Jumps racing on the rise this winter
Mat Kermeen dissects five of the top racing issues to arise from the past week including thoroughbred stakes rises,
ONE: Thoroughbred stakes are on the rise but is there more to come?
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) announced on Friday that more than $2 million will be pumped into race stakes.
The increases are a muchneeded boost but are they enough?
The answer from most is that Friday’s increases are only going to help the industry tread water at best. Costs are constantly rising and the affordability of well-bred horses is only going one way.
Money does not grow on trees and there is no magic pot of gold but the racing board and NZTR need to find a way to make sure funding provisions are in place for further stakes increases across the board within the next two years.
There is already talk that the minimum stake, raised to $10,000 back in March, is too low. Friday’s announcement will thwart some of the discontent from trainers, owners and breeders but if they can not see a plan for further increases in the coming seasons, the current mood will just be a short calm before the storm.
TWO: Michelle Payne’s trailblazing ways continue
Only Michelle Payne could come out of last week’s appetite suppressant scandal with her darling of racing reputation firmly intact.
The first female jockey to win
...‘‘ Friday’s increases are only going to help the industry tread water at best.’’
the Melbourne Cup (aboard Prince Of Penzance in 2015), was suspended for four weeks on Thursday after testing positive to the banned substance Phentermine – a substance that is used as an appetite suppressant.
Many jockeys have and would have brushed the media and gone to ground but Payne took it all in her stride.
Front footing the issue and taking responsibility for her mistake was the best thing Payne could have done.
It was a scandal that could have dragged on and seriously damaged her reputation but fronting up combined with her immense popularity means this scandal will be a distant memory by next week. Payne has owned her mistake and marched on like only she could.
In an odd way, it seems the events of last week have actually grown her movie star status.
THREE: Jumping back on the rise
Saturday’s jumping races at Hastings had it all. Two healthy maiden hurdle fields, a close finish in the feature hurdle, strong numbers in the maiden steeplechase and the arrival of a star in the making in Just Ishi who was a dominant Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase winner.
Just Ishi may have earnt favouritism for the Wellington Steeplechase (July 15) in the process and Kipkeino was impressive in scoring his first feature win in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle.
The two prestige races at Trentham in two weeks time are shaping up to be the best they have been in years and the strong fields should continue at the Grand National carnival at Riccarton.
Jumps racing receives more than its fair share of criticism but there is no denying it is going from strength to strength this winter.
FOUR: Welcome back Tony Allan
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Tony Allan brought up his 998th winner on New Zealand soil at Waverley on Thursday.
Eight rides into his comeback, after a dozen years away from race day riding, experiencing that winning feeling must have been a mixture of relief and jubilation.
Allan received plenty of recognition for the win but the real accolades belong with Tony Allan the man, not the jockey.
Battling back from drug and alcohol addiction is the toughest race Allan has run and won.
It would have been easy for Allan to stay out of the spotlight and wonder what if? But what use is that?
Everyone loves a comeback story and when Allan scores his 1000th winner in the next few weeks this one will be complete but his courage away from the track should be celebrated just as much as any milestone on it.
FIVE: When it’s in the blood its hard to get rid of it
There are a million reasons why a former superstar jockey like Kim Clapperton would pass up on the opportunity to make a comeback in the amateur riding ranks.
Why risk a legacy? Let alone injury? Clapperton, a former champion apprentice in New Zealand and former MalaysiaSingapore jockeys’ premiership winner, made a race day return at Hastings on Saturday aboard a horse she owns and trains Loveto keep him in an amateur riders race.
There was no fairytale when she crossed the line in tenth but you can bet Clapperton did not regret her riding return because, in the words of Matamata trainer Graham Richardson, ‘‘Once racing’s in your blood it’s there forever’’.