FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: WHEN THE SYSTEM BECOMES UNFAIR. TIME TAKEN IN SOME CASES IS BEYOND A JOKE

By John Schreck | Wednesday, December 23, 2015

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Shreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

The manner in which the cobalt cases have been handled has been very disappointing.

I would hope that in the early stages racing administrators warned trainers that they were going to start testing for cobalt, as it is a product that is used quite often in therapeutic treatments.

It’s not like etorphine (elephant juice) for example. In cases like that nobody should be informed. Stewards should just ambush anybody who uses that kind of stuff, but there is a need to properly inform the sport ... and I mean properly inform ... when the sport starts to test for new products that have been used therapeutically.

In relation to the Lidari case, it is astonishing to me that by the time the case is over it will probably be two years since the horse ran in that race at Caulfield.

I did state in an earlier blog that I would ask followers of the sport to keep in mind that there are very valid reasons for some delays ... some delays ... in this process, but the time being taken with the Lidari case is beyond a joke!

It is not fair to Mr Moody. It is not fair to his staff, his owners and, as importantly, it is not fair to the sport as a whole.

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Still in legal territory, a breaking story yesterday was that the wives of two jockeys injured in a fall at the Gold Coast in 2012 were suing the rider deemed responsible for the fall for amounts in the region of $300 000 each.

When racing stewards find a jockey culpable for causing a fall, as was the case in the Gold Coast incident, and the injured parties want to sue, it does make the case of the plaintiff much easier to run, but there are other arguments that will come into play depending on what they are claiming.

Interestingly enough, there is currently a case before the court involving Tye Angland, who is being sued by Paul Cook for similar alleged negligence.

In the case of that fall, which took place Queanbeyan some five or six years ago, the stewards found Angland ‘not guilty’ of causing the fall in which Paul Cook was seriously injured.

So, the results of that case will be very interesting.
The evidence is completed and they are now waiting on the judge’s verdict.

Whatever the outcomes of these particular cases, I feel it is important for all industry participants to be well aware that Australia is becoming much more of a litigious society than it has been in the past.

This sort of action would not be unusual in the United States because of the way litigation is run there and we are going down the same path ... unfortunately!

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I think it is time that racing administrators dropped the ‘Miss’ when referring to female riders.

People like Tegan Harrison, Kathy O’Hara, Claire Lindop and many, many others compete on an even footing with the likes of Jim Byrne and Blake Shinn who not referred to as Mr Jim Byrne or Mr Blake Shinn, so why is there a difference with a female.

The people we have mentioned are extraordinarily, good race riders and it is not fair for them to be discriminated against in the manner in which they are publicised.

I understand that, at the moment, about twenty-five percent of race riders are female and the sport will see an ever increasing number of good female riders coming along with the whip rule changes.

I’ll bet you a lottery ticket that in not too many years to come that will be a fifty-fifty split between male and female riders.

Surely it is time to afford them the same respect as anyone else.

And a final thought. If Queensland, a state that has a female Premier and a female Racing Minister, wants to have a team competition ... surely one between male and female race riders would be a much better promotion than the recent “State v State” non-event!

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