Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

Gee I love this time of the year when the best horses are racing.

It takes racing - and public interest in our sport - to another level.  The only disappointing part of the last week was our stable rider Opie Bosson getting suspended for his ride on The Perfect Pink.  He received a six day suspension for using the whip in consecutive strides - four times in total.  He was also fined $400.

That Opie was suspended for six days for consecutive use of the whip is beyond me - it wasn't so much that he was urging her to find her best form, rather he was doing his best to guide a well-backed favourite that was ducking inwards in a tight finish. This, plus keeping his filly running in a straight line.

This is a case where the penalty does not fit the 'offence'.  It is quite simply unjust, and no I am not saying that because he is our stable rider, I believe the system is not being executed in an intelligent and fair fashion and have expressed this concern on a number of occasions previously.

Interestingly enough, the stewards asked for a fine, however the RIB overruled them and gave Opie a six day penalty as well.

Due to the RIB's six day penalty, Opie was forced to choose which meeting he would miss:  either this Saturday's Group 1 Telegraph day where he was set to again combine with our Group 1 Railway winner Entriviere OR the Karaka Million meeting where he will attempt to extend his unbeaten run of four straight wins in the Karaka 2YO Million - obviously he missed that meeting last year.

Reluctantly, he chose to forego the Group 1 telegraph meeting and his ride on Entriviere.

The feedback that we have received about this decision can only be described as incensed.  We have never received so many comments from such a wide range of people - owners, punters, industry figures, general public - all highly critical of this decision. Many have asked how they can make their views heard, they feel so frustrated.

In other cases of penalties around whip use, a jockey might miss several low-stakes' meetings or meetings - in winter for example.  However in this case, Opie misses the ride on a $1.60 favourite for an iconic Group 1 race.

Everyone loses, not just Opie - the owners lose, the punters lose, the Club loses, the industry loses - and at a time when something like 18 jockeys are sidelined, we just don't have the depth or numbers in our riding ranks to continue with this type of penalty. There are no winners and this can be dealt with differently and done better in my opinion.

What has happened can hardly be seen as fair.  These inconsistencies are eating away at the credibility of our sport and the judicial system itself too.

Again, everyone loses:

The RIB is made to look over zealous and inconsistent.

The Wellington Racing Club loses New Zealand's star jockey on one of its best and highest profile race days of the year.

The Wellington public and on course attendees do not experience New Zealand's most successful Group 1 rider in action.

The owners miss out on having the top rider on their wonderful mare.

The mare herself loses her pilot for a crucial Group 1, that can add huge residual value to her.

The industry and TAB lose too as many punters follow Opie.

What I think should have happened is Opie - or any other jockey in this position - is he should have been given a significant fine.  Then there are winners and the industry banks that money.

Opie is one of the kindest riders you will ever see, and in this case only gave the filly a slap on her shoulder with a heavily-padded whip.

I am of the view that the adjudicator in this case let himself as well as the industry down.

I am sure some people will say I am speaking out of self-interest but that is not the case - I believe in penalties, it's not about 'favours', it's about fairness.  Acting in the best interests of the industry.

Now with that said ...

It was terrific to see Fellini and Time Flies finish first and third respectively at Ellerslie on Sunday in one of the last lead up races to the Karaka 2YO Million.  This exciting race meeting is staged on 22 January and at this stage Te Akau will have definitely four, possibly five, runners out to defend our five year crown.

Obviously it is a hard race to win once, let alone five years in a row, and we know the competition will be tough but the team will be set and ready.  On The Bubbles is the current favourite for the Karaka 3YO Classic Million - last year's winner will be trying to do what only one horse has ever done before - win both the Karaka 2YO and 3YO Million - the other of course being our wonderful mare Probabeel.

Speaking of On The Bubbles and Probabeel, have a look at the trial fields for Wednesday at Matamata - they would have to be the best fields assembled you have seen for a while.

Tomorrow the Magic Millions Gold Coast sale kicks off and we have Mark Walker 'on the ground' for us - Mark has inspected our 'long list' a number of times and it is now our shortlist, so keep an eye on our website with updates on the horses we buy - shares will undoubtedly sell quickly.

One of the last year's purchases Bright Blue Sky has made the field of 16 for the A$2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on Saturday so we eagerly await her all-important barrier draw tomorrow.  She won a stakes' race on debut at Te Rapa and had her second start at Doomben on Boxing Day where she had little luck but rallied well to finish fourth in a Group 3 race.  Group 1 winning jockey Brett Prebble has been engaged to ride her.

Good luck to our owners with runners this week ...

GO THE TANGERINE!