The Orange

Hey … someone’s got to spruik it

Read about it here.

How appropriate that in Melbourne Cup week, we celebrate the weird and wonderful names of race horses:

From the Independent, the funniest racehorse names.

Plenty to choose from, but my favourites from those listed were:

• Sofa Can Fast
• Wearthefoxhat

One of the best in NZ is Not Tonite – By Postponed out of Arousing!

Here’s the secret to the legendary Bart Cumming’s amazing success, courtesy of the Fitz Files:

Bart Cummings on the secret of his success after his fourth Cox Plate thanks to So You Think: ”Good horses.”

In case you don’t know, the first Tuesday in November is Melbourne Cup day.

Prepare to be “sweeped” off your feet.

This week marked the running of France’s premier horse race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, near Paris.

I think it’s at Paris and frankly you don’t know better either but I digress.

In most cases, this would be of little interest in the Antipodes but the 1977 race featured a runner from New Zealand, Balmerino (who ironically also featured on an episode of Bro Town in a quiz question).

The race – as most are – is full of conjecture with a lasting view that Balmerino was poorly ridden on the day.

Regardless, his second in one of the top horses races in the world put NZ racing in the spotlight.

Here’s the race replay:

A great summary of Balmerino’s career can be found on the NZ Racing News site:

Balmerino is remembered for a pioneering odyssey which brought the New Zealand thoroughbred to the world stage. Less remembered is what a good galloper he proved in New Zealand and Australia before setting out on his world travels. Bred and raced by Waikato dairy farmer Ralph Stuart, who had bred very successfully from the family previously, Balmerino was by Trictrac from the grand broodmare Dulcie. Stuart usually sold his colts; the elderly farmer was persuaded by brash young trainer Brian Smith to keep Balmerino after Smith won five races with older half-sister Mia Bella to keep the ledger in the black. Balmerino was the outstanding three-year-old of 1975-76, proving not only his class but his strength through a campaign that began in the spring and ended in the Queensland winter. That campaign embraced 18 starts and netted 14 wins and three seconds. That resilience stood to Balmerino when, after a four-year-old season which nevertheless provided wins in the Air New Zealand Stakes, Awapuni Gold Cup, Sydney Autumn Stakes and Hastings Ormond Memorial, he headed for Europe. Stopping off on the way in California, where he notched a win despite missing his main target, he won the Valdoe Stakes at Goodwood first-up in England and on that light preparation he ran a rather unlucky second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to the very good three-year-old Alleged (who won the Arc again the following year). Balmerino then went to Italy, where he finished first in the Gran Premio del Jockey Club but was relegated to second. Allowing that as at least a moral victory, Balmerino had now won in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, England, Italy and finished a luckless second in France’s most prestigious race.As a six-year-old stallion Balmerino had one more campaign and, though he’d lost some of his zest for racing, he still managed a win in the Clive Graham Stakes at Goodwood and seconds in the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. He returned home to stand at Middlepark Stud, Cambridge, and sired some quality gallopers despite suffering the quick abandonment by breeders that was the lot of “colonial-bred” stallions at that time.

Just watching a race from Ellerslie.

No surprise in that.

It’s just the name of the race that has caused a bit of discussion on Trackside.

Sponsors are the life blood of sports and particularly racing.  Without sponsors prepare to put money into sports including racing, there is a genuine risk that sports will go down the gurgler.

One of the problems for lower level sports is the so much sponsorship money is now sucked out by a small number of professional sports teams – the AB’s, Warriors and Black Craps in particular.  Interestingly, performance is less important than profile although undoubted better performances help get bigger bucks.

Ironically, the race has just been won by a horse called Strap for Cash.  There’s an omen.

And the name of the race?

THE OMELETTE GUY MITCHELSON CUP

I wonder what they shelled out for that?

If this wasn’t so tragic given the Caster Semenya situation, you’d think someone was taking the piss.

Just not sure if they were standing up or sitting down.

A couple of horses in Oz have been reported as being “intersex“.  Which is not quite the same as being “into sex” but that’s a different type of blog!

Anyway, back to the horses.  Same story as the runner – elevated testosterone lead to a look see and indeed look what they found:

Tuscan Abbe is a hermaphrodite: a female horse possessing a male Y chromosome and internal male testes that produce large amounts of testosterone known in racing circles as an intersex mare.

Just watch those cheating Aussies try to enter the dodgy horse into NZ race for fillies and mares!

Any excuse to get a decent (or indecent) music vid into the post although there is a real risk that I’m showing my age here.

Still, the jockeys in Oz are up in arms (as opposed to coming up to the armpits) about restraints over the use of the whip.

… jockeys have warned they will boycott Spring Carnival racedays unless the ARB changes its stance and allows jockeys to use the whip without restriction in the last 100m of a race.

As it stands, they can only flog the poor horse five times in the last 200 metres.  Mind you, if I’ve backed it, there shouldn’t be a limit!

The Aussies have a real nut case of animal lovers.  The anti jumping lobby is adamantly and fundamentally opposed to jumping races yet when asked what to do with the redundant jumping horses, one of the suggestions was to put them down!!!  Now, if I was a jumping horse I’d rather take my chance in a race thank you very much.

As for the whipping, it will be interesting because it’s quite clear that the racing carnivals rely on the jockeys.

One solution proposed by Craig:

“Instead of strike action. Why don’t the jockeys just continue to ride as they did prior to the new whip rule. Will the stewards then suspend every jockey?”

Anyway, enough of the racing – no one really cares about racing any more do they so let’s just cut to the obligatory related music vid.

And today, it’s a goodie … Devo!

Got to love this “Get Poor Quick” story (actually embedded in a serious article I should point out) in the Granny Herald altho the original story was in the UK’s Telegraph.

A couple of Pommy punters thought they had the ultimate sting:

The pair, in their 50s, were hoping to scoop a British record breaking greyhound jackpot of £101,110.39p at Sheffield’s Owlerton Stadium.

They travelled hundreds of miles from the south coast of England with their stake money and what they believed to be a fail-safe plan.

The unnamed punters placed £46,656 in bets to cover every possible placing of six dogs in six races, using cash they brought in a Tesco carrier bag.

But the couple had not bargained on two other ticketholders backing all six winners and the jackpot being split three ways. It meant that their share of £33,703.46 left them with a net loss of around £13,000.

Which reminds me of the time I took She Who Must Be Obeyed to the races.  SWMBO had had no collects thus far which called for desperate measures.

I instructed her to go up to the tote operator and ask for a $1 place on the field (8 horses, place = 1st, 2nd or 3rd).  Regardless of the result, she would get three divies.

So instead of watching the race, she stood there at the tote waiting to collect.

Funnily enough, it cost ME $8 but she won approximately $7!

Just in case someone is actually wondering what happened next after reading posts earlier this week:

Newcastle Beat Middlesborough 3-1

In a game that had massive connotations on the relegation battle, Newcastle beat Boro 3-1 and in doing so moved up to 34 points – the same as Hull City.

With two games left in the season, Hull City have a whopping negative goal difference of 7 to make up so the odds are – at this stage – with Newcastle.

Having said that, Newcastle have games against Fulham (H) and Aston Villa (A) while Hull City are up against Bolton (A) and finish the season at home to Man U. On that basis, you’d have to expect that so long as Newcastle can at least match Hull in terms of points won this weekend, they should be safe.

And having said that THAT, it’s still not all over red rover for the two teams below Newcastle and Hull City.  Boro are on 31 points and WBA miraculously are now within striking distance also on 31 points.

The respective draws are:

Boro – Aston Villa (H), West Ham (A)

WBA – Liverpool (H), Blackburn (A)

Mighty Sunderland are the other team under the pump but given the relatively tough draws of the teams below them they SHOULD be safe on 36 points.  However, they could eliminate any possibilities with a win on the road at Portsmouth this weekend.

Mind you, Alan Shearer, Newcastle’s temporary manager seems to understand the realities of coaching:

“Someone once told me it’s better to be a lucky manager than a good one”

The full table is on the Guardian site – and check out Hull’s free fall from 3rd after 9 games to 18th with two games to play.

Jumping to Conclusions Update

Certain irony with the title of jumping to conclusions …

No conclusions were reached yesterday and the decision on whether to ban jumps racing in Victoria will be made later today NZT.

While most involved in NZ racing look across the ditch with a fair degree of the Big Green Monster, it’s not all rosy with Oz racing.

The big issue is around the future of jumps racing.

It’s become a major issue with the number of horse deaths in Victoria – 12 last season, and three in the big race at Warrnambool, the home of the famous – at least in Oz, Grand Annual.

Racing Victoria will be making a decision later today whether or not to ban racing in Victoria permanently.

One of the ironies is that because of past worries – and yes the zealots of the animal protection league – jumps racing has been made easier in the view that it would make it safer.

Instead, smaller fences have simply meant the horses have treated the fences with even greater disrespect and taken them faster.  And we all know, the faster the speed, the bigger the mess.

Now, we all now that horse racing is dangerous.  We also know that that harder grounds in Australia will lead to bigger impact and more injuries.

But by making the fences smaller, the “safety” measures have simply blown up in their face.

Now, I’m completely biased.  I’m a racing enthusiast and involved in a minor capacity.  I particularly love jumping.  The Great Northern Steeplechase is both a spectacle and an epic contest of bravery and stamina.

I’ll start with the trite explanation.  Horses that are bred to race love racing.  At least the ones that hang around a bit because those that don’t like racing don’t tend to hang around for long.

Watch a typical jumps race and if a horse falls or drops its rider, it rarely finds a quiet spot for a lie down and a bit of a feed.  Often, you’ll see the horses continue to run and even take on the fences.

All well and good but there are injuires and sadly deaths in racing.  No one is hiding from this, least of all the connections for whom the loss is like losing a family member.  It is terrible.

Excesses are to be managed and dangers minimised.  There must be rules and safety measures for riders and horses.

I have no doubt those opposed to jumps racing have good intentions.

But perhaps their focus would be better on pet food manufacturers or hamburger producers if they are genuine about looking after animals’ rights.