FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: THERE IS A RISK IN PAYING TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTARY

By John Schreck | Wednesday, July 6, 2016

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.

My working life in racing finished before social media came along and I give great thanks for that.

When I worked in Hong Kong there were about thirty publications covering the sport and I adopted a policy … I actually followed Margaret Thatcher’s advice … that I didn’t read any of those critiques.

I took the view that if I read too much of that commentary it might pose a risk of influencing some decision I would have to make down the track in relation to licensed people.

My view was that I would try and divorce myself from that sort of stuff and I must say that if I was working today in a judicial position in racing that would still be my very strong standpoint.

I couldn’t imagine any judge in a court sitting back the day after making a decision, or in the lead up to making a decision, reading what some commentator might have to say.

I took the view that as a person who had the power to penalise and to take away somebody’s right to work, I didn’t want to be influenced by any outside factors … and that would be my view today!

So, as far a social media goes, if I was working today, I would just disregard it.

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The Australian Racing Board’s decision to make registration of foals and foal ownership conditional of acceptance into the stud book has been another talking point of late.

It is a contentious issue.

In my experience, when you make a new rule or regulation it is usually because you are trying to make provision to penalise those who might be doing something incorrect that you know about at the time.

So, before introducing such a rule, I have no doubt that the Australian Racing Board would have done surveys and gathered information, records and data to support what is, on the face of it, a draconian type matter … in which case they would be justified in their decision.

It was the same, going back in time, when the bicarb levels were set.

Before that level was brought in there was over twelve months of blood testing done to try and come up with what was a fair figure. Similarly, no doubt there has been much background work done before making this decision regarding foal and owner registration.

Having said that, I have always believed that the more regulation you have, the more problems you have.

You can over-regulate to buggery and these days people are inclined to go that way … I am sorry to say.

Who’s going to pay for all of this? The breeders? The owners? All that administrative work cannot be done for nothing so the situation has implications beyond a simple rule.

We really don’t know the full facts behind what is a very important decision but, no doubt, that will all come out in time.