FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: GOOD TO SEE PROFESSIONALISM AND SPORTSMANSHIP ALIVE AND WELL IN RACING

By John Schreck | Wednesday, November 2, 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. Schreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

It is fascinating through life how the wheel turns.

Not long ago racing officials in Sydney were telling Kerrin McEvoy how he should ride racehorses and advising him to copy some of the leading jockeys.

McEvoy has always been a good jockey with a lot of international experience but today he has become a very good jockey.

Although he did contravene the rules in his Cup ride (along with the second placed rider Joao Moreira - both riders were reprimanded) McEvoy’s whip riding is very good. He seems to be kind to the horses.

God put McEvoy on earth to be a jockey. He is naturally light and strong. He is designed to be a race rider.

He is also obviously a man of intelligence and I thought his attitude after winning the cup was terrific.

Every time he was on the television or the radio he was thanking the connections for the ride, the trainer and his staff for the preparation of the horse ... and so on ... in stark contrast to that of his sister-in-law Michelle Payne last year when she told some of the connections and basically many others in the sport to get stuffed.

Both McEvoy’s actions on the track and his words afterwards, to my mind, displayed professionalism of the highest level.

It was also good to see Joao Moreira reach over and congratulate McEvoy a couple of strides past the post after such a hard fought battle.

It is reassuring to know that both professionalism and sportsmanship are alive and well in racing.

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Some of the reporting on the Cup result set out to minimise owner Lloyd Williams’ achievement in claiming a record fifth Melbourne Cup win.

Personally I think that reporting is terribly unfair.

That argument seemingly is somehow based on the fact that Mr Williams is a very rich man.

Mr Williams does have a lot of money and he is entitled to spend it as he wishes.

The people who are critical of him should have a look up around Mount Macedon where his farm is and have a look at the number of people who are employed there, the amount of money that he spends on feed, the amount of money he spends on farriers ... and so on.

Would we rather have him spending his money on trying to win the Americas Cup?

I think people like Mr Williams should be encouraged to stay in the sport. He is a huge supporter of racing and has been for a long time. He won his first Melbourne Cup in 1981.

Rather than be critical of him, I think he deserves a lot of credit for what he does for racing.

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As far as the Cup is concerned, Mr Williams does spend a lot of money and time in selecting and getting the right horses into the race. Then more money, time and effort is invested in preparing the horses for the race and getting top jockeys to ride them ... and surely that is what the business is all about!

So you have to applaud his knowledge, his focus and his commitment to achieving his goal.

Money certainly helps but it isn’t everything when trying to win the Melbourne Cup.

The classic example of that, of course, is the Godolphin Empire.

The amount of money that Mr Williams has spent is petty cash to them and they haven’t achieved the results he has so. rather than be critical of what Mr Williams has done and how he has gone about it, I think people should be complimentary of his achievements in racing and his contribution to the sport.

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Australian racing has been very different from most parts of the world for years and years.

For a very long time Australian racing was a sport for more or less the average person, whereas in America and Europe and Japan it is a sport for people with a lot of money.

We are slowly heading down the same track because it is a very expensive business and that is why these days we are seeing an increasing number of horses being owned by twelve or fifteen people and the like ... and that is what is going to continue to happen.

We are simply following the long established international trend and you can’t change that.

Yet, for all that, the dream is still alive.

Look at the Yankee Rose story. Every now and again a small group of people with a small amount of money get their hands on an outstanding horse ... so everybody still has a chance for glory, in theory.

While everybody might not subscribe to that theory, the ever present bottom line is that there are no guarantees for anybody, wealthy or otherwise, and it is that very unpredictability that makes racing the great sport it is.

If you have a lot of money it might be seen to give you an advantage if things go well ... or it might just mean you will lose a whole lot more than the rest of us when things do not!

We should remember that there are two sides to that story.