Highs, lows of interesting racing week
The past week has unearthed interesting and surprising moments and announcements, giving a reminder of the ups and downs of a demanding industry
One: Contrasting fortunes
Craig Grylls had a day to cherish at Te Rapa on Saturday. Grylls good fortune was stark contrast to the lucky escape Zy Nor Azman and Brendan Hutton had at Avondale on Anzac Day. Hutton’s mount Dylan De Lago and Nor Azman’s mount Le Moussier had raced to the lead early in the race, but Dylan De Lago started to stagger and collided with Le Moussier dislodging Nor Azman. The jockey was then hit by following runners and knocked unconscious. Hutton’s mount suffered a massive haemorrhage during the race and died. Hutton crashed to the ground and walked away from the incident but along with Nor Azman was taken to hospital and checked out. Both left hospital that night and are on the road to recovery. At the other end of the spectrum hardworking Grylls celebrated wins in both black-type races at Te Rapa on Saturday aboard Mime in the Travis Stakes and Sweet Leader in the Cambridge Breeders Stakes.
Two: Watch out Queensland
Watch out Queensland the Kiwis are coming in their numbers for the winter racing carnival. Two more were added to the growing list with wins on Saturday. Mime is pencilled in for a trip to Queensland next month following her determined win in Saturday’s Group II Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa. Also Brisbane-bound is fellow Te Rapa winner Splurge, victorious in the open sprint.
Three: Tony Herlihy
Tony Herlihy, 58, showed all of his skills in driving Temporale to an upset win in the Group I $150,000 Rowe Cup Trot at Alexandra Park on Friday night. Herlihy joined the great Peter Wolfenden at the top of the Rowe Cup (3200m) honours board with his fifth winning drive in harness racing’s big northern trot - and he did it with an inch-perfect run. His previous wins in the cup were behind Gee du Jour (1991), Diamond Field (1994) and One Over Kenny (2007 and 2009). The 4-year-old is a big horse and continuing to develop said Herlihy who also trains the horse part-owned by his wife Suzanne. Another of of Temporale’s owners Kevin Riseley, also shares in the ownership of Lazarus, whoended his season with an effortless win in the Group I Messenger Pace, the horse’s 12th Group I win. He will now spell before returning for the spring.
Four: Industry announcements
Is the $24 million in additional funds for racing as good as it appears at first sight?
Firstly it is divided by two and is an advance against future earnings. The elixir - Race Fields isn’t here yet.
The funds have been given based on the board’s confidence over the predicted returns that race fields legislation - charging overseas bookmakers for using New Zealand racing data - and other initiatives, such as increasing the range of sports betting options, will bring.
The race fields legislation is a key component of the racing board’s new strategies, which are projected to bring an extra $45m for the racing codes in 2018/19, growing to $60m in the 2019/20 season.