Favourite’s big battle
THE racing future of crowd favourite Alligator Blood hinges on an upcoming court ruling over his now-disqualified Magic Millions victory, with officials sweating on the result expected to be handed down in the coming fortnight.
News Corp can reveal Racing Australia recently followed in New South Wales by introducing new rules banning undischarged bankrupts from owning horses anywhere in the country, ruling out polarising Allan Endresz, who is a part-owner in Alligator Blood through his Ezybonds No 1 syndicate.
The Racing Australia rule, however, can be applied at the discretion of each racing authority, leaving Racing Queensland with a decision to make as the horse begins its winter carnival.
“Challenges have previously been faced when seeking to restrict certain persons from being owners in order to protect racing’s integrity,” Racing Australia said in its summary.
“… Ownership restrictions will be imposed on undischarged bankrupts (and other similar persons, eg, those entering into a personal insolvency agreement), to protect trainers and co-owners from issues resulting from non-payment of training fees.”
It is understood Racing Queensland will not make a decision on the matter until after a Supreme Court decision is handed down in a case involving Endresz, the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission and Racing Queensland over the 2019 Magic Millions 3YO Guineas.
Officials are reluctant to make a decision on the matter prior to the Supreme Court result in the chance it creates a legal precedent.
Racing Australia introduced the rules on May 6, in the expectation the Supreme Court would hand down its ruling last week, however a delay has seen it pushed back to the middle of this month.
After being banned from racing in New South Wales, Endresz made the call to send Alligator Blood back to Queensland to be aimed at the winter carnival, where he will still be trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, but out of Sunshine Coast trainer Billy Healey’s property instead.
The five-year-old was expected to trial on Tuesday morning, however heavy rain will cause a reshuffle to his plans, with connections indicating they will head to the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m), before going onto the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).
The horse will be allowed to race while Racing Queensland weighs up how to apply the new Racing Australia rules.
There are concerns over how the rules could be applied in cases where an owner dies and has the horse passed into a trust.