Things to know today
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Racing Victoria stewards closed their inquiry into the Caulfield Cup fall on Tuesday without finding any rider at fault, reporting that they could not attribute the incident to the careless actions of any one particular rider. Five jockeys gave evidence. Stewards found that contact between Kings Valley and Green Spaces about 300 metres from home left Green Spaces unbalanced, that Green Spaces then shifted in and made further contact, and that Half Yours was squeezed and fell, bringing down Ohope Wins behind him. No charges were laid. Ohope Wins was euthanased on course. Half Yours has superficial cuts and will be spelled, co-trainer Tony McEvoy said. Jye McNeil was cleared of injury and was expected to ride at Geelong on Wednesday, and Mark Zahra was due to see his doctors on Tuesday. The death has been referred to Racing Victoria’s Veterinary Services Department as a matter of standard practice, and that review has not concluded (ABC News, The Straight) |
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Racing and Sports owner RAS Technology has agreed to a $49.8 million all-cash takeover by the Press Association, the British wire service, at $1.04 a share, a 93 per cent premium to the 54 cent close on 16 October. The board recommended it unanimously, subject to an independent expert finding it in shareholders’ best interests and no superior proposal emerging, and co-founders Gary Crispe and Robert Vilkaitis, who control about 34 per cent, have confirmed in writing that they will support it on the same terms. Chair Andrew Twaits said the price recognises the value of the data, technology and media assets the company has built since 1999. A court-convened shareholder meeting is expected in late January, with implementation targeted for February. The buyer intends to combine the Canberra-based business with Podium, its existing racing and sports data arm (The Straight, Small Caps) |
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Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie has recommended a national regulator for online gambling, in findings handed down on Tuesday after an inquest into the death of a 22-year-old Werribee man whose online betting the coroner found was the direct and paramount causative factor. Lawrie made nine recommendations to the federal Ministers for Communications and for Social Services, among them a national betting data vault, real-time monitoring of a customer’s accounts across operators, a ban on inducements for young customers, deposit and loss limits applying across all of a young customer’s accounts, a requirement that operators display a customer’s net position over the life of an account, and consideration of further restrictions on gambling advertising up to a full prohibition. He found that operator monitoring is fundamentally limited because each bookmaker sees only its own accounts. Public bodies that receive coronial recommendations must respond in writing within three months. Anyone in Australia who needs support can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (The Straight) |
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Monovale’s Asturia goes to the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton next month after taking the Group 2 Soliloquy Stakes over 1400 metres at Ellerslie on Saturday, two wins from three starts for Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson with a second in the Group 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas in between. The Almanzor filly was bred by Joe and Max Smithies under the Monovale Holdings banner and is out of the Zabeel mare Kay’s Legacy, a daughter of the Listed Newmarket Handicap winner Kay’s Awake. Max Smithies said his father bought Kay’s Awake and bred from her for a number of years, that the farm is a shareholder in Almanzor and has always been a big believer in him, and that he and his brother sit down and hash out the matings between them (Breednet, LOVERACING.NZ) |
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Donovan Cooper is back on Hello Hayley at Ascot Park on Thursday, the Canterbury apprentice reunited with the mare who won the Listed Southland Guineas and the Listed Dunedin Guineas for Sophie Price last season. Cooper returned from shoulder surgery and longer out than he expected by winning on Grove Street for the Pitmans at Ashburton on Sunday, and Price rang to offer the ride back after Jasmine Fawcett rode Hello Hayley to win on her return at Ashburton earlier this month. Cooper said it had been a long road and he was grateful to come back with a winner on his first day, that she was his breakout horse of the year, and that he would go into the race as though she were the best horse in it (LOVERACING.NZ) |
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Zac Purton has the ride on Autumn Boy in the Group 1 Golden Eagle at Royal Randwick, Chris Waller confirming the booking on Tuesday after James McDonald committed to Melbourne for Victoria Derby day. Waller had been weighing the Golden Eagle against the Cox Plate for the four-year-old, who has two Group 1 wins to his name (The Straight) |
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Gooree Park Stud has its first foals by Yes Yes Yes on the ground at Mudgee, the 2019 Everest winner having moved to the New South Wales farm last spring. They are a colt out of Angel Face, a half-brother to the Group 3 winner Cleo Cat, colts out of Hidden Smile and Camelle, and a filly out of High Heaven. Yes Yes Yes set the Randwick course record over 1200 metres and has 24 winners this season, level with Alabama Express, Trapeze Artist and Flying Artie, and stands at $16,500 (Breednet) |
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Point of Law won the $500,000 Group 3 Geelong Cup over 2400 metres on Wednesday, giving Ciaron Maher his first win in the race and a ballot exemption into the Lexus Melbourne Cup at Flemington on 3 November. Ethan Brown rode him, on only his fifth start and his first in Australia, to beat Joseph O’Brien’s Small Fry by half a length, with Omni Man, also trained by O’Brien, third. The winning time was 2:27.97 on a Good 4 track. The Frankel colt was bred by King Charles III and raced in the Royal colours with John and Thady Gosden, winning the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy over 2600 metres at Newmarket in July, before a private sale to Ciaron Maher Racing. He has been allotted 51 kilograms for the Melbourne Cup. Maher said it was great to win it with such a progressive horse (Breednet, Victoria Racing Club) |
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