All kinds of stuff about horse racing, yes, but also other stuff that we find interesting and which maybe you will, too.
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Not really a rosy Saturday
All those days tuning in to those somewhat schizophrenic Sky racing channels and where the Thoroughbred Channel is not available in most hotels and listening to the all the racing pundits, working on homework for every race, watching replays of the racing pundits and believing the Quaddie would pay tuppence, it all dissipated into muddy waters when one of the best Rosehill meetings was postponed after the third race and moved to...er, Newcastle today. Huh?
How does this work and what type of track is everyone supposed to be looking at? Is this surprise switcheroo fair to all trainers and owners? Were there any options?
Isn’t this time of year almost always the wet season?
Thinking back and when everything was ping-ponging between a Heavy 8 and Heavy 9 and eventually Noah setting sail in his ark before the heavens opened up and a Heavy 10 sunk the race day, we should have just gone out for some Thai.
Still, we stayed and watched some not very pretty races at Mornington and unloaded on Mr Gatorade’s Best Bet of the day- Savannah Cloud in the last.
Starting favourite, the race favourite never even managed to run a place. But that’s racing though our thoughts and hearts were with Trainer Julius Sandhu.
A few weeks ago his Lofty Strike was ruled out of running in the Blue Diamond Stakes on race day by Stewards.
On Saturday, Sharp Response, which the trainer co-owns, managed to scrape in and be first across the line in an exciting Mornington Guineas causing race caller Trevor Bailey’s voice to crack.
Alas the joy of winning was short lived. Sharp Response lost the race after an objection was fired in immediately by Ollie, someone who like Perry Mason knows a thing or two about acquitting himself well in the Stewards Room.
Were those listening to the arguments presented perhaps overwhelmed by the long shadow of the great veteran jockey? Probably. But that’s racing.
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The Voice and Jockey Robbie Dolan
We had no idea that Robbie Dolan had such a likeable personality until we saw him being interviewed at Randwick after the latest win- a Group One win in The Galaxy by rags to riches cult galloper Shelby Sixtysix.
In the care of Goulburn trainer Danny Williams whose life journey is a movie waiting to be made, Dolan, the Irish native who moved to Australia in 2016 and did most of his riding for our longtime friend Mark Newnham, was relaxed, showed a sense of humour and humility and came across as someone with whom you’d enjoy having dinner.
We were talking to some friends about the jockey this week who mentioned that he has another string to his bow- wannabe singer. The 26 year old is set to make his television debut in the new season of The Voice in Australia. Interesting fella- almost as interesting as Shelby Sixtysix and the rather unique racing programme set for the gelding by Danny Williams.
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THE GENE GENIE AND THE BIG KISS OFF...
We’ve all heard how Gene Simmons, bass guitarist with KISS, will do anything for the right money, and some of us were even in discussions with him and KISS record producer Bob Ezrin some years ago about a reality show for the China market- it went nowhere- but we were still somewhat surprised to see him pop up in the latest ad campaign for TABtouch.
We read about the objectives and strategy from the ad agency behind it and the happiness of the client with its awareness. But “awareness” aside, and despite enjoying irreverence and randomness in advertising, especially advertising for horse racing which is usually some racing executive’s idea of what’s “hip”, we just don’t understand the relevance of featuring Gene Simmons for this product.
Hell, there’s even no use of his most famous asset- his long tongue.
Then again, who cares, right? Certainly not Gene Simmons. The has-been has made some more chump change for his retirement fund.
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Short cuts
Maybe it’s a sign of going stir crazy, or absolute Andy Warhol inspired genius, but three enterprising members of Hong Kong’s racing fraternity have teamed up to be independent cinema auteurs by filming everything that comes into their iPhone frames which they feel will one day make for a rather entertaining streaming series.
Already in the can are Behind The Scenes Of Behind The Real Scenes Of Track Work, Elevator Awkwardness, Bitchiness Parts Un, Deux, Trois, Desperate Housewives...Well, you get the drift...
Oh dear: SIX rather humongous names in the world of horse racing are said to have made rather frequent trips to the late Jeffrey Epstein’s island of the nymphets.
Also circulating for years have been stories of the millions thrown the way of some of those guest performers- male and female- at Meydan who were already paid millions for twenty minute showcases, for special private shows...
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Celebs in Sydney have become pretty clued up when it comes to spotting one particular pap on the prowl. Know to be a devoted Harry Potter fan, his car has the number plate HEDWIG1 which is always interesting when he drives up anywhere and positions himself for another story. He must also be a Potterhead.
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David Beckham is entering the NFT space by taking up the role of global ambassador for a blockchain with a very unfortunate name. Once he was Goldenballs. Now, Beckham is the face of...DigitalBits.
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Toodle-Loos
With J-Lo and Ben Affleck back again and prepare to move into a new $50m mansion that features 17 bathrooms.
It’s a very obvious sign that A-listers now pride quantity over quality with their crappers. These must be confusing days for celebrity bog aficionados.
Like who?
* Barbra Streisand, who insists assistants scatter her bowl with fresh rose petals before she offloads.
* Oprah Winfrey, whose Florida penthouse once boasted a crapper made of imported white marble with a golden seat.
* Miley Cyrus, who was given a $10,000 toilet when Wrecking Ball got to No.1 with Bluetooth connectivity and surround sound speakers so she can stream while she streams.
* Mel B and Meghan Trainor, who are both fans of the side-by-side his'n'hers toilets, so they can enjoy a chat with their BFF while curling one out.
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The Cock Wars Of The Philippines.
There's a bizarre story brewing in the Philippines following mystery disappearances around the country of some connected to cockfighting. No, no, cocks haven’t been disappearing.
The official local name for the bloodsport is 'sabong' and is hugely popular, particularly for underground betting. To stop people attending fights in person during the pandemic, authorities licensed 'e-sabong' so that ‘live’ cockfights could still take place and be streamed online. But since the streaming started, as many as 31 e-sabong fans and workers have vanished – without a trace.
Police made some arrests last week after a gruesome abduction video was circulated online, but the mystery still remains. The leading theory at the moment is that there are a couple of Mr Big Cocks in the Filipino cockfighting world. One of them is apparently having people abducted or bumped off for fixing fights for his rivals.
The enigma is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, as these Mr Big Cocks are so big that even the police are scared to go near them.
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Spooky: David Bowie helped create a computer game in 1999 in which he played an on-screen role. It was called Omikron.
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Some may think Daniel Moor should not have called it quits with his not-so-surprising decision to call time on riding in Hong Kong. Why not?It’s personal choice and there’s nothing wrong with looking after family priorities. We’re also sure “Buckets” leaves with mixed feelings. It couldn’t have been an easy decision.
Knowing what the daily doses of bad news are doing to the mental health of the general Hong Kong public who don’t have the choice of leaving the city, being stuck inside Hong Kong’s “racing bubble” could not be easy. It might be an acquired taste by those who believe that everything starts and stops with making more and more money so that in their old age they can sit around a nursing home counting it.
Of course, not that there’s anything wrong with this. To some.
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Someone very close to us is going to name the new filly that he’s bought to race in Australia “Lovely Sarah Todd” after the quite exquisite looking celebrity chef and entrepreneur, pictured below.
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