The Straight
@TheStraightX
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Pinned Tweet
WATCH: Bren O'Brien, Managing Editor and Founder of
@TheStraightX
, gives an update on The Straight, what it has achieved to date and where it is heading as 2024 progresses.
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“You have allowed Peter (V’landys) to get you into a corner..... you should be ashamed. You expect us to get you out of that by selling off one of our greatest assets!” - Gai Waterhouse has called out the ATC board over the proposed closure of Rosehill.
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Comment: What was supposed to be an examination of the relationship between the ATC and the Chris Minns-led government has now turned into the sternest scrutiny of Racing NSW in the 20-year reign of CEO Peter V’landys, writes
@streetruffian
.
Full Story:
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Gai Waterhouse has called for change in the leadership of Racing NSW, while fellow trainer John O’Shea has revealed he was pressured not to appear before a parliamentary hearing into the Rosehill proposal.
Full Story:
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Leading trainer Bjorn Baker has taken aim at what he sees as the excessive purses offered for features such as the Golden Eagle and The Big Dance, saying they would attract the same quality fields with substantially less prize money.
Full story:
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A surge in complaints that bookmakers are utilising compliance processes to unfairly block or ban winning punters has led one racing authority to caution bookmakers that they may be breaching the law.
#wagering
Full Story:
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"I just want to be seen to be somebody who takes pride in what she has created, and cares about her owners enormously." - Denise Martin
How
@StarTbreds
became one of Australia's most successful syndicators. A special feature courtesy of
@mmsnippets
.
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Champion trainer Chris Waller has led an extraordinary rebuke of the plans to develop and sell off Rosehill racecourse, calling out the leadership of Peter McGauran and Peter V’landys on the contentious issue.
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Racing NSW should be made more accountable for the presentation of its financial records, an inquiry into the proposed sale of Rosehill has been told.
Full Story:
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Gai Waterhouse will kick off proceedings in the parliamentary inquiry into the development of Rosehill, with the champion horse trainer to speak before the Upper House Committee at 10am on Monday.
Full Story:
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Chris Waller's written submission to the Rosehill inquiry has now been published. In short:
- wants Rosehill retained
- happy to look at proposals which see more housing and community use of unused areas.
- "Racing lovers are just as vital a part of the community as football fans
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Trainer John O'Shea has said the sale of Rosehill would be "strategic suicide" for NSW racing.
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First-ever print edition of
@TheStraightX
ready to be handed out
@mmsnippets
. Another milestone from a terrific team.
@WarwickBarr
@ms_peterpan
.
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Jason Scott, Racing QLD CEO - “Wagering is the most critical issue to racing right now. Under the Queensland model, it’s where most of our revenue comes from. Ninety-five percent, in fact, comes from wagering.”
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“To think that a little bike track in the middle of Caulfield is going to replace Sandown is laughable."
Former trainer and save Sandown advocate Colin Little on the latest MRC board decision surrounding the future of the Victorian racecourse.
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Punters representative Richard Irvine (
@sothegreatgame
) has renewed calls for proper government consultation after the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland rejected his request for a meeting following the release of a key parliamentary report.
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Maverick MP Mark Latham has used parliamentary privilege to describe Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys as ‘all tip, no iceberg’ and unleash a tirade of criticism on his performance in both his racing and rugby league roles.
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Welcome To The Straight – A membership-powered digital publication featuring in-depth coverage of the racing, wagering and breeding industries. Sign-up for free today to full access to our suite of news, analysis and features.
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Gai Waterhouse currently speaking before the Rosehill inquiry parliamentary committee. She has condemned the proposal as outrageous.
The live stream:
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Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys has confirmed he will appear before the parliamentary inquiry into the proposal to close, redevelop and sell off Rosehill.
Full Story:
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Bjorn Baker has taken aim at what he sees as the excessive purses offered for features such as the Golden Eagle and The Big Dance, saying they would attract the same quality fields with substantially less prize money.
Full Story:
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The Hayes name is back in the ascendancy as David closes in on 50 Hong Kong winners for the season, and sons Ben, JD and Will approach 200 winners in Australia.
Jessica Owers (
@ms_peterpan
) spoke to David about the Lindsay Park resurgence.
Full Story:
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It’s been a big six months since The Straight launched on November 29. Racing NSW lost and found a chair, RV lost a CEO, Rosehill shenanigans, Tabcorp lost a CEO amid a wagering upheaval, and a $10m yearling and a $6.6m mare.
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The prospect of spending much of the next decade operating a stable in a construction zone doesn’t appeal to trainer
@R1CHARDFREEDMAN
, who has major reservations over whether Rosehill can facilitate up to 20,000 new houses as well as a training and racing centre.
Full story:
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When Rachel King flew back into Sydney recently after a riding stint in Japan, it wasn’t major sporting news.
Perhaps it should have been.
@hele_t
spoke to
@RachelK11
about how her overseas stint has changed how she rides.
#競馬 #レイチェル・キング
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Update from
@TheStraightX
’s Bren O’Brien about
@GaiWaterhouse1
and
@JohnOSheaRacing
’s appearance at the public hearing of the parliamentary inquiry into the ATC’s proposal to redevelop Rosehill.
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Australian Capital Territory’s annual revenue from Point Of Consumption Tax has gone backwards, despite the tax rate rising to 25 per cent in July 2023.
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In the Sydney betting ring, there’s a group of old-school bookmakers launching a new-age fightback that could well unlock the key to their future.
Full Story:
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Since 2019,
@grenvillestud
has spent just over $1 million on 21 mares to add to their broodmare band. Today a colt by one of those mares provided a $900,000 return.
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💥Wow, Bren - tell us what you really think.
The Straight's Founder and Managing Editor Bren O'Brien was on
@SEN_track
this morning talking about his strong opinions on 10 race cards at metro meetings.
What do you think?
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Starspangledbanner is the only Australian-bred stallion to shuttle to the northern hemisphere in 2024. Why don't Australia's best and brightest reverse shuttle anymore?
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EXCLUSIVE: Significant reform to The Pattern, the graded system for black-type racing in Australia which has remained unchanged since 2019, is set to be considered by Racing Australia at its May 22 board meeting.
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Would one central home for all racing media make the lives of the consumer simpler?
Or does the current approach work?
@streetruffian
spoke to
@PfitznerMiles
this morning on
@SEN_track
about this very issue and it was a one sided affair.
#thestraight
#horseracing
#sentrack
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Will Bourne followed his father Butch (
@bourneButch
) into the thoroughbred game, but as Ciaron Maher’s right-hand man, is going at a pace his dad can only dream about, writes
@Mattunchained
.
Full Story:
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The end of an era, one of the most influential Australian stallions on the global scene, retired from stud duties.
NEWS: Exceed And Excel retired from stallion duties.
To everyone who has supported him through his two-decade journey of breeding excellence, the Darley stallions team thank you.
Exceed And Excel will continue to leave an indelible hoofprint on the racing and breeding worlds.
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By any statistical measure, Verry Elleegant was a champion of the Australasian turf, but it was her incredible versatility at the elite level, winning from 1400m to 3200m, which puts her among the genuine greats, writes
@streetruffian
.
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The Australian Capital Territory’s decision to raise its Point Of Consumption Tax to 25 per cent appears to have backfired, with the annual revenue created by the tax less than when the rate was at 20 per cent last financial year.
Full Story:
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“A multi-billion dollar proposition should not be drawn up on the back of a napkin. It should go through the appropriate processes for such a major project."
The NSW Upper House will hold a parliamentary inquiry into the Rosehill proposal.
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"The rising costs of everything mean that we are losing the smaller breeder, and I think that’s a real shame." -
@a_whittingham
.
Who in their right mind would want to start a business breeding thoroughbred on a small scale?
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“I would think in five years’ time, Australian racing will be dominated by half a dozen stables - if it is not already. And they’re going to have hundreds (of horses) in work."
Mark Newnham is enjoying his new reality, training in Hong Kong.
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Victorian bookmaker MintBet has been fined $100,000 over code of conduct breaches involving a customer who placed more than 300 bets during a 35-hour gambling spree.
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EXCLUSIVE: Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys and then-chairman Russell Balding held a confidential meeting with the NSW government to discuss the sale of Rosehill racecourse three weeks before the proposal was made public.
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Since February 1, Jamie Kah has ridden 35 winners from 165 rides, a winning percentage of 21.2 per cent. Incredibly, over half of those winners, 18, have been in stakes races, and five have been Group 1 winners.
This week's Run The Numbers.
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The performances of Pride Of Jenni, a $100,000 yearling, remind us that the qualities that drive yearling speculation are not always those that lead to racetrack adulation.
How the bloodstock market got it wrong with
@CoolmoreAus
Pride Of Dubai.
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Betfair and Harness Racing NSW have reached an agreement to have the betting exchange’s fees on harness racing in the state reduced from 10 per cent to 7 per cent.
Full story:
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With racing jurisdictions shutting up shop around the world, including in Macau this weekend, globetrotting administrator and racing steward
@FinPowrie
tells
@Mattunchained
that they are cautionary tales for Australia’s racing future.
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A bit of Sunday reading:
How did Australia’s racing clubs end up in such a perilous financial state? Bren O’Brien analyses the changed in the wagering landscape which eroded their bank balances and put the state-based regulators into a position of power.
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“I’m chomping at the bit. I was close to retirement but now if there’s one thing I’m gonna do before I die, it’s to win a Group One race during the Melbourne spring carnival” -
@MdkRacing
on the lifting of an EU export ban on South African horses.
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“I’ve bought a 4WD truck and a four-horse float and, after Easter, we plan to head out, probably to Broome or Port Hedland, to just race the horses and enjoy the Australian outback."
@tubbabloodstock
leaves
@NewgateFarm
and embarks on a new adventure.
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Only three stallions have more than 50 Australian winners at better than 50% winners-to-runners in each of the past three seasons.
Full story in this week's Run The Numbers:
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This week on the Friday 5️⃣:
- Rosehill progress
- Doping bunfight
- Governments with gambling headaches
- Ozzie Kheir - strictly not business
- Godolphin’s tax quandary
All this and more on
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Rosehill, the track where Phar Lap debuted and would later win his first two races, is to be closed in five years.
@ms_peterpan
reflects on the long and golden history of Rosehill racecourse.
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The brutal nature of racing politics in Australia of late speaks to the importance of principal racing authorities and racing clubs having both a strong, independent board and a knowledgeable and accountable executive, writes
@streetruffian
.
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Tabcorp has been ordered by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission to stop taking cash payments on unsupervised in-venue betting machines.
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A parliamentary inquiry will be held into an Australian Turf Club proposal to redevelop and sell off Rosehill racecourse.
#rosehill
#horseracing
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In the past seven years, Racing NSW has launched a spending spree that has seen it acquire more than 50 properties for an outlay in excess of $125 million.
@TheStraightX
has compiled Racing NSW's full shopping list.
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BREAKING: Tabcorp CEO Adam Rytenskild has resigned after being found to have used offensive and inappropriate language in the workplace.
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The wave of success from Australia’s female jockeys, including Saturday’s clean sweep of all races at Morphettville, owes much to the hard-won gains of those trailblazers who came before, writes
@Mattunchained
.
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Do punters deserve a spot at the table when it comes to governments making changes to wagering regulation?
Punters representative Richard Irvine (
@sothegreatgame_
thinks so.
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Synonymous with success in WA, a complete rebuild at the start of 2022 has established a new era for the husband-and-wife training team of Grant and Alana Williams, writes
@RealJesseDart
.
Full story:
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With
@CoolmoreAus
confirming that Shinzo will join its roster this season, standing at $55,000, we take a look at the record of recent Golden Slipper winners at stud.
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Online bookmaker
@TopSport_com_au
once aimed to be at the top of the Australian wagering food chain until increased taxation forced it to make a strategic decision.
@TristanMerlehan
spoke to
@WarwickBarr
about the challenges of the modern bookie.
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Experienced racing administrator James Ross has accepted a Hong Kong Jockey Club role to become the latest senior employee to leave the Australian Turf Club.
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Russell Balding's long tenure as Racing NSW chairman will end this month after an extraordinary night of twists, turns and political intrigue in NSW parliament.
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The Straight’s Friday 5️⃣!
- Australian racing’s $50 million men
- Michael Hickmott heads for the Queensland sun
- Million dollar babies
- Sire Flying high after Royal Ascot win
- Consolidation continues in wagering industry
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There is nothing in the NSW budget which points to it raising its Point Of Consumption Tax to 20 per cent. All future modelling is consistent with the current 15 per cent regime. However, the rate likely to be reviewed as part of any new Tabcorp deal with the government.
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In today's Friday feature,
@Grahame_Begg
talks to
@ms_peterpan
about training elite fillies and mares like his current star Magic Time.
“The trick to them? Just don’t rush them early. Give them time to find their feet and then see how they go."
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Thanks John, no intentions to go behind paywall in the next little while. So you’ll still get full access to all your favourite stuff.
Fantastic website, currently free membership, so subscribe have a look, nothing to lose, get out when start charging if don’t like.
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The Straight’s Friday review with
@streetruffian
.
- Mark Newnham on why he prefers Hong Kong to Sydney
- Racing Victoria CEO Andrew Jones on the challenges of dividing the pie of racing revenue.
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With five Group 1 victories in 11 weeks, Jamie Kah has confirmed herself, once again, among the very best jockeys in Australia. This week’s Run the Numbers dissects her incredible autumn.
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The NSW government has signed off on an Australian Turf Club plan to build a seven-story 4.5 star hotel at Randwick racecourse.
Full story:
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Today marks a month since we launched The Straight and the news cycle has given us every chance to show our capabilities. Here are five of the biggest stories we have covered since we started on November 29.
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Australia’s two biggest stables are banking an average of over $1 million a week in prize money with Chris Waller set to become the first trainer to surpass $50 million in a season this weekend.
Full story:
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It will be business as usual for the Stawell Gift’s bookmakers with organisers backing away from plans to outlaw on-course betting on one of Australia’s oldest sporting events.
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“Unfortunately, now with the way the taxation model is set up, old-school bookmaking is impossible in our middle tier which is very sad."
@TopSport_com_au
's Tristan Merlehan on the danger of being stuck in the middle of the bookmaking industry.
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Should the ATC’s proposal to close, redevelop, and sell off Rosehill materialise, it would raise a burning question about the future make-up of Sydney’s metropolitan tracks.
@streetruffian
looks at the options on the table.
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Chris Lawler has been a familiar face at Australian yearling sales for as long as anyone can remember.
@ms_peterpan
went behind the scenes with 'Doc' as the renowned judge of bloodstock sizes up the 2024 Magic Millions offerings.
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The auction of the first foal out of champion racemare Winx has matched the hype with the filly stunning the global thoroughbred industry in fetching a record-breaking $10 million.
@inglis_sales
@CoolmoreAus
@jstewartrr
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Gillon McLachlan will officially become Tabcorp chief executive and managing director on August 5. There will be a ‘to-do’ list a mile long, but a few key priorities at the top of that list, writes
@streetruffian
.
Full story:
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Champion trainer Chris Waller has led an extraordinary rebuke of the plans to develop and sell off Rosehill racecourse, calling out the leadership of ATC chairman Peter McGauran and Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys at a members' forum meeting.
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Update: Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys will be asked to provide evidence at both private and public hearings of the Select Committee inquiry into Rosehill.
Full Story:
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Racing NSW's CEO Peter V'landys insists the acquisition of racecourses around the state is a strategy aimed at securing the long-term future and viability of the racing industry.
#HorseRacing
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Retired jockey Jason Benbow has joined racing’s administrative ranks as the new chief executive of the Stony Creek Racing Club.
Full Story:
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Australian breeders looking to send mares boom young stallion Too Darn Hot have been forced to make alternative plans, with the presumptive champion first-season sire to remain in England and not travel to Australia for the upcoming spring.
Full Story:
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"My job involves two elements. One is growing the pie and two is dividing up the pie, and a lot of the angst is over dividing up the pie, but the real action is in growing the pie."
Interesting quote from RV CEO Andrew Jones from an interview to be published on The Straight.
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The active stallion career of Fastnet Rock has come to a close, with
@CoolmoreAus
confirming that the two-time champion sire has been retired.
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As the first foal of the champion racemare Winx paraded in front of the cameras at Riverside Stables on Thursday, not even bloodstock experts such as Inglis’ Sebastian Hutch would publicly put a potential sale figure on the Pierro filly.
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The newest resident trainer at the Angaston property formerly known as Lindsay Park, Aaron Bain, has come a long way from pinhooking chickens as a kid.
He is not intimidated by what those who came before him have achieved, writes
@Mattunchained
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The departure of another of the executives who was on the hitlist of TROA chairman Jonathan Munz moves Racing Victoria closer to looking exactly what the billionaire owners rep hoped it would be after February’s failed board spill, writes
@streetruffian
.
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4
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Imperatriz breaks the Australian record price for a mare, selling for $6.6 million at Magic Millions
@mmsnippets
National Broodmare Sale.
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The harness and greyhound racing industries are feeling the pain as the major post-pandemic decline in wagering bites, and those in the thoroughbred industry should be taking note, writes
@streetruffian
.
Full story:
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One last piece of Damien Oliver magic delivers astonishing finale in the west.
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The $2.1 miliion paid for Lot 454 by
@TeAkauRacing
is the highest-price ever for a yearling by a first-crop sire in Australia. The Wootton Bassett filly is out of Te Akau's champion racemare, Avantage, who they sold for $4.1 million to Coolmore in 2021.
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The short-term future of racing at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm is under a cloud with jockeys refusing to ride at the track until a resolution is found to horses shying at a new construction project alongside the track.
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Australian racing is set to play a key role in a global media rights agreement which will establish a 24-hour global broadcast and data platform.
Full story:
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Broadsiding’s win in the JJ Atkins on Saturday was the biggest margin in the race in 24 years and the fastest time in 20 years. This week’s Run The Numbers, sponsored by
@inglis_sales
, looks at just how rare a gem he really is.
Full Story:
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The Straight is grateful to all the advertisers who have supported us since we launched, including our newest advertisers
@BlueGumFarm
and
@widdenstud
.
Interested in advertising a leader in Australian thoroughbred racing media? Contact us:
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The most important moments of champion mare Winx’s life have all featured
@CoolmoreAus
foaling manager Paddy Sheehan.
That includes Monday's record-breaking $10 million sale of her filly by Pierro.
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