had a frost this morning. It was pretty fresh. So nice cover of dew there. And potentially upgrade. The wind has been sort of howling during the week. But that has kept us putting a little bit of water on. But still getting the cool nights and the non-wind today. Good for surface. And yeah, as you said, rail out at six metres, which hasn't covered all the way from 10 days ago when we raced, or 12 days ago. But look, it presents okay. We've still got a bit of recovery due from the winter program. But it's getting there. We've got four weeks till Geelong Cup, which is exciting.
Speaker 2So where do you think that they'll get to today?
Speaker 6Look, I think. Look, I think. Look, I think. I think even though the inside three looks pretty sort of thin and a little bit patchy, I still think it'll hold up okay. Like, it's firmer ground. So it's not going to deteriorate too much. So two weeks ago, we raced beautifully in the true. And look, I can only hope we race as even as it did that day. But I'd be safe to say that potentially later in the car, they might just sort of make a bit of ground towards the outside, more so than sticking to the rail. They might want to edge off a little.
Speaker 2All right, then. Hey, we appreciate that update, Jimmy. Good luck today, mate.
Speaker 6No, I do.
Speaker 2Thank you. There's James Dalton there. Let's get stuck into our preview. What about this man in the grand final there on the weekend in the Werribee District's grand final, playing for Caroline Springs? 45 touches, 15 marks, 12 rebounds, a rebound 50, 10 one-percenters, four tackles, nine intercept possessions, and 199 ranking points, whatever that means, in the Werribee District's Football League. But. Jenny Caluzzi, well done. Thank you, mate.
Speaker 7You got there, son. We got there. And you're looking pretty good. Yeah, not too bad. Not too bad. I think Louis asked me to come in, what was it, yesterday morning? I was like, yeah, sorry, Louis. I might have to have a sleep in, but. Yeah, well done, brother. I'm good now. It's been a great weekend.
Speaker 2Thank you, Jay. Yeah, and I tell you what, it's a privilege and honour to have. He's one of the best judges I know. He does it all, really, when it comes to broadcasting sport in this country. I speak of Cam Luke, and he's done the form for us, on a Wednesday afternoon for this Geelong meeting. He'll be alongside David Taggart on SEN Track this afternoon, and he joins us now here on Giddy Up. Cam Luke, thank you very much for joining us on this Wednesday, mate.
Speaker 8Always a pleasure, buddy. Hello to you. Hello to you, Benny. Congratulations, mate. I know that. Thank you, mate. Bounced back from a tough one last year in the grand final overtime loss that I do, we did on Saturday, mate. It's a credit to you. And the football club, historic as well. So outstanding, mate.
Speaker 9Brian Lake, the coach. Yeah, Brian Lake, our coach. And it's funny. Years to the day since Brian won the first B-grade premiership with Caroline Springs as a player. Okay. Saturday was our first A-grade one.
Speaker 2Yeah. So well done to all involved. And the boys have stopped partying, or.? There's probably some of the stragglers that are still out there somewhere. Hey, the first race, you can scratch the nine. This is a maiden over the 1,100 metres, a bet 3.65 market.
Speaker 9Voltrix is our $2.20 favourite. Buy written tycoon in the year-long silks from every owner, $3.40. Big lap, $4.40. He's been a good firmer. And first act is $6.
Speaker 8Cam? Interesting race. There's about. I'd almost argue there's five or six who have trialled really well here. There's a lot of debutants floating around. I've gone relatively wide in the early quaddie. A first act wasn't too bad on debut in that Sydney maiden in town. Then got tipped out. But probably out of all the trials, it was probably the one that I didn't love. Over-raced a little bit, was a little bit keen. So it's a fairly open race. I'm interested. I'm interested to see how the track plays early doors. We just heard from Doltz there. But no real bet. But first act, I think. I think if we can relax a little bit better than it did in our trial, it's one that's going to be there in the finish. But as I said, about five in the early quaddie, boys.
Speaker 2All right, then. So five first act each way. $6 and $1.55 in the first race. Another maiden race too over the 1,500 metres here, Benny.
Speaker 9Yeah, market is just a dead set two-horse race. True Rebel, $1.80. Clearly the one with the higher hold from Maness. $2.10. Your way out to Sydney. $17 for rising nine top and $9.10 for Trentino.
Speaker 8Cam? I think Maness might actually jump favourite here. They both come out of that same race at Bendigo. Maness from that gate is going to be on speed. Now, True Rebel most certainly is going to enjoy the distance going up. And all that forms around Zambalis, of course, who has form in town. So good race that I think is going to hold up. And it'll mean a little bit more when we get to race three. But I think Maness has the better speed map. Now, True Rebel is going to enjoy DeLong getting to the middle. It's going to be a good race. But they are the only two I think that can win the race. Cornell, let them up if you want. I might have a little exacter. No major play, but I'm going to probably lean towards Maness because I do think the better speed map is going to work a little bit here.
Speaker 2Another year-long horse that could be contended for the $3 million Victoria Derby now. Maness and Trent Mason, how that was on this show yesterday, part of the future show, he was tipping this horse to win the Derby for Tiago Racing and Mark Walker. So eight Maness to beat the 10. We move on now to the third race. Which is a maiden over the 1,400 meters. Scratch the six, Miraza, and the seven Platinum Pearl here, Benny.
Speaker 9Yeah, we've got two big firmers here. And they are the two at the top of the market. Stipulation, $2.10 from Fringilla, $3.20. Most of these other horses are on the drift just slightly. Dallara, $7.50. And Roebuck Plain is $12.
Speaker 8Stipulation is the best horse in this race, I think, going forward. But from that gate, I think it's Benny Mellum's only ride of the day as well. So, sorry, who's right? Hey, no, I'm rather than the next. So Stipulation is the one that's going to go back. Let me just make sure I haven't stuffed this up with my notes, which is very, very possible. No, Stipulation from that inside gate. I'm just interested to see where it gets in the run. Actually, I'm with Fringilla, who comes out of that Bendigo race. Now, I'm putting a lot of stock in that race at Bendigo. Just sat right on the back of the speed. And then when it was asked to quick and kind of got the head up and went stargazing, I think we'll probably need a little further than what it's going to get today. But again, I think it's going to come. And from that run, Stipulation might need a little bit of luck. I think Johnny Allen, who's a genius, can weave his way through. But I'm going to have a little plan for Fringilla here. Again, they're the only two in the market here and the only two I think can win. But I'm going to stay with Fringilla just because I think that race in Bendigo is going to hold four.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's been a really good form race, as you point out, Cam, because Ocean's 407, for instance, bolted home there yesterday at Swan Hill. So playing the three on top there for Cam Luke. We move on to race number four at Geelong. Today, and this is a maiden, again, over the 1,300 metres. Scratch the 7, 8, 10, and 12 here.
Speaker 9Benny Caluzzi. And this was the ride that Cam was referring to. Conquer the World, $2.80 into $1.70 with only some minor deductions. We know this camp, this combination's always strongly backed. Whitebait on debut, $5. From Discover, Lepino, $7. And Silky Seth is $9.
Speaker 8So this is why you should always read notes when you're trying to do this. This is the horse that's the best horse in the race, but he's drawn disgustingly, the only, the only, uh right a day for benny malum and he is the b i think he's the best horse he was so good on debut but white bait trialed up really well this is gonna be my first major bet of the day here on white bait who's drawn nicely frosty lane in a seat for chris waller it'll go forward it just trialed like a nice horse you know when you see them and you think yeah you know what uh i can't wait to see this horse get to get to the jump out get to the races it's going to go forward i think it'll be on speed or see one out one back if they push up inside it i still think gonna be very hard to beat but a dollar 60 it's not for me so um i will probably have a little cornella saver because i think they are the two best horses in this particular race also one to keep an eye on is the other waller philly actually thought she was she was half okay at randwick on debut in the autumn i think she's she's been okay she jumped out okay without being brilliant uh but tanner barter at odds uh about 11 or 12 dollars i think about 365 but a little play here on white bait because i think the speed map just suits him best
Speaker 2so 11 there each way white bait damien lane and chris waller that's uh the first four races down for our preview of geelong we'll take a break and we'll come back and have a look at the quaddie leagues next join the
Speaker 1conversation text us on 0499 736 736 live across australia this is giddy up with gareth hall welcome back
Speaker 2to giddy up we're previewing this geelong meeting don't forget the ceo of the mrc tanya fullerton will be joining me here on giddy up with an update on the track and what happened there over the last couple of days there with caulfield so she'll update us there tanya fullerton just after 10 30 we're up to race number five first league of the quaddie here at geelong today this is over the 1300 meters the 62 handicaps scratch the emergencies benny caluzzi the 14 and the 15 yeah the
Speaker 9punner said aradale went up far too short three dollars it's gone out all the way to four dollars now from cyberlink 4.60 cushion has been six into five since opening and victory tune seven dollars cam
Speaker 8luke yeah really backable price now aradio i i do agree that three dollars was probably a smidge short but uh that that first prep was pretty good uh went to that break with that dead heat with g7 and i just think the jump out has shown a little bit that she's improved a bit jamie malum it's a bit of a murky speed map there's a bit of speed drawn wide but sometimes that doesn't always mean they'll go forward what i do know is that she will be able to be uh have a nice run in transit just on the back of them uh look the good track won't hurt she chased down last time she was on that good track she chased home chasing rainbows who had just been or had chased home concord connie so there's a little bit of form there of course with concord connie being uh a really good horse in that particular prep so i already i really like her here yep so
Speaker 2number eight there around four dollars with bet three six five you can boost our idea to four dollars dollars and twenty five cents there at geelong to kick off the quaddi we move on to race number six euphoric the five and thunderbolt way are scratching so the five and the eight in this benchmark 78 over the 2400 meters ben they're very
Speaker 9keen on autumn heat here since monday it's been five dollars fifty to three sixty with us from dragoon five dollars also a firm chihuly's been a slight drifter out to five dollars and schultzy always around the mark is five dollars fifty as well this is my best
Speaker 8of the day boys autumn heat uh i thought it was okay in town last start they went really quick now he did have a nice run in transit but the back markers ran on of course politely done won the race he sort of just ground to the line he gets back to the mile and a half he enjoys geelong and from that gate i i don't think the speed's going to be anywhere near it was last start so harry coffee can be really proactive and hold that inside and be able to almost control it at whatever speed he wants and if he does that i think it's going to go a long way to winning gets back on top of the ground which is a big tick i think this race you're probably going to enjoy that black peppermint's probably another one who being back on top of the ground is going to help but they're open races these mile and a half races but i like horses uh who have been there and done it before the track and distance and i think he's running trans it'll be better than last start in an easier race and autumn heat's my best of the
Speaker 2day at geelong beautiful so autumn heat um what price we're getting now about three dollars 60. so confidence there from cam luke and the punters we go to a benchmark 62 race seven over the 1500 crates to nine rich king benny and this
Speaker 9is the horse just desserts our favorite who has the highest hold of any horse on the day a dollar seventy he is really strongly back from stay humble gee james has nailed it on this horse a couple times six dollars luna four seven dollars fifty and rogue warrior twelve dollars look
Speaker 8very very hard very hard to find something to beat this horse probably a little bit hard now to back it at the the price it is that race at packet i'm actually held up pretty well with uh the horses that it beat where it did a little bit wrong actually uh even though it still got the job done it was a little bit harder than it was at the top but it was a little bit harder than it was at the top but it was a little bit harder than it was at the top even though it still got the job done i've gone on to run well and then it's seymour it's same same class as this now i know he has to carry a bit more but he's drawn perfectly he wasn't drawn perfectly at seymour he uh he goes up a little bit in trip which i think will only help uh and very hard to make a case uh that this favorite will not win the race he's won out in the quaddi but no no play for me but i think the two kilograms that he has to carry from my last start won't make a huge
Speaker 2difference all right then so that's race seven and there's a short price favorite there just desserts at a dollar six seventy then we go to race number eight the final event there at geelong today benchmark 66 scratch the two three and seven here benny and it's
Speaker 9yes has been hammered here into two dollars sixty this horse from sea poem five dollars fifty pure passion is given a hope at six dollars and rose angela going for three straight seven dollars fifty did
Speaker 8you back it's a yes on your mad monday benny backs up on a 48 hour turnaround
Speaker 9no i wasn't looking at any races man and you know
Speaker 2what i love that from lindsey smith that's a typical lindsey smith it's a typical lindsey smith it's a pretty good sign before with success
Speaker 8yeah look it clearly clearly the horses uh and it was actually not too bad on on monday as well i am taking it on with with c poem he comes back a little bit in trip and from that gate i think craig williams is going to go forward uh but again the good track this is one you got to try and look out for a bit some of those softish or even heavy conditions back on on top of the deck uh c poem hasn't seen one for a little while uh the best is for these horses on top of the ground i think it's actually ran pretty well to be fair in for races this uh these last couple of runs as well even though i don't think she had the conditions to suit it's a yes is the danger no doubt but i think c poem has been in the better races and drops down a little bit compared to the progressive it's a yes they are the only two that i've got in the quad to end it but i do like c poem oh i think who i think finds its race today on top of the
Speaker 2ground all right then so eight from six there in that final event at geelong there for cam luke what about your best bets and then your quaddie mate all
Speaker 8right so best bets i haven't actually i haven't made quaddie yet because i want to see how this track plays yeah i will say that my best at geelong is autumn heat and my three bigger plays uh race five number eight aradio race six number six autumn eight and then race eight number six c poem they're my three biggest i do like white bait uh understand that it's got a pretty short pricey against it but i think it'll run well on debut but my my main three uh look to be fair aradio uh won't be one out but i'll never be two or three in there autumn heat will be one out uh and then i'm gonna have c poem and it's a yes so i'm going yes in the last and one out in the third leg with the the short pricey dessert so it won't be a it won't be a wide-ish quality at geelong but i haven't quite nutted it out because i just want to see how this track plays early
Speaker 2and we can listen to you we tagged of course this afternoon on sc in track what happened
Speaker 8my tags didn't answer the call is that why i got the phone call is he
Speaker 2just he said that um you know he doesn't he he waits to do his form late in the morning that's his that's his preparation tags yeah i'll tell
Speaker 8you what his preparation is gee it's just rocking up a couple just lob on his front doorstep and then he can just push him later in the afternoon just joking outstanding tips and i can't wait to spend a few hours
Speaker 2he's got a lot on his plate wmba multis golf multis so he's what he's one of a kind our little friend
Speaker 8i think the fever of playing this morning so the first 15 minutes of uh trackside this afternoon will be a blow by blow description of uh caitlyn clark's game yes good
Speaker 2on you cam thanks for that mate i'll be listening this afternoon thank you gee thank you benny see you boys there's cam luke there benny you go and get a cup of coffee maybe a cup of tea tanya fullerton the ceo of the mrc is about to join me then after that we'll preview the warwick farm meeting with benny kaluzzi and mickey gannon join
Speaker 1the conversation text us on 049736736 live across australia this is giddy up with gareth hall
Speaker 2welcome back to giddy up it was a really interesting day the victorian racing landscape yesterday after there was a release sent out by the mrc regarding what happened there on saturday and the headline read the mrc review confirms the caulfield track was safe and the rail move unnecessary unnecessary and the ceo of the mrc tanya fullerton joins me now to explain all of this tanya thanks for your time here on giddy up hello gareth good morning it's been an interesting week to say the least it has been it's just a normal week for me
Speaker 10really
Speaker 2who did the
Speaker 10review uh we did the review internally so um to give you some context um leading into that uh the track was presented as safe for racing on saturday uh the jockeys obviously inspected the track after the stewards so the stewards inspected the track and they didn't notice anything in their inspection with the track team uh the jockeys arrived on course and um i'm not sure how they noticed a turf plug but they found turf plugs and they started to tug on the turf plugs and rip the top off the turf plugs um so it they felt but they were loose and they felt it may have been unsafe. Subsequently, the MRC jumped into action by request of the stewards and moved the rail four metres in record time. In the morning, Sam Bennett didn't agree. He said that the turf plugs had been installed correctly and that there was no issue with the turf plugs. However, with the time, knowing that it was so close to the first race, he was very happy to comply. You know, the jockeys obviously are entitled to their view and they didn't feel it was safe and jockey safety is paramount. So everybody agreed that it would just be best to get on and get the meeting done. So the team, you know, record pace to get that rail out and they were only delayed by nine minutes, which was quite incredible. So I'm very proud of the team for being able to, you know, whip into action so quickly to do that. Subsequently, we met with the stewards at the end of the day and committed to doing an internal review of the track and what may have happened and if the turf plugs were installed correctly and if there was any issues. Our track team, who are incredibly experienced, headed by Michael Suey, our head of race courses, and Sam Bennett is obviously our race course manager at Caulfield. They, with their team, went and inspected the turf plugs, the turf plugs that were in question. They also inspected the turf plugs that were raced on safely on Saturday, of which there were many, dozens and dozens of them, which is standard fare. We concluded after we did our full review on Monday that there were no issues at all with the turf plugs. All that has happened is that they have been installed at the correct depth, which is 120 millimetres or greater, and they're quite wide. I'm not sure if you've seen it, Gareth, or if you saw the video that Sam Bennett showed yesterday, but they're quite wide, they're quite big and they're very heavy. So when they're installed correctly in the track, they're not moving. They are not moving. And we went through the areas of the track that were in question and it's really clear they're not moving. But if you get down there with your fingers and try to rip it up, it's a big, heavy piece of turf, dirt, roots, sand, everything, you're just ripping up the top. But horses don't run around the track and rip up the top of turf plugs.
Speaker 2I say it's an internal review, but do you think Sam Bennett and Mick Suey and your team prefer an independent review so it's someone else that's giving them the all clear rather than themselves?
Speaker 10They actually did contact their colleagues and peers. So we use, as a matter of course, all through the year, we use a group called the Australian. I'm going to get the name wrong, but it's the Australian Sports Turf Association where they have senior agronomists and we regularly use Bruce McPhee, Dave Nixon, John Malin through our race courses through the year and they all consult and we've got a very good working relationship, obviously, with all three of them. All three of them were actually away, so they couldn't physically come, and inspect on Sunday or Monday, but they have seen the videos and they have spoken with our track team. We've also been in touch with this and Australian Race Course Managers Association. Both associations sent us a letter in support saying that there is this turf plug installation is compliant, it's standard practice, it's used on race courses all through Australia. So, you know, we were satisfied with that support and we're really satisfied. But you've got to remember, we run 80 race meetings a year. We've got five race tracks, we do 15 sets of official trials, we hold jump outs 52 times of the year, including at Balmaring, not just at our courses, but we also do them at Balmaring and help Balmaring out with their track preparation as a result of that. And we also hold numerous track gallops before feature race meetings. So, to be honest, I've got a track team who are incredibly experienced. This is what they do. This is what they do every day of the week. They present safe racing services. We race generally one and a half times a week on average. They know what they're doing. So, they spoke to their peers. This is standard practice. It's really clear when you have a look at the plugs that were in question, that there is no issues with them. They were installed correctly. The issue was, is people tugging at them and pulling them out. It looked terrible on television. No question, it looked terrible. The people weren't pulling out the plug. They're pulling out the top of the plug. So, what we were seeing is probably really only 25 to 30% of the plug. So, anyone looking at it would say, "Oh, gee, that's terrible." But they're not seeing the full picture. And they were actually not on the track to see how those plugs worked. So, they were actually not on the track to see how those plugs worked. The nature of the plugs always is standard. Is there always loose, probably not quite the correct word, but they are not bound. It takes two weeks to do that. And it's standard practice to always install plugs a few days before the event. And as an example, at Sandown, we've had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of plugs installed through winter. Which is standard practice every winter. The equipment they use is MRC custom engineered. So, our plugs are actually a lot wider and heavier than some plugs that are used at other racetracks. And that machine was made in 2000. So, for 26 years, this equipment and this practice has been in place.
Speaker 2And in your time in this game, have you ever seen anything like it then? Because it's the first time I've seen. Something like this with the plugs that have caused to have the rail changed there.
Speaker 10It has happened before. Yeah. No, it has happened before. So in 2014 at Sandown, jockeys described that they were uncomfortable with track plugs. A investigation was taking place. They actually abandoned the meeting that day. I think it was a jumps meeting in the middle of winter at Sandown. Jason Currant in Bailey prepared the report, which I read on Saturday, and their recommendation was exactly the same. Everything that came out of that report was the same. They said that the plugs had been tampered with. There was a misunderstanding around the installation and use of the plugs, the plugs that were not unsafe, and again, that the tops had been sheared off. So again, what we were seeing on Saturday was. It looked terrible. You're really just ripping the top of the grass off with your fingers, which again, is not easy to do when it's so heavy. You're not going to be pulling out a big heavy plug with your hands. That's not going to happen.
Speaker 2I've just got to take a quick break, Tanya, if that's okay. We're going to come back with plenty more. Tanya Foulds and my special guest, the CEO of the MRC.
Speaker 1Text us on 0499 737.
Speaker 2736 736. So Tanya, in the release as well there yesterday, you mentioned that there will be an independent track inspection, which is a process designed to avoid a repeat of the circumstances that led to this late rail movement. So the champion hoop, Damien Oliver, will walk the tracks on a Friday. And then report back to the stewards. Why do you think this is the best practice to avoid a problem like this happening again?
Speaker 10Oh, well, this is the thing. So, you know, there's been a false narrative that we are saying that we don't respect jockey safety and that we, you know, which is untrue. It's actually completely untrue. And it's been taken completely out of context. You know, I've worked with the Jockeys Trust for six years. I've worked with the Jockeys previously and raised millions of dollars for them and worked with the families of those that have, you know, lost someone on the track and the injured jockeys. And my uncle was actually killed at Flemington in a steeple school. So, you know, I'm completely aware of the dangers that they go through and completely respectful and would never, ever ask a jockey to go out there and ride if they felt it was unsafe. Would never do that nor expect that. What we're trying to say isn't being really clear is that we're fully respectful of the process with the jockeys and the stewards on Saturday. But subsequently, when we've reviewed it, we realised that they got it wrong.
Speaker 2How's your relationship with RV now?
Speaker 10Well, I mean, I'm not taking any of this personally. This is business as usual. And I mean, this is serious business. As the jockeys pointed out, you've got horses and jockeys out there that need to be safe. We had record turnover on Saturday, $79 million were turned over on on Saturday, which is incredible. The turnover was up 9.4%. It's not lost on me that we're a huge industry. We've got, you know, punters to service, mouths to feed. This is this is business. Everybody has to play their role. The jockeys need to feel safe. The stewards need to do their job. They're fully respectful of that. Yeah. I don't think they're fully respectful of the job. That we were doing. So I feel that they want us to say that, oh, yes, that was wrong. And the turf plugs were dangerous. And it's, you know, they made the right decision. They didn't make the right decision. They didn't. Yeah.
Speaker 2How's your team going?
Speaker 10I'll get to that. With the time frame, with the time frame on Saturday, it was the decision that happened. It had to be made. It was an impossible decision. Yeah. Impossible decision. So it had to be made for the safety of jockeys and for racing to proceed and to allow participants to have their horses race and for punters to be able to punt. And that's what happened. And it happened safely. Yeah. What's most important is that the jockeys actually rode over the exact same turf plugs through the meeting safely. So we come out on Monday and do the review. We go through all of our checks and balances. My track team, you know, we prepare the track for 80 meetings, 15 trials, gallops, 52 sets of jump outs. They do this all year. They're great at what they do. They are the hardest working track team in Australia. There's no question. No one has the volume of meetings and race courses that we do. No one. I've got full faith in my track team and their ability. So Damien Oliver's role, what's really important about this is that Damien understands. He'll come in the day before, he'll be able to work with the team. If he identifies anything that the jockeys may be concerned with or may feel is unsafe, he's got, they've got a full day to sort through those issues and work through them. Now, let's say, for example, Damien Oliver walked the track on Friday last week. And had Damien Oliver identified that he felt the turf plugs were an issue, he would have been able to work through that process with Sam Bennett, Mick Suey, and the track team and be able to come up with a solution that didn't require a last minute movement of a running rail on Saturday. I am running out of time. However, he would have found that there was no issues with the track plugs. We wouldn't have moved the rail and we would have had even better racing than what we did on Saturday.
Speaker 2You're confident to be right. Obviously, the rail's out 30 metres on Saturday. What about for the opening day of your carnival? Where will the rail be?
Speaker 10I'm actually, I don't have the rail position on me. I can't answer that. Gareth, but I can have the team. The team might be able to text you that if they're listening. They'll have those rail movements. They may not have decided because the rail has been moved. So the rail was supposed to be seven metres on Saturday, but obviously got moved out to 11. As a result, Sunday's meeting coming, the Manukato meeting, should have been at 10. It's now going to be 13. The reason for that, and I know that people on social media have been asking, people are trying. They're trying to imply that it's because the track was unsafe. That is not true. It is because we moved out 11 that the inside couple of metres have got a bit of a wear and tear from Saturday. So the stewards and the track team agreed 13 metres was the best approach. So that's what we're doing. We've got no concerns about safety and track preparation leading to the carnival. I spent a lot of time on the race course yesterday. Yes. And, you know, and on Monday. And it's really, really hard. It's a really good order. I'm very happy coming into Sunday.
Speaker 2Well, we appreciate you coming on and explaining your side of events there, Tanya. And we wish you the best of luck on Sunday. And also, of course, for your cup carnival, which is just around the corner there with the Caulfield Guineas. And we're just under two weeks time now. So thanks very much for your time. Thank you very much, Gareth. Appreciate it. There's Tanya Fullerton, the CEO of the MRC. We're going to take a break and we'll come back. Oh, we've got the heart out here. We're about to have. Betty Caluzzi with the Warwick Farm Preview as well, along with Mickey Gannon. Interesting catching up there with Tanya. Obviously, they're standing by their team. They believe that the track was in a safe order there come Saturday. And they should have kept the rail in that seven metre spot. But I think everyone's of agreeance there that the decision there to move the rail to 11 metres after the jockeys had concerns. Well, whether you think the jockeys are right or wrong. If they don't think it's safe to run on that racetrack, then they're always right. So you have to move it. And then obviously, they've done their review. Interesting. It's been an internal review and not an independent review. And Tanya explained why they've just conducted that independent review. I should say that internal review and then obviously handed their findings to Racing Victoria. But it'll be interesting to hear from Aaron Morrison on this situation going forward as well. So, yeah. And then hopefully we can all move on. Because as Tanya pointed out, the turnover was great there on Saturday. Yes, you don't want that situation to happen again, where you've got the rail moved out four metres on the eve of that first race, an hour before that first race. And it's a situation that hopefully we will be able to learn from and we can all move forward. It's quickly approaching 10.58. Now, on the other side of this, Benny Caluzzi will join me. We're going to preview Warwick Farm. And then after that, of course, we've got that meeting. At Eagle Farm, Chris Nelson will go through his best bets. We'll preview the Gawler meeting in South Australia and also that meeting at Belmont in WA as well. We'll find you some winners in the Dogs and the Trots. And then we've got our Greyhound segment with Jason Adams and Georgie Ferugia after 10.30 as well. Plus the best from the West with Darren McCauley. This is Giddy Up on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 1736 736 Live across Australia This is Giddy Up with Gareth Hall.
Speaker 2The fields are out for Manicato Stakes. Stay on that Sunday, Benny Caluzzi. And that Manicato's a beauty. So Giggie Kick Barrier 4, big tick. Jimmy Star Barrier 8's okay. Roth Fire's 6. Baywack, I reckon Nash would prefer maybe a middle gate so he can come across. But he looks the early leader there, despite him dropping back in trip. Gallant Sun 13, Beban, that's not good at 12. Napoleonic 7, I Live Another Day, it's a good gate for him. Barrier 5, my Gladiola 9. Gigi's Mistruth Barrier 1. And Extra Galactic, I reckon McDonald would be happy with that gate.
Speaker 9Barrier 2. And just some big news in the Testarossa. Obviously not ideal with a rail out 13. We've got field limits of 12 and 13. And the likely favourite in that race, Baclouche, going for three in a row, is first emergency G.
Speaker 2Yes, yes. I'm just having a look at that now.
Speaker 9So not ideal.
Speaker 2He'll probably get a start most likely, I would imagine. Yeah, you'd hope so. Yeah. Thank God that Hedge didn't really accept there for the Manicato. Well, did he? No, he didn't. Because that means Extra Galactic got a start. And she would have been the first emergency. And then it would have been interesting to get the response from Tred Edmonds. What race is the Fee in race 5? So there's six horses. Mr. Brightside, Barrier 6. Pounding Barrier 5. Another wheel, Barrier 2. Zimbardo, 4. Pride of Jenny, Barrier 3. Treasure of the Moment, Barrier 1. That's at 3 o'clock. That is a race. That is a race, isn't it? Brightside taking on Jenny once again. That'll do me. And then Treasure of the Moment. Can she bounce back? I see Daniel Stackhouse is the new rider there, which is interesting. I'll tell you what.
Speaker 9She's going to be hard to run down, isn't she?
Speaker 2Yep. But let's hope they get a little bit of rain there and you get to see Brightside. Because as Lindsay Park have told us, if it is a good three, he won't be there. They'll scratch. Let's have a look at this Warwick Farm meeting, because we do need to back a winner. On a Wednesday afternoon, we've got seven races, soft five rails out of 5 metres from the 1,000 to the winning post and three metres from the remainder. Mr. Caulfield, the rails out of 1,000 metres. It's at Warwick Farm. Mickey Gannon, hello to you.
Speaker 11Yeah, it's out there in the river, G, the rail. But look, interesting day. Racing here at Warwick Farm on a soft track, a bit of drizzle. I'd imagine that it will dry out and we'll get to a good four. Just slightly off the rail. Top 16 run to this summer advantage across the day, G.
Speaker 2Perla De Buys is scratching in the maiden over the 1,200 metres to kick off proceedings. What's the market doing, Benny?
Speaker 9We've got the man by Justify, Love Story, $2.30. Really strongly backed from Mystical, $5.50. Double Vision also that price back from a spell and Movie Star, $6.50.
Speaker 2All right, then. Take it away, Mickey Gannon.
Speaker 11Yeah, under strict instructions from Louis to keep it short and sharp, $2, $7, $9, and $10. Love Story on top. I think the price has completely gone three trials. Some queries as to that, but I think it might just be a bit of a sign of intent. I'm not sure we're going to take that short price, though. $2, $7, $9, and $10.
Speaker 2$2, $7, $9, and $10. Scratching is clear in the benchmark, $68 over the $1,200. Sorry for keeping you up, Benny. Yeah, he wins, Benny. You're right. That's the first person that's ever joined on a chance.
Speaker 9Mate, I felt. I feel worse today than yesterday. I've had a couple of days of recovery. Keep going, son. Keep going. Anyway, Peyton, one of the best back runners, $2.30 from Blessed Eagle Fives. Reaching out $6, and Harry B. Goody's nines. Jesus.
Speaker 11Imagine if I was actually going on. Put you to sleep. 6-3-5-1. Peyton on top. Drawing barrier one. Zach Lloyd. That might be the query come this. If the inside is off, but I think Peyton's clearly the horse to beat in the race.
Speaker 26-3-5-1. 6-3-5-1. Race three. Benchmark 72. Scratch the seven. Seven in the ten.
Speaker 9Yeah, this is more open. Piero Ladd, $4.20 from Grafton Street, $4.60. Supreme Sovereignty's $4.80, and Fantasy Man, $5.
Speaker 11Yeah, the seven-day backup for Supreme Sovereign has its horse on top. 9-1-5-6. Staying racing in Sydney midweek. Gee whiz. Never easy, G.
Speaker 2Yes, 9-1-5-6. You are keeping it short and sweet, which I like. Cooler Bar race, or horse number six, is the scratching out of race four here, Benny.
Speaker 9First leg of the quad. Samarell, our $3.20 favourite here from Longlegs, $5.50. It's been a bit of a drifter this morning. Storm season, $5.50 as well, and peer pressure is $6.
Speaker 119-4-7-1. I'm keen sneaky choice here, Gareth. I really liked his work, or her work, I should say, there last time out, making good ground. The leader won on that occasion, flying for above. Jet Newton was aboard, climbing three. She made really good ground there over the mile. That was third up. So she did run a career peak on that occasion. I think she can run a career peak here again and go to a new level. So if she does that, I think she wins the race. And just having a look at the market, we're getting a really good price to find out. So 9, sneaky choice, clearly the best value play of the day, 9-4-7-1.
Speaker 2Moving on to race number five, and this is a benchmark 72 over the 1,600 metres, scratch the 11.
Speaker 9Yeah, Botanical Boy stays in Sydney, $3.50 from Cobra Club, $4. Cuban Cigar has been backed at a bit of a longer price, 11-7 since weeks open, and like a storm, $7.
Speaker 11Yeah, still on the floor after Cobra Club got run over there seven days ago by fierceness. I think it was a good horse going places. They were having a pretty good time, and I think Cobra Club, on the seven-day backup, can just roll forward and be very, very hard to beat. So we're leaning that way in numbers here, Gareth, as it just goes off my screen. Bear with me, 7-2, 10, and 3, 7 on top.
Speaker 2Beautiful, Botanical Boy, your thoughts there with the Mr.
Speaker 11Miller form? Yeah, look, we had 25 days, tick over in between, can be competitive. What do I have at fourth pick? Yeah. Yeah, look, down in grey, but gets his chance, Gareth. I think sometimes, you know, pattern is going to sort of play its part, and if you look at the speed map here at this setup, it's going to be at the back, Warwick Farms, an awkward sort of mile point. So, can be competitive in a race, needs the right race shape, will you get it? That's the question, that's what you're betting on.
Speaker 25, 8, 10, 12, the scratchings in race number 6 over the 1,300 metres, this benchmark's 78, Benny.
Speaker 9Call Me Gorgeous, G, the biggest firmer of the entire day.
Speaker 2I always do.
Speaker 9Thank you. $6.50 into $3.20, Call Me Gorgeous from Alabama Fox, 3.40. Felix Majestic is just hovering around that $5.50 mark, good support, and Bartoff is also $5.50, but it's a drifter.
Speaker 11So, yeah, it comes out of a good form race, decorum unleashing, night agent, so some good form there for sure. I can understand that. Bartoff comes out of the same race as well. 2, 4, 13, and 6 I've got here. I'm taking on the 11, Alabama Fox. I didn't understand how they got it so short. Felix Majestic knocking on the door, gee whiz, needs to win a race, and I think the last time it won a race, Benny would have even been 18, but he's of age, seems like a long time ago, Felix Majestic, but he gets his chance here today. So from the 1,300-meter mark, just rolls across, there's not really a whole lot of speed in the race, and I think they can go the whole way, Felix Majestic. So give it strength, 2, 4, 13, and 6, no real confidence.
Speaker 2Scratch the 2, 3, 8, 11, 12, and 16 out of the benchmark 72 race, 7 over the 1,200 meters, Benny.
Speaker 9And we've got equal favorites here in the last, Agatha and Pinup Sheila, $3.60 apiece. Agatha has been the one that they've come for this morning, though. Lardo, $6, another one that's been well back from an early price, and Little Iris, $6.50.
Speaker 1110, 14, 6, and 3. Best bet of the day is Agatha, or Agatha. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but I'm sure Darren Flindell will help us this afternoon. I like what she did there. First up, ran weak, made really good ground, wide draw, restrained, ran on really well. Some queries over the rest of Dolby's sort of four minds as it's come through that race, but this horse, she drops back in grade. I think she's ready to fly, second up, she has Tommy Berry aboard, that combination. Tommy Berry and Michael Friedman combine beautifully, and she gets a chance to win again. I think the 14, Pinup Sheila's a good horse. No ceiling on her yet, and the trials have been solid. She can be competitive, 6 and 13 in there, but in the quality, we would just take the 10 and the 14.
Speaker 2So 10, 14, 6, and 3. Your best bets, Mickey Gannon?
Speaker 11Yeah, best bet, race 7, number 10, Agatha. And best value plays, G. 2, race 5, number 7, Cobra Cop. I think that's over the odds. And race 4, we were with the 9, Sneaky Choice, which is seriously over the odds. And I think you can back that horse with a bit of confidence.
Speaker 2And Quoddy, please.
Speaker 11Let's go to the first leg. That'll help. 9, 9, 4, 7. 9, 4, 7. Benny, are you still awake?
Speaker 9Still awake, Josh.
Speaker 119, 4, 7. We'll go to the second leg. 7, 2, 10, and 3. 7, 2, 10, and 3. I just threw the 3 in because I knew you were so excited about the 3. 2, 4, 13, and 6. We're taking on Alabama Fox and the 10 and the 14 to finish.
Speaker 2Beautiful. So 9, 4, 7, and 1. 7, 2, 10, and 3. 2, 4, 13, 6, and then 10 and 14 to come home. Love your work, Gannon. We'll catch up with you on Friday, mate, for a big week. Weekend Preview. Thanks. Good on you, Jay. Thanks, Benny. Hey, Benny, well done. How did you get 45 touches
Speaker 9and not get best on ground? Our big ruckman got 30, to be fair, and he gets a lot more contested ball than I do. So the umpires voted, and he probably stood out. The umpires vote? Yeah, it probably shouldn't be like that in the grand finals. It probably should be like a panel like the AFL. But yeah, the umpires vote, and they would have noticed the big man.
Speaker 2Secretly, you were dirty. You would have been a little bit dirty.
Speaker 9This season wasn't about individual accolades.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's bull. I mean, everyone like it. I was having a function there with Peter Bell the other day, and he's still dirty. Shannon Grant stole that Norm Smith medal off him in 1996.
Speaker 9Yeah, right. It's honestly not the most important
Speaker 2thing in my mind. Yep, that's what we all say, but we really don't mean it. Hey, good on you, Benny. We'll catch up with you on Friday. Done, sounds good. Check out racingqueensland.com.au for where Queensland is racing today. Chris Nelson. Hello, Chris.
Speaker 12Good morning, Gareth. I'd say Benny is not a favourite of the umpires by the sound of it.
Speaker 2Yes, there must have been a few. A bit of back chat there to the umpires. I'd say so. We don't, we don't, he wouldn't have done that. He's too nice, Benny. He respects the game and the umpires too much. Now, what are we doing, mate? How do we back a winner there at Eagle Farm?
Speaker 12I'm just going to stick with the two we had yesterday. We've only got seven races, smallish fields, and there's a few odd zonies that I'm not going to tip you into. So we'll go with these. Race three, number five, exuberance. The mayor, Tony Golan, trains former Victorian. She's had the three runs up here, and they've all been quite good by the middle one, and there were excuses there. I think she looks well. I placed here, and she's a decent price. Race three, number five. And race four, this first starter in the area, number eight, Buttercup. You mentioned yesterday, Michael Rod jumps on for James Healy on the sunny coast, formerly trained by Tom Dabinig. Placed six of eight in Victoria. So she's very consistent, and I loved her trial of the Sunshine Coast the other day. And she has been well-backed, which is a good pointer. So race four, number eight, the other one today, Gareth.
Speaker 2Good on you, Chris. Thanks for that.
Speaker 12Cheers. Have a good day.
Speaker 2Wake up with New Zealand Racing. Kick your day off. With the Kiwi bet, what's gambling really costing you? For free and confidential support, visit GamblingHelpOnline.org.au. Mark Clayton joins us. Clayton, hello to you.
Speaker 13And all your listeners.
Speaker 2Take it away with your best bets, mate.
Speaker 13Well, the best, I'll probably go race seven today. A former Northerner called Dink had one start in the South Island, and he flew to Gates that day for Ashley Strawbridge and was way too good. So I think Dink can back it up today and race seven.
Speaker 2Yep, so Dink can race seven. What else have you got for us?
Speaker 13Well, the next race coming up at Timaru is only about nine minutes away, and a former Northerner, formerly with Alan Sherrick and owned by our good mate Steve McKee, pardon, Ashish Shubo, now at the Andrew Carston stable. Stikko's out of the ownership, but that'll probably help, so Shubo. He's going up against a stable mate who's a favourite. It's both out of the Andrew Carston stable, but look, it's a soft six track, and I don't think even by Z, the Shubo doesn't need a really wet track. So the second last start was pretty good, and behind a smart type in Sailor Sam, who goes around on race five. So Shubo and Tulsa Turnaround go good here. I think that's a good lead-in to Sailor Sam, but I have got Shubo on top, even though he's a slight drift out to $9, on top of the stable mate and favourite, Tulsa Turnaround here.
Speaker 2So race seven, number eight, Dink, and race three, number eight, race four, number eight, I should say, Shishubo there today, in New Zealand. That'll do us, mate. Have you got anything else for us before we let you go, Claydo?
Speaker 13Yeah, well, like I said, the Shubo goes good here, and even Tulsa Turnaround, that's a good plug for Sailor Sam, who won here over the mile. He was really impressive that day, this maiden, but sets up a great here, but, gee, the way he won, he won pretty comfortably that day, so I'm picking the big ring out of Sailor Sam as well.
Speaker 2So race five, number one, Sailor Sam. Good on you, mate. Thanks for that, Claydo.
Speaker 13Thanks, Gareth. Cheers.
Speaker 2There's Mark Claydon there. And Gawler, Lincoln Moore, thanks to Racing SA, likes race one, number three, Luna Vista. Next best race, three, number six, Extra Chill. And the best value comes up in race five, number one, Dampen. At Northern today, race one, number two, Rise to Glory. This is from Matty French. Next best race, seven, number one, Decoration. And race two, number 13, the best value, Maybe, Maybe, Maybe. Harness Racing at Ballarat in Victoria, Darren Carroll likes race five, number two, Ride High Captain, and Toronado. Race six, number three. That's not the stallion there at Swetnam. It's Al Toronado, I should say. Harness Racing, New South Wales, the home of the Carnival of Cups, where Australian music rules. She meets quality. Harness Racing action at Bathurst. Barocca Burney, race four, number two, for Amanda Rando. And race six, number eight, she's a Delaney. So race four, number two, race six, number eight. We're going to take a break. The Best from the West with Darren McCauley will be next here on Giddy Up.
Speaker 1Tune in to Racing WA TV on 7 Plus, your ultimate destination for everything racing in the West. On SEN Track, this is the
Speaker 2Best from the West. Oh, it's a big week for Darren McCauley. I forgot to get the Fremantle song up there.
Speaker 14I'm hopeful. Yeah. I'm thinking about what it might be like to celebrate.
Speaker 2I can't believe.
Speaker 14A grand final win with my beloved Fremantle Dockers.
Speaker 2I can't believe you're not coming.
Speaker 14No, I have had a few phone calls from friends over there in your part of the world, but unfortunately, well, the first thing is, I mean, if you look at the cost of getting across there, it's absolutely extortionate. I don't think people realise from Victoria mainly when you're hosting a granny just how expensive it is to get across there. And the whole exercise. So that's the first thing. But, look, I had a few other things too on the boil. So, look, I'll be taking Saturday off. I couldn't concentrate on the races. Yes, yes, yes. So I'll be doing the preview with Marty on Saturday morning. TK Leighton, he's already packing to go to Melbourne, so he'll be out of action. So we'll have the full show covering Belmont Park, but I don't know if there'll be a lot of interest in the racing on the weekend. There'll be some, as always. But the focus is going to be on Fremantle if they can pull off a history-making grand final win against an indomitable Lions.
Speaker 2I could just imagine past Beckett Gate and Og Cobb at the head of the others and then you abuse someone or a big roar. Great goal start halfway through the race at the 600 metre mark.
Speaker 14Yeah, it'd be very difficult. Yes, yes. It's very, very hard. Anyway, look, we'll be at home.
Speaker 2You could do five things at once, let's be honest, Cobb.
Speaker 14But come. Not anymore. Maybe in the old days. But no, I'll be sitting at home with my son, Ben, who was bestowed with Fremantle Docker membership on his arrival into the world. Yeah. And sometimes I think he despises me for that, certainly through the rough times. But we'll get together with a few of his old Aquinas mates and we'll park up on the couch, put the big telly on and get the pies and hot dogs out and a few frothies and we'll enjoy the football and hopefully, hopefully see Fremantle. Gain their very first premiership win. But it's a long way to go and they're up against a super, super finals team. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 2Go the Lions. It'd be great for you to win a premiership. You're a Lions man. You're a Zorco man.
Speaker 14You're big mates with Dane. Yeah, we would.
Speaker 2I'd love to see you win a premiership, but not on Saturday. And I can't believe Lockie Neal surely gets off on a peel anyway. We're here to talk about the races. Joker's grin. He finished last there on Saturday. What did you make of his run? Because the campsite, they're definitely improvement and he'll go to the premier stakes now. I reckon that will be a better guide on how he's going there in a few weeks' time. Yeah, well, it was interesting.
Speaker 14Yeah, I noticed the comments of the rider talking about race shape, et cetera, there. And I just would have liked to have seen him maybe finish off a little better than he did. He was holding ground, I suppose, near the tail. He was beating five lengths. I don't think he actually really travelled into the race back there. I don't think he was going to be able to get in on the fence. He's certainly a horse who appreciates more ground, open air, as we've seen with his big barnstorming finishes. But I don't know. I don't necessarily know if he looked the same kind of horse that I remember when he left here. Some argue about the Sydney way of going. Well, that shouldn't have been an issue. He's had enough barrier trials there to get used to that going clockwise. Fitness, well, yep, that has to be questioned because we knew of the underlying problems that he had going into the shorts on the weekend Sydney debut. He had that hoof problem and then he had the spike in the temperature, but he was cleared by the vets to run. So they wouldn't if they didn't think that he was OK to go. So overall, I thought I was disappointed with his run, quite frankly. But if they're suggesting here that he can improve and hopefully he can and they get the right race shape to suit his style of racing, well, then we'll be looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Premier. Overall, though, it was a disappointing way to start, and it's been a disappointing time since he has been in Sydney for the connections and certainly chris waller and his team
Speaker 2there is a chance that you might see him back in perth for the winter bottom but if he's still with chris why i think that probably might be unlikely um but anyway time will tell nothing's gone right since he left here gareth that's one
Speaker 14thing that i have certainly and we've all seen it there it's been you know a couple of big booming barrier trials and we all got excited there but he just keeps having these hiccups along the way it's a pothole and we just haven't quite seen what jokers green i think is really capable of producing at this particular stage but hopefully all things considered things can change what about
Speaker 2william pike last week cob he was great i thought he was at his entertaining brilliant he was outspoken he stood up for him and he stood up for himself and the horse and um he went pretty well cosmic crusader birdman was just far too strong and it's interesting now they'll go to the turnbull and it is moving day um turnbull stakes day and then bob peters will talk to andrea leak and they'll make up their mind whether they go to a a cox plate or a caulfield cup
Speaker 14it's going to be an interesting one there too i just didn't picking up on your your comments in regards to willie there and the uh the drive by that he gave a few that tried to give him a whack after the memsie i thought it was brilliant he doesn't normally do that no he doesn't that's not that's not his wheelhouse uh very moving day um turnbull stakes day and then bob peters will talk to andrea leak and they'll make up their mind whether they go to a cox plate or a caulfield cup he measured always very articulate uh very considerate of everything that he he says when he's near a microphone and that one came out of left field the other day and i think in all things weighed up it's a fair response it's a really good response by willie and he did it in a very measured and articulate but left jab kind of a way um so you know and the horse ran well he he just got beaten by a horse that went better on the day than him they ran time and time again didn't they uh 47 one uh for 1800 um you know bird man had the track on him gave him bird flu when he went past him so i don't think willie could have ridden the horse any better you know in the context of everything he lobbed in a beautiful spot i couldn't find an excuse for him has he come to his peak is he right at the top of his game right now after what we saw could he possibly go any
Speaker 2better yeah well i think that there was the market suggested that he would continue to prove but that might just be how good he is um willie said he probably really rode him a little bit too close after everything that happened there last week because we weren't expecting first of all the pace to be like it was and then lindemann to fall in a hole like he did so yeah the turnbull's going to be an interesting race because there's a few that are using that race for a guide to where they go next and um yeah he's in good enough form i don't think he could have done too much more since he's arrived in victoria so um yeah bring on the turnbull machine gun gracie was good i thought there at caulfield on saturday
Speaker 14yeah she was in the naturalism uh led them for a long long way i like the way that she just kept coming back at the hundred when the charge came and they were they were attacking from everywhere and she'd you know got along at a nice clip right throughout there i thought it was a sign that she's back nearly to her top as well i see that she's around the four-wheel cup uh should they continue to head that way with her but i liked the run it was her third in the campaign i think she's improved at each of those runs and as i say i like the way that when the challenges came in that last hundred she could have followed up there and she could have run sixth seventh eighth but she didn't she hung tough and she battled back to clinch fourth placing i thought it was a terrific performance by the machine omea so hopefully better signs to come once
Speaker 2again for her yeah um the lark hill trials were interesting there on monday western empire and watch me rock um a few of bob peters stars as well that went around in preparation of course for the carnival coming up and western empire it looks like he hasn't lost it he
Speaker 14doesn't look as though he's nine does he no the way he trialed he was back there and the way that he gathered them up and it was a good quality trial too there were a few stars in that trial that went around and pike didn't have to turn the reins on him really had him out the back there he got a nice drag into it came to the middle and then he put pay to them later i thought that he had ultra spring and he stepped for a veteran there's no doubt there and the other railway stakes winner the trial there on monday of course roch watch me rock um it sat off a hot speed cessation as we know is a very very fast mirror and she didn't leave anything out there on the trial track there she had the running they ran the 50 6 8 for the 950 which was a very very fast run and it was a very very fast run and it was a very pretty fast and he was back there a couple lengths away in the slipstream and i thought he had to be tested by pikey at about the 200 meter mark he had to give him a couple of uh reminders and i thought the horse trialed okay i think that um you know western empire was a superior trial all things considered but no doubt you know they could be different stages of their preparation so good to see them back and i think the other horse you mentioned there michael grantham like clockwork yeah for bob peter was there and you know she's always promised a fair bit there she's won a few races and easier company but i think the way she trialed up there on monday it might be a sign that there's a good race in her at some stage maybe in the smear series coming up over the the spring and the summer there so i didn't mind the way that she presented there she looked nice and sharp the way that she attacked the line in that trial monday
Speaker 2i know terry layton reckons that could be a railway horse if they can get into the railway like clockwork yeah
Speaker 14i don't know i think they were probably uh shooting at the stars uh i'd rather see her do something first of all in a couple you know nice easier listed races yeah and work her way there uh she might have the capacity but i think it's a a bit of a an overreach to suggest here that she's a railway stakes horse i think she's a nice mare but um you know she's still going to prove herself yet on the track she's won a couple of easier races
Speaker 2hey alan helen harding was great on giddy up there yesterday what a story that is to take out the yeah she's a beauty yeah it was a beauty it was a terrific training performance um twenty two and a half thousand dollars they purchased that horse online and um and away it went yeah it was
Speaker 14terrific because he was a bit stiff i'm talking about yeah yeah the jester's son yeah he was a bit stiff in the cool gardy cup when opportunistic got him there that day and i'd broadcast the tats cup meeting up there and watched him win that race the feature and i went started to reflect on what a great acquisition he's been for the thompsons who own the horse they as you rightly say they picked him up online for 22 and a half he wasn't an overly expensive horse at the english uh easter he went through for 180 which is not a lot of money when you're going into that market but you know he's a he's a pierrot um he's a good bodied horse he's a tough horse he's come across here wa's had the 17 runs he's won five of them he's won at ascot um and he's got a calgary cup now that he can quite clearly win i don't think it's going to be a super strong addition there on what we've seen so far the bolt of the cool gardy cups and you know he he's one of them i think around about um i think it's a quarter of a million bucks or might be a little bit more than that uh so far since they acquired him so he had his first start in about may of last year and he's done nothing but uh uh return for them so it's been a really good story this one and it continues to unfold and it might be a great story by the time we come to uh the kalgoorlie cup um coming up yeah i'll be
Speaker 2cheering on home the the jester sun it would be a terrific story um now tell me this yes sorry mecca
Speaker 14oh i just want to say too good result for uh zeph johnston porter teaming up with helen he's only recently come out of his apprenticeship zeph he's a super cool dude everyone likes him and you know they always want him to do very well and he's always shown a fair bit of ability he's followed in the shadow of his uh you know far more successful brother older brother at this stage in clint johnston porter so you know time will come he's a good horseman i like the way that he sits on he's got a bit of the old-fashioned way about him because he's a bit taller but um i like the way that he goes about things if and it was great to see him get his first black type winner there on on the weekend with helen i think that might have been hers as well um so it was her first place it was a bit of a benchmark day yep yeah good on them well done
Speaker 2great story nine eight races at northern how many winners for you maca
Speaker 14for us uh northern today yeah we go to the avon um i i thought that early on in the meeting race two number two they've already backed it though gee the market's sort of gone it's four dollars into 280 i think 290 i looked about half an hour ago it's official business it's having its third run look it's drawn a bit of an awkward gate so it might need an element of luck but where there's smoke there's fire the money's already there is two runs have been very good so far race two number two will launch there we'll go to race five and we're looking at a debutant here trained uh by aaron mitchell by the name of miss billy jean really liked the trial i think she's pretty well bred um out of that family and i think that she can have an impact at her first run so that's in the fifth event right down the bottom number 14 miss billy jean and the one that i took a shy do off its barrier trial and i pushed for strongly first up decoration it'll go around saddling up in race 7 1 it was a As I say, a really good trial and a really good run. Jeez, it hit the line well. First up, if it takes improvement out of the first up performance, it'll be hard to beat their race seven. So race two, number two, race five, number 14, and race seven, number one. Decoration to round out the day in the Avon Valley. Saturday, a bit of a quieter meeting there. You've got the Westby Platinum Spring Final to highlight the day. Bosun's going for another win there. Mitchell Pateman's stats are just off the scale at the moment. Winners to runners, place getters to runners in the city. They're benchmark type stuff, and equally so as well on the provincial circuit. So keep following that stable. More to come.
Speaker 2Hey, good luck on the weekend, Maka.
Speaker 14Yes, I hope so, Gareth. We'll need that and a little bit more to beat your unrelenting Lions, that's for sure. But go Frio, and hopefully we can maybe get down there amongst the brethren and celebrate on Saturday night. Fremantle will be going off.
Speaker 2Yes. I would imagine it would. Thanks for that, mate. Appreciate it. There's Darren McCoy. Pleasure, mate, as always. With the best from the West on this Wednesday. I'm going to take a break. I'm going to talk some greyhound racing next. Time for the weekly chase. With Jason Adams and George Ferugia. And we've got a special guest to kick off proceedings, a man that dominated the million-dollar chase, Peter Lagojiani, and he won the first ever, well, he won the first two million-dollar chases, both from box number seven, French Martini and also Mystic Riot. In fact, it was Handsome Prince, of course, and Mystic Riot. And he joins us now. G'day, Pete. Thanks for your time. G'day, guys. What did you make of the million-dollar chase? When it first came into New South Wales?
Speaker 15Well, what everybody did, mate. We dared to dream, didn't we? Who would have thought that in greyhound racing, let alone, you know, in any code, only in the gallops, you'd race for a million dollars and above. And then it came to our code. And, yeah, look, I thought it was, mate, you couldn't put words into perspective. When they said, we're going to have a million-dollar chase, you know, a million-dollar race. So, yeah, look, I think the whole world stopped and stared. And I think we'll be envious of every state and probably every country that races greyhounds.
Speaker 2Yeah. What was more sweeter, 18 or 20?
Speaker 15Oh, look, mate, they're both sweet. You couldn't defer one to the, you know, you can't separate them. You know, winning a race is that prestigious. And that calibre and that, you know, the money, you know, the money always comes in third. I know people think that's a little bit silly to say, but, you know, you're racing the best. There's no words to describe. You know, even today, mate, you know, five years on, I still can't put into words how it made you feel, how it made us feel, how it turned our lives around, especially in the greyhound industry.
Speaker 2I forgot to say hello to our great mate, Georgie Frood. G'day, Georgie. G'day, g'day, g'day. G'day, Peter. G'day, Gareth. Pete's your trainer in New South Wales.
Speaker 16Yes, well, he's a very, very good trainer. You always have to try to head for the best. Pete, obviously reminiscing on your two wins, and we're going to see the last million dollar chase at Wentworth Park. I mean, what are your feelings around this? I mean, there's certainly a touch of sadness in the industry, obviously a government decision here, and Metro Racing will head to Richmond and Gosford. But what are your thoughts around it? I mean, it's very sad. It's a place that holds not just you, but a lot of people hold some unbelievable memories at the track. It's going to be a sad night.
Speaker 15Oh, of course, George. Look, there's nothing more iconic than Wentworth Park, was there? No. You know, any budding trainer that, you know, started off, you know, in their teenagehood, wanted to race at Wentworth Park, wanted to go to Wentworth Park, you know, in the last two, three decades. So, you know, it's where every trainer wanted to win. You know, you had the lots of the Golden Easter Egg, the Paws of Thunder. You had your W's, your Futurities, your Young Star Classics. You know, you had, you know, all those races. And lo and behold, you know, a few years ago, we created a race called the MDC, which, again, you know, shone stars through people's eyes. And, you know, we had dogs of the likes of Brett Lee, what Keith Adrana did. And, you know, they brought it to Wentworth Park. And I remember when he won the Golden Easter Egg, you know, I was there in the stands, and the stands erupted, you know. It was a feeling of. You know, like winning a grand final, you know. You know, it gave you cause to dream. It really did. You know, so, man, I won my first race at Wentworth Park as a trainer. You know, I've never forgotten it. You know, I was a young, budding trainer with a giveaway, you know. And they put on a zero to one or whatever it was at Wentworth Park over the 700. And it was a little bitch called Peril's Desire. And I think it was the slowest 700 race won in the history of the 700. I mean, racing around 4401. But, mate, I didn't care. It was one of the greatest feelings of my life, just like winning a million-dollar chase. And I'll never forget it. There's an elderly gentleman there and said, what's the tease about, young fella? And I said, I just won a race at Wentworth Park. He says, oh, good on you. He says, no, I just won my first ever race as a trainer at Wentworth Park. He says, I've been trying to win a race here for the last 17 years and couldn't do it. So, mate, you know, it put icing on the cake for me. So, yeah. Look, that's what Wentworth Park means to me and I bet to many other trainers out there.
Speaker 16Yeah, look, for those that haven't been, there's an aura about the place. There's no doubt about it. It reminds me of the old Olympic Park here in Melbourne. Now, a great friend here, Gareth Hall, is going to be on the Racing.com broadcast. I'll be there probably upstairs with a person we both know, Jimmy Corbo, a good friend of both of us. Where are you going to be? Obviously, you're going to try to get some dogs. You're going to try to get some dogs engaged for the night. What's the plan? I know it's a couple of weeks out, but yeah.
Speaker 15Well, we certainly will. You know, my young son said, Dad, make sure we're there. He said, I want to, you know, he's got to take a little container with him and grab some sand from the track. So, that's what it means to us. That's what it means to us. You know, when you get your young son saying that, you know, he's pretty shattered about it, that we're shutting Wentworth Park and he saw his dad, you know, winning all these major races there and competing. And the major races. Yeah, look, mate, I hope I'm there. You know, I'll be doing my best to have a runner there on the night. And if not, you know, I think I'll be there just to share the spores with the rest of us.
Speaker 2Any winners for us coming up, Pete? One of Georgie, so we can take his price. It'd be much appreciated.
Speaker 15Well, there's always something coming up. You know that. You know, we're always trying, you know. But I think Georgie's got his hands full with a couple of good broodies there. And he continues to breed a good one.
Speaker 2Yeah. I bought a papa that was out of Mystic Rite. It was one of the slowest dogs we've ever seen, really. But anyway, it was a bit of fun while it lasted.
Speaker 16I'll tell you, Pete, he has not stopped whinging about it for 18 months. He has not stopped.
Speaker 2It was out of a million-dollar winner by a million-dollar winner. It cost me about a year's wages. Well, I can tell you something.
Speaker 15She's one of the quickest bitches I've ever traded. And the owners, you know, they're the heart of the earth people. And, you know, it's the soul of the earth people, sorry. And they've got great hearts. And they really put their heart and soul into it. And I know the million-dollar chase changed their lives as it did ours. And, you know, it was onwards and upwards from there to then. So, look, no matter what she's thrown, mate. No, it doesn't matter. Her name will remain on the mantle, please, as an MDC winner. So, you know, and who would have thought? Who would have thought?
Speaker 2And so will you. The celebrations. The man that trained the first ever million-dollar chase winner. And then he had the audacity to do it again. Unbelievable stuff. Well done, Pete. Thanks for your time, mate.
Speaker 15Thanks, Guy. Thanks, Guy.
Speaker 2Much appreciated. Peter Ligogiani there. Did I get that name right?
Speaker 16When one million dollars isn't enough, you win another. Yes, yep. But the scenes after him running down are probably some of the best we've seen in Greyhound Racing. Just quickly, Gareth, we seem to talk about this every week, but it's getting closer. Jungle Johnny is still a $6 favourite with Bet365, which is very, very short. Obviously, Consigliere at $13. The Greyhound we keep mentioning off the chart at $15s. He's a pearl at $17 that you spoke about last week with Jason Thompson. So there's certainly some value there, absolutely.
Speaker 2And we're not making our move for the Phoenix just yet. We might see what happens at Wentworth Park. As you point out, there's a long way to go. A lot of water to go under the bridge.
Speaker 16Just quickly, we might as well talk about this now. Jungle Johnny, fourth track record over the weekend. He's a freak, isn't he? Yeah, yeah. Look, if you run 29.20 at the guard, you're going really good. He went 28.90, Gareth. He's drawn box two in the final, and he's $1.40 to win the black top. I mean, he's won a few features now. He hasn't shown his best in Melbourne, albeit he just really hasn't drawn well. But I mean, if you talk about Greyhounds in form, and you want to mention the Phoenix, he might be a Greyhound that gets snapped up.
Speaker 2But why you don't want to take the $6 is because he's not a great box dog at the end of the day. So he doesn't get too many opportunities to race. It's like, yeah, smash the clock.
Speaker 16I tell you what, you'd want to be on him, Gareth, if he's drawn closer to the fence in a Phoenix or a million-dollar chase.
Speaker 2Well, we might take that punt then, see if we can get boxes one or two. We'll come back and have a chat about these match races at Angle Park tomorrow night. This is the Weekly Chase with Georgie Fruge. At Georgia, we love the Angle Park match races. In fact, we love match racing wherever it may be. Now, we'll go through these match races. Are the markets out just yet? They are. All right,
Speaker 16then you take it away. Okay, so there's a match race for who will be the quickest dog over all four match races. It's easy. Wrongly accused is $1.70 into $1.45. Laika Rock, who is an absolute learjet, is $6 and remains at around that. Mark Dashing Slay, who we've seen a lot of in Victoria, obviously ran second in a Melbourne Cup, has broken 29 seconds at Sandown. $5 out to $6. Iconic Jet 11. Electrify, who's probably known more for his staying prowess, but this suits him at $12. Ritz, it's his at $13. Victor Krev at $19. So some interesting ones there. We can go through match race by match race, Gareth, I think is probably the way to go. The other thing I like, Gareth, and I know you watch these as well, I love the camera inside the box at Angle Park. I mean, it's just a nice little gimmick that you see greyhounds really get ready for the start as they start to hear the door going.
Speaker 2It shows how much they love it. Yeah, it is. I mean, they're just clawing at the boxes. Let me out, let me out. Yes. So the first match race, Laika Rock, $1.28, Iconic Jet, $3.70.
Speaker 16This is the lock out of all of them. I would have loved the $1.50, but they've quickly snapped that up into $1.28. I can't see how Laika Rock gets beat. He's a. Absolutely loves the inside. Iconic Jet's got speed, but if he gets challenged by Laika Rock, Laika Rock will beat him. I've got no doubt about that. Victor Krev, $3.50, Electrify, $1.30. If there is going to be an upset, Gareth, it's this one, I think. Victor Krev is one only of a handful of greyhounds to break 30 seconds at Angle Park. He will lead this race without a doubt. That's what we want. The concern is how close Electrify is. Is he four lengths behind him? Is he six lengths behind him? I'm not sure. But Victor Krev, pound for pound, is one of the quicker greyhounds at Angle Park, especially to that back marker. The concern is his last couple of starts, he's just got a little bit tied to the line and you don't want Electrify sitting behind you. They have crunched Electrify now into $1.30, but Victor Krev will give you a run for your money. And if he runs 30-20, it might be enough to win the race.
Speaker 2You just need him to jump, it sounds like, and then for Electrify. He'll lead. Yeah, so you'll lead, but you want him to be that far in front that Electrify just gets bored.
Speaker 16Well, you want him, yeah, you want him about six lengths in front. And if he does that, this is the one that I'm sort of, if you're going to look for value, it's this one for sure.
Speaker 2Wrongly accused $1.15, dashing sleigh $5.50.
Speaker 16So when wrongly accused trolled 30-17, dashing sleigh won at Angle Park running 30-30, obviously she's a local greyhound who's gone quicker than that at her absolute best. She would make a race of this, there's no doubt about it. But you just think wrongly accused connections have said, got a little bit lost at the track. We expect some. We expect some improvement. 26 degrees there tomorrow at Angle Park. Are they going to give the record a sniff, Gareth, at 29.84, held by the Great Excavation? But yeah, you'd think wrongly accused would be tough to beat.
Speaker 2And then Ritz-A-Tier's $1.15, Black Noir at $5.50.
Speaker 16Yeah, out of the two, I mean, Ritz-A-Tier's doesn't have exposed form at Angle Park, but exposed form at Wentworth Park is very good. Black Noir's a feature race winner at the track, but Ritz-A-Tier's should take the ascendancy early. But I don't really want to have a. I don't want to have a play here at $1.15. It's one of those match races that I'll keep away.
Speaker 2I'll have a play. So basically the dogs that. This is me listening to you without you saying yay or nay. Like a rock into Victor Krev into Ritz-A-Tier's or wrongly accused into Ritz-A-Tier's. I'm getting around $6 there with bet 365.
Speaker 16Yeah. I think if there's any upset. Look, Electrify is pound for pound one of the quickest stayers in the country. So it would just. Obviously, the match race format is going to suit a greyhound over this type of distance and his run home time is going to be electric, but he wouldn't want Victor Krev at his absolute best because if he is, he might lead all the way.
Speaker 2What would you do then from if I gave you $100 for this match race?
Speaker 16I'm taking the first three. I'm taking like a rock. I'm going to have a play with Victor Krev and obviously wrongly accused. But overall, Gareth, I want to have a play at the $6 for like a rock to win the overall time. Yeah. I just think and wrongly accused is. Obviously, one of our favorite greyhounds. But like a rock, I don't think he's too far behind him in terms of ability. And I'm willing to have a play there at around the $6 mark.
Speaker 2We'll take a break. We'll come back and we'll try and find you some winners tomorrow night at Sandow. We've got the St. Ledger Group 3 action at Warragul tomorrow. Flying Ducati is the $2.15 favorite from Tripped Out at $2.20. And then Poor Window is the reserve around $3.10. Who are you tipping here, Georgie?
Speaker 16Yeah, look, they've come up with a really good field considering there was only two heats last week. Tripped Out's a very talented greyhound. Little Amigo for Anthony as a party, whose kennel he's absolutely flying. Went so fast at Shepparton a couple of weeks ago. But Flying Ducati, pound for pound. Second behind Canyon Mayhem at Sandown Park. It's got a very, very fast PB there. His runs at Sandown should hold him in good stead. He's got good early speed. He's the one I'm happy to take $2.15. He was $2.50 into $2.15, but Flying Ducati, clearly the greyhound to beat there at Warragul.
Speaker 2All right then. And so that's the Group 3 St. Ledger at Warragul. And then we've got tomorrow's night meeting at Sandown. So Georgie Farooj, you're with me for the weekly chase. What are your tips there, Georgie, for Sandown tomorrow night?
Speaker 16There's three that we like. Race three, number one, Tour Major for the great David Gill. Racing in probably career best form at the moment, Tour Major. It's got really good speed, terrific record off Box One. Been racing against some good ones, including House of Sins, who has just gone like that, Gareth, like a bullet over 600 metres. So race three, number one, Tour Major will be tough to beat. Race six, number one, Indy Melman. Hasn't won a race since late July. And that was the week after it won the maturity over Storm Hustler and Co. in that race. Race that included Wrongly Accused. But it's not like its form has been bad, Gareth. Again, terrific record off inside. I reckon it'll be bouncing back after finishing down the track behind He's a Pearl in that tomorrow million dollar chase final. So race six, number one. Then the other one we like is for a young trainer who I think's had an unbelievable year, and that's Ned McDonald, a stayer called Derry, who has gone to another level in the last probably six weeks, to be honest. It always had the ability, but he's got this greyhound humming at the moment, beat Mpunga Donnell last start in 41.83, racing against it again. I think the key to it is it's been beginning a little bit better and it's, it just runs out 700 so easily. So race eight, number two to bring us home.
Speaker 2So Derry race eight, number two. Yeah. Um, from a Phoenix perspective, what dog do I need to be looking at? What races? Obviously the match races.
Speaker 16Yeah, I don't think they're going to tell you too much to be honest. I mean, I think people will take a really good look at Like A Rock if he can go pound for pound with Wrongly Accused in terms of times, but. Yeah. Yeah, I, I just think, um, keeping your powder dry right now is the key. I mean, that's boring, George. I know, but people turn around and say, oh, you got to go late because last year you went late, that's rubbish. You can go early and still get the winner. There's no, there's no correct answer here. So if SEN likes a greyhound that they're keen to go with and you think might make good content, I think you guys are going to roll the dice. Okay. We will roll the dice.
Speaker 2In fact, next week, I'm going to start negotiations on this show. Um, you can wrap up Lidleydale Instant Lawn, Australia family owned quality turf delivered on time every time our roots run deep. Georgie, what a game it was last week with the Mighty Hawks.
Speaker 16Oh, it's gutted, man. It's just gutted. What a game. It can ruin all. Puts hairs on your chest, brother. Yeah, it does. Well done. Make or break your week, really.
Speaker 2It makes or breaks your year.
Speaker 16It had nothing to do with the umpiring decisions. It's just that you ran over the top of us late. I thought the umpires
Speaker 2were superb across the weekend.
Speaker 16Can you win?
Speaker 2You'll win, won't you? I think so. Even without Lockie Neal, but surely you'll win the appeal, Paulie. Is that how it's going to happen? Well, you'll win the appeal, won't you? Absolutely. Absolutely, he will. Of course, he will. It's all for, you know, how the media game works, Chance. A bit of theatre, Georgie. He'll play? He'll play. Yep. And look out when he does. Take the $1.70? If he doesn't, you just get a better price, boys. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, what's your best there, Paulie, today?
Speaker 11Avery Anna for the Caustons in the first. We're going to bank in the form of the Caustons' Larkin stable.
Speaker 2He's on fire, Troy, since you gave him a rev up there the other day. He hasn't missed this week. Shock. Yeah. Good on you, Paulie. Hey, good on you, Georgie. Good, mate. Good luck on Saturday, brother. Thanks, mate. There's Georgie Faruja. That was the Weekly Chase. That was a very busy Giddy Up on this Wednesday. I'll be back tomorrow morning to kick it all off with Giddy Up Stable Mail. Hopefully, you can join me then. All thanks, of course, to Bet365. Have a wonderful day.
PodcastTranscript AI