DOOMBEN BETTING RING REPORT….by Lindsay Gallagher….intro by Phil Purser

01/12/14

Well last Saturday saw your typical controversial racing industry in full cry again.

 

Excited parents took their kids to Meet George Jetson at Doomben, but after paying some horrendous admission price and spending another fortune to feed the kids and buy them a can of drink – to try to stall off the effects of dehydration on a hot Brisbane day – most kids walked out the front gate with tears streaming down their little faces, as put simply their parents couldn’t wait for George to complete the race, as darkness would have set in had they waited for him to get in. Stewards ordered the vet have a look at Meet George Jetson, so the vet bloke had to get paid overtime to wait for the horse to get in under the cover of darkness to avoid any angry demonstration – and sure enough the vet found George to be “shin sore and lame in the off foreleg”. Terrific stuff – for those mug punters that took the opening price of $2.80, or the slightly better starting price of $3.10, all on the pretext of a good trial. When will they ever learn?

 

Then the last race at Moonee Valley arrived and many punters were ready to try to make their way home to link up with Lovey and the little ferals they may have sired when Massiyn, which is incidentally part-owned in Queensland, fell and sadly died on the track. But I’ve watched the fall many times and how others horses and jockeys didn’t come down in the incident is simply a miracle, so praise the Lord on that one. The autopsy results will come out on Massiyn’s death in due course. Then as per Matt Nicholls column today on Melbourneracing explains in detail, Saturday night’s Miracle Mile was a very bad result for the harness racing industry.

 

So between Justracing being asked to leave the Ipswich enclosure last Friday, Massiyn’s death at Moonee Valley on Saturday afternoon and the dreadful TAB holds on the Miracle Mile Saturday night, there wasn’t much positive news around in racing in that 36-hour timeframe from Friday lunchtime to Saturday night.

 

Let me also say that I had a couple of emails after Friday night’s website story asking me if a Racing Queensland steward A Kitching was any relation to Brett Kitching, the Ipswich CEO who had instructed a staff member to ask Justracing to leave the enclosure of his pristine racetrack last Friday after Race 1 and yes – steward A Kitching is indeed Alex Kitching and he is Brett Kitching’s son. Alex was a cadet steward obviously when he started with Racing Queensland but whether he’s still a cadet steward still, or a fully-fledged steward, I can’t comment, as I’m not close to too many in racing officialdom, as I’m not that desperate for friends.

 

Today on www.brisbaneracing.com.au  there’s the What’s In A Name segment and I ask have they found a new use for a “cat”? On www.sydneyracing.com.au you can read about the Kingston Town man and how descendants of his imported mares from decades ago are still producing Group 1 winners, whilst on www.melbourneracing.com.au Matt Nicholls has his usual Monday musings segment and he’s penned a really good article on just how bad turnover was on the Miracle Mile last Saturday night – and he asks the legitimate question of where trotting is headed in the long term.

 

From the Doomben betting ring leading rails bookmaker Lindsay Gallagher reported:

 

Race 1 – Wicked Intent $3.30, Mishani Honcho $4.80 and Mishani Di Caprio $8.00

The first race at Doomben was won by Wicked Intent, which was one of the best backed runners and he was $3.80 in. The biggest single bet I laid against him was one of $2,000.

Last start Gold Coast winner Mishani Honcho had some admirers during betting.

There was also money around for the debut Caloundra trained Jet Spur colt, Meet George Jetson, but I see in the stewards report where he pulled up lame.

It was hard to win on the opening race as a bookmaker.

 

Race 2 – Ongoing Venture $9.00, Shotover River $3.90 and Legsman $21.00

Good money arrived in this race for last start Doomben winner Bingo Rose and there were several good bets on her, so really we just stood the one horse out in the race and got the result when she didn’t run a place in the six-horse field.

There was no money about for the winner Ongoing Venture and the only other horse that was specked was the runner-up Shotover River.

 

Race 3 – Slate On Edge $9.00, Beatniks $4.20 and In The Genes $10.00

The third race was won by the visiting Gulgong trained gelding Slate On Edge. He was specked early in betting but then the money dried up for him, so he eased from his opening quote.

Beatniks, which only went down by a nose, would have been a nasty result though, as he was clearly the best backed runner in the race. He was $5.50 in.

There was some specking about for Casarati, which ran home to run fifth.

There was no money about at all for opening favourite Little Bit Ditsy. She’s another one that showed form last preparation but hasn’t come back this time.

It was a pretty skinny race, with seemingly not many chances on paper, but nevertheless it was a winning race when we managed to get Beatniks beaten.

 

Race 4 – Beau Jet $5.50, I Am Boss $4.60 and Bold Attraction $8.00

Good money arrived for this winner Beau Jet around the $5.50 mark.

The runner-up I Am Boss would have been no good as I laid a string of bets against him, the biggest being one of $2,000.

The third horse Bold Attraction would have been no good either and I really think that he should have won and I deemed him unlucky. We bet $15 about his chances, so I think we dodged a bullet when he encountered a bit of bad luck in the home straight.

There was money about also for Vienna Royale.

Money also arrived in the ring for the impressive debut Kilcoy Maiden winner – Lupo Nero.

So they backed a few in the race and it was a mixed result as some bookies won on the race and some lost.

 

Race 5 – Gala Affair $17.00, My Quilter $41.00 and Casual Choice $3.00

There was no money about for this winner Gala Affair but there was good money during betting for the Warwick Farm trained visitor Casual Choice around the $3 mark.

Good money also arrived during betting for the Sunshine Coast gelding Abbadon, which was going for five wins in a row. You could get pretty much whatever you wanted out of him late at $2.80/$2.90.

So we could lay both Abbadon and Casual Choice very well, so when roughie Gala Affair won, bookmakers got a terrific result.

 

Race 6 – Brook Road $2.60, Tinto $26.00 and Playtime $31.00

We gave some of the Race 5 winnings back here when the visiting Newcastle mare Brook Road got home narrowly. She got the perfect run in transit and you could lay her well at $3 and at $2.80 on the way in before she ran at $2.60. I laid a string of bets against her name, the biggest being one of $3,000.

There was good money about for Elusive Storm around the $8 mark before she finished up running sixth.

So you could get what you wanted to out of both Brook Road and Elusive Storm, but apart from those two mares punters didn’t really fancy anything else, so Brook Road’s win created a nasty result.

                                              

Race 7 – Rudy $3.60, Grayson Square $9.00 and Darci Be Good $14.00

Bookmakers decided to take on this winner Rudy as he had an apprentice on who couldn’t claim, in a big field, from an awkward alley, with the end result being that the horse got out to $3.60/$3.70 late before he stormed home and did a good job to win. So we sure got that one wrong.

Ipswich Cup winner and Caloundra Cup runner-up Brave Ali was backed at $14 before he ran eighth.

Hopfgarten eased out to $5.50 late in betting when no money of note arrived for him.

Whilst it was a $100,000 total prizemoney Listed race, punters simply couldn’t warm to getting interested in it, so the hold was grossly disappointing on the event.

It was a losing race when we took on Rudy and paid the penalty.

 

Race 8 – Cum Dividend $5.50, Heart Of Many $16.00 and Dream Of Slips $5.50

This last winner Cum Dividend was well backed and I laid a string of bets against him, the biggest single bet being one of $2,000. I can assure you the photo made a massive difference as the second horse Heart Of Many was unwanted.

I laid the favourite Primal Flight very well. He was going for three wins in a row and you could pretty much get whatever you wanted to out of him. The biggest single bet I laid on him was one of $10,000.

There was also a good go on a roughie in this race, Cheval Du Feu that was resuming after getting beaten five lengths in the Ramornie Handicap at Grafton in July but someone fancied his chances first-up and he took out $30,000 in a single bet with me. And other bookmakers laid him as well, so he was a nice quiet go before he ran eighth.

There was no money about for Primal Flight’s stablemate Eastern Princess, which ran fourth

The third horse Dream Of Slips was specked late but only after she’d drifted out to $6.

It was a good betting race the last race and Cum Dividend was no good to bookies, but overall on the day it was a mixed result with some bookmakers winning and others losing.

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