On the morning that Ghetto Blaster resumed the other day I went to the TAB and had a small each way interest on the horse at 80/1 in the upcoming Stradbroke. He's nowhere near 80/1 now - and the jockey who won on him when he resumed, Stathi Katsidis doesn't want to ride him next Saturday in the BTC Cup - but who cares? Not me, as I've seen every jockey that was ever born slaughter plenty of horses.

I think the optimum time for thoroughbred racing in Australia is when the various Carnivals race meetings occur annually in each State. To that end, the Brisbane Winter Carnival is now upon us and it is already developing into the annual circus, which a Carnival meeting can. Our biggest problem continues to be the same as it has been since I was a kid and first started attending race meetings over 40 years ago – in a word it’s called “infighting”. No one wants to get on with anyone else, so we have the situation where the governing body is fighting with most of the race clubs over various aspects of the industry – but sadly that scenario has been played out in the three codes of racing right across this country, ever since Adam and Eve did whatever they allegedly did in a moment of madness whilst cavorting around in the Garden of Eden. Apart from the "infighting", there’s the Stathi Katsidis/Ghetto Blaster jockey drama, where he’s now been engaged to ride Shellscrape next Saturday. That one has already gone to the stewards who have ruled Katsidis rides Shellscrape, not Ghetto Blaster. I’m already on Ghetto Blaster in the Stradbroke at 80/1 each way and I for one don’t want a jockey riding the horse that I’ve had my hard earned on, if he’d rather ride something else in the race. I say let him go as there are about 500 other jockey names that I could put forward who could achieve the same result on Ghetto Blaster that Katsidis achieved on Intertheblack last Saturday, when my hard earned was on that galloper. A four-kilo kid from Charleville could have achieved a similar result on Intertheblack, the point being that I don’t know where people conjure up the notion that there are “good” and “great” jockeys, as I’ve seen every little 50-kilo bundle of joy from the late George Moore to Mick Dittman, Darren Beadman and anyone else you would care to name, all slaughter a dozen of them. I’ve concluded over the years that "good horses make good jockeys", as “good” jockeys can’t improve a slow horse. The upshot of all that is that I don’t understand why trainers worry about taking a jockey to court - or to stewards - over the ride. The latest Carnival debacle involving a jockey happened during the Sydney Autumn Carnival when apprentice Daniel Ganderton was unceremoniously given the flick from Beneteau – being replaced by “champion” jockey Damian Oliver. Problem was the “champion jockey” went around the track, about four wide the trip, in a six horse race – really inspiring stuff – so don’t talk to me about jockeys. Ganderton with masking tape over his eyes could have achieved a similar feat on Beneteau that day. The owners then gave Oliver the flick after that also - and rightly so. It's all as funny as a tin of worms. With hindsight, I just wish I had given the Intertheblack money to some worthwhile charity, as now I could have been able to claim a legal tax deduction instead of waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night yelling expletives at the jockey for not getting a run.

Then there’s the New Zealand trainer Graham Nicholson who told everyone who’d listen last week on racing radio that he had a 3YO called Time Keeper who could “make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” - he’s that good. Now the man has had reasonable success with Sir Slick when he’s come to Australia, so people tend to take notice of these New Zealand trainers who pop over to Brisbane - and in all fairness, whilst I’m not real bright, I’ve noted that they generally leave with plenty of our money, so they must have some idea what they are doing. Most of the Kiwi trainers don’t say much, so it was good to see Mr Nicholson open his mouth and let us all know that Time Keeper “will be better than Sir Slick when he’s 4 (year old).” Believing that the Australian 3YO’s stayers primarily wouldn’t stay overnight at the Hilton, I decided to have an each way bet on Time Keeper, as once you know the Kiwi gallopers are here safely and haven’t injured themselves on the plane etcetera – and it is fairly certain that they’ll make the race they are set for, they are worthy of a spec bet. Well that’s true, unless punting variable number 572 (in words that five hundred and seventy two) comes into play to work against the poor punters who bet early in fixed odds markets on Group 1 races which reads “the Kiwi trainer will stuff up knowing when the nomination deadline actually is, such that the horse you’ve had your hard earned on will now miss a vital lead up run to the Queensland Derby, as he’ll miss the Rough Habit Plate next Saturday due to trainer error.” Just great. What else can go wrong in the space of seven days? Why are you filthy with we punters God?

Then if you are driving along the highway in your modest automobile and the racing radio anchors are interviewing trainers, it is a good idea if you keep both hands on the steering wheel, so that when a trainer or jockey makes some what I’d call “outlandish pie in the sky statement”, you don’t run off the road and crash into a nearby gum tree that has been happily growing there about 80 years – as those old trees have a habit of not moving when being struck by a motor vehicle travelling at any speed up to and including 100 kilometres per hour. I was indeed glad I had both hands on the steering wheel one day last week when I heard the news that Baci Amore may well be headed to the Stradbroke. Good grief - if Baci Amore even got to start in a Stradbroke Handicap, let alone win one, we ought to close Eagle Farm racetrack down and sell it to developers, as that would be about as big an insult to thoroughbred racing as one could possibly imagine. In fact since he won at Rosehill on 17/5/08, taking just 1.26.56 to run the 1400-metre journey of his race, on a “good” track, he’s only actually won one further race and that was at the same track on 21/11/09, so he was sort of winless for 18 months before that November victory last year and he hasn’t been in the winners circle in the subsequent six months to the Rosehill win in November. Therefore, if my maths is correct, Baci Amore has won one race in two years (that's seven hundred and thirty days, which looks more impressive) come the 17^th of May this year, yet “they” are talking Stradbroke’s. He ran on a bit in the home straight last Saturday at Rosehill when resuming, but to my way of thinking he’d be better suited in June at somewhere like Mt Isa, Moree, or Marble Bar than at Eagle Farm.

So between 1) the warring factions in the State’s racing industry, 2) the Ghetto Blaster jockey blow up, 3) Time Keeper’s trainer missing the Rough Habit Plate nomination deadline and 4) the news that Baci Amore is going for the Stradbroke, I have concluded that the world has gone officially mad – and I wish to publicly state that there is a chance that with the second Gateway Bridge in Brisbane being opened on Sunday - that I’ll actually be the first humanoid to jump from the new structure. On second thoughts I won’t jump, as I suspect too many people in racing would be happy to see that happen and to that end they would be standing at the top assisting my cause by chanting “jump, jump, jump.”

Tomorrow I look at the Stradbroke Handicap and give a comment on every horse in the race – a month out from the big one. If you own some of the chaffbandits that are nominated for the race, it would be a good day not to read the column - but I guess on the other hand, you should already know you are dreaming by having a slow horse nominated  for a Stradbroke.