FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: FINE HANDED OUT TO MOREIRA IS INTERESTING TO SAY THE LEAST
By John Schreck | Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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.
The precedent set by racing stewards with regard to the massive fine handed out to Joao Moreira is an interesting one to say the least.
Moreira, the leading rider in Hong Kong, was fined HK$ 250 000 in lieu of a suspension. Stewards believed that equated to a three day suspension and I guess they brought that precedent into play because the end of the season is coming up.
Obviously, none of us are privy to exactly how they arrived at that decision.
With that precedent having been established there could be all manner of arguments for fines to be handed down now instead of suspensions.
No doubt quite a debate occurred in the enquiry room on this occasion.
One of the difficulties with imposing fines of course is that a big fine to somebody at the bottom of the riding ladder would be a very significant penalty while for someone at the top of the list it would not be such a burden to pay ... and I don’t quite know how you work all of that out to be fair to all.
The bottom line though is that a very interesting precedent has been set and any sequel to this ruling will be watched with a lot of interest in the future.
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A recent headline with regard to a supposed racing underbelly in Queensland has been disappointing as far as racing is concerned.
In some ways, it has also been unfair ... particularly in the case of horse racing.
Everybody knows that wherever you have large volumes of cash, bookmakers and totalisators you have a situation which is open to corruption and it is incumbent on racing people themselves to either keep that corruption out of the game or keep it at as low a level as they can.
The point that is sadly lost in some reporting is that, generally speaking, racing people do that.
From time to time inexcusable things do happen on racetracks but in reality they are rare and, whilst there is no excuse for it, it should be remembered that inexcusable things happen right across society not just in racing.
Therefore, to seemingly exaggerate and to try to isolate racing’s position in this regard ... as some reports can be interpreted ... can be considered quite unreasonable and quite unfair to the majority, that is to all those good people with clean records who participate in the sport.
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The Racing NSW CEO and the Betfair operator have been at odds with each other recently about a rise in the standard fee payable by wagering operators which was increased from 1.5% to 2% from July 1.
I’ve always been, and continue to be, against betting exchanges. I don’t think it is a good concept so far as the sport is concerned. It is obviously a good concept if you are the operator but I don’t like it for the sport ... have never done and will never do.
Having said that, corporates are a part of the scene in Australia today. They will not go away so racing is clearly better off with them in the tent than out of the tent.
In the past, albeit some time ago, I have been the company of some of the leading corporate identities and they have always indicated to me that they were quite prepared to pay a reasonable fee for access into the game.
So the debate I guess is ... what is a reasonable fee?
The two parties obviously come at that question from two different points of reference but, again, one of the most pertinent points is that the corporates presence is not going away and it would really be very sad if they are driven off-shore.
The wagering fee is a set agreement so it’s successful negotiation is all important. No argument there!
For the record, corporates do contribute to racing on several other levels.
They sponsor tracks and race-clubs and, it is worth noting, that most of the people I know who are involved in the corporate booking side of racing are fair dinkum racing people.
They’ve all owned horses and some have put millions of dollars into the sport out of their own personal pockets ... as far as breeding horses, buying horses, racing horses and so n is concerned ... so the last thing they want to do is see the sport go backwards.
It is not as if they are all parasites.
The point I am making is that the path for racing authorities and wagering operators is a two way street and the two parties have to work together for the best mutual benefit.
The truth is they have more common ground than the general conversation sometimes leads us to believe.
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Blake Shinn continues to do Australia proud during his short stay in America.
Shinn rode three winners at Arlington earlier this week to take his USA total to six winners thus far.
To go over there cold like he did and to compete successfully on a strange landscape where races are run very differently is a pretty good result.
His effort will certainly have enhanced the reputation of Australian riders in that part of the world.
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