Blinkers On is a weekly column covering the biggest issues of the spring racing carnival.
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On → cover → carnival
Racing has a gambling problem.
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Racing → have → problem
The country’s rank-and-file punters are being ripped off.
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punters → rip → ?
For the umpteenth time across the weekend, punters who laid a winning bet with the TAB tote were sold short.
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who → lay → tote
The much-touted World Pool, a Hong Kong-based betting system that is merged with Australia’s tote, the TAB, for big races and on big race days as part of an ongoing agreement.
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that → tout → agreement
They accounted for seven races at Caulfield and 10 at Rosehill.
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They → account → Rosehill
The proof is in the dividends: winning sprinter Point Barrow paid $2.60 with the World Pool TAB, while returning $3.20 with the bookies.
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Barrow → win → bookies
Another Caulfield winner, Land Legend, was rated a 70-1 chance by the bookies, but returned $44 on the World Pool Tab – that’s a big difference for someone having a $1 bet.
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that → rat → bet
Social media lit up again on Saturday night about the issue and has been an ongoing lament for punters heading towards Melbourne Cup week.
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media → light → week
Outspoken professional punter John Walters called it a “literal brutality for all punters” because the World Pool continues to retain a higher percentage of the investment – meaning a smaller return for punters.
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Pool → call → punters
He said the World Pool sits at 123 per cent.
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Pool → say → cent
The fixed odds market (betting with bookies) sits at 115 per cent.
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market → fix → cent
“The market percentage is higher, so, on average, all horses will be poor value in comparison long term,” Walters explained on X. “Doesn’t matter what you back.”
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you → explain → what
The World Pool concept was introduced as an alternative to fixed-odds betting, and to attract an international audience into the Australian market and create bigger pools of money.
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concept → introduce → money
But it is hard to see it instilling any confidence.
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it → see → confidence
Melham missing from Caulfield
The Melbourne Racing Club boosted Caulfield Cup prizemoney by $1 million this year – from $5 million to $6 million – to celebrate their 150th anniversary, but maybe that cash would have been better spent somewhere else.
Like on a Jamie Melham appearance fee.
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cash → miss → fee
The history-making hoop has left a massive hole in this year’s marketing campaign because she won’t be in Melbourne this Saturday to defend her crown.
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she → make → crown
For those living under a rock, Melham became the first female jockey to win the Caulfield Cup last year on stayer Half Yours.
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Melham → live → Yours
She is the biggest star in the sport and transcends racing because she followed up little more than two weeks later to do the Cups double – also the first woman to have achieved this feat.
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she → transcend → feat
But the 20-time group 1 winning star has opted to head to Sydney this Saturday to ride in the Everest, giving up the title defence on Half Yours to Mark Zahra.
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star → win → Zahra
Which makes the MRC’s widespread promotional posters for their 150th Cup somewhat obsolete – they feature Melham in her Half Yours silk, kissing the trophy.
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they → make → trophy
When asked over the weekend about her decision, Melham told Seven she was driven by the desire to win the Everest – a group 1 trophy that is yet to sit in her ever-expanding cabinet.
And who could blame her, considering the riches on offer in the $20 million mega sprint race – the brain child of the now departed NSW racing supremo Peter V’Landys, who has decided to channel all his powers into the NRL?
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who → ask → NRL
But maybe a $1 million appearance fee could have persuaded Melham otherwise.
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fee → persuade → Melham
It is a strategy used in plenty of other sports.
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It → use → sports
For the record, Melham will have her work cut out to win this year’s Everest on Bjorn Baker three-year-old Blue Door.
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work → have → Door
They will have to beat the world’s best horse, Ka Ying Rising.
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They → have → horse
Why the Cox Plate is becoming an A-reserve event
Speaking of the need for appearance money, the Cox Plate is another event fading further into Sydney’s growing spring shadow.
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Plate → become → shadow
This year’s $6 million Cox Plate, to be run at Flemington for the first time while Moonee Valley undergoes renovations, will be run and won without at least three of the country’s best horses.
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Valley → run → horses
Brilliant mare Autumn Glow and four-time group 1 winner Ceolwulf will instead take part in this Saturday’s group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1609m) at Randwick, while emerging superstar Sheza Alibi is being lured north by the salivating $10 million purse for the group 1 Golden Eagle (1500m) on Saturday, October 31.
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Alibi → take → Saturday
Imagine an Olympic final missing three of its best?
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final → imagine → best
It becomes the Commonwealth Games.
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It → become → ?
Instead, we are preparing for an A-reserve event, and, for racing purists, it is a hard pill to swallow.
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it → prepare → purists
Can you imagine a universe in which Winx did not win four consecutive Cox Plates?
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Winx → imagine → Plates
Well, you are living in it.
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you → live → it
Earlier this year, the Moonee Valley committee weighed up financial incentives to lure international superstar Calandagan down under.
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committee → weigh → Calandagan
Who knows, decorated trainer Peter Moody has never won a Cox Plate – it might be the only incentive he needs.
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he → know → Plate
History repeating?
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History → repeat → ?
While on the subject of Melbourne Racing Club, which governs Caulfield Racecourse, casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that its recent history is being tweaked, if not rewritten.
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history → govern → Racecourse
The club’s board and leadership – which put on a cracking Caulfield Guineas day, it has to be said – are continually spouting their achievements from across the past 12 months.
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it → put → months
A quick flick through the club’s annual report shows their boasting to include: saving Sandown Racecourse from development, introducing cheap food and drinks, which includes $8.50 schooners of beer, scrapping plans to spend a motza on a new grandstand and rescuing the mounting yard.
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which → show → yard
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
