Trainers and Drivers

[Showgrounds]

Yes Trevor the whole LA thing seems strange.

Harness.org are now reporting that he had a "Minor Bleed" and will go to the US to race or retire. So they are still playing the incident down. No stewards report yet so we don't have the official word. Obviously you have got the info from elsewhere and I have no reason not to believe you.

Seems HRV just wanted the publicity that LA generates and didn't put his welfare first as you pointed out .
Sad end to a great career.

HRV's own media unit is the source of my information. https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...up-looks-over/
And now they are considering sending the horse to North America so it can be loaded up on Lasix. Talk about squeezing out the last drop of hope!
https://www.harness.org.au/media-roo...?news_id=54092

And here is another question I would like HRV to explain. Why does Sirletic cop the mandatory 3 month ban for bleeding yet Lochinvar Art is stood down for only 28 days? I was prepared to cut some slack for Michael Howard's story being incorrect with the "grade 4 pulmonary hemorrhage" statement but the comments by the horse's owner, as quoted to Adam Hamilton, pretty much confirm my original comments.

Love of horses or love of money? If he were mine I would realise it is the end of the road. A life at stud in Australia, even for a small handful of mares a year, is far better for the horse than risking a one-way road trip to Mexico.

[Messenger]

Stewards Report is up

Leigh Sutton, driver of Lochinvar Art ($2.00 fav), explained that he did not commence to apply pressure to the leader Bondi Lockdown until passing the 1000m and added that he felt passing the 600m that Bondi Lockdown had commenced to be placed under pressure and as Lochinvar Art was travelling strongly he allowed the horse to progress forward. Post-race veterinarian and endoscopy examination of Lochinvar Art revealed the horse to be displaying Grade 4 EIPH. In accordance with HRV Policy, Lochinvar Art will be stood down from racing for a period of 28 days, until a veterinary clearance is received and Lochinvar Art trialling to the satisfaction of Stewards.

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/st...l/?mc=MX170922

[Theoldfox]

I'm always amazed by Harness based media articles that portray cheats that were disqualified or suspended and are returning (or returned) as knockabout good guys that are poor souls that were forced out.
It's a hard truth, but this is why the industry has hit the skids. This image of cheats and scoundrels of the "red hots" is further perpetuated. An unsavoury image.
Mr Moran cheated. He cheated you, he cheated me and he cheated every other punter. For this he was disqualified. If he hadn't cheated he would have still been training the horse. It's simple. Please don't cast him as the victim.
Perhaps the media will one day learn, and stop trying to portray Glenn Douglas as a larrikin guy too.

https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/the...aussie-career/

Stewards Report is up

Leigh Sutton, driver of Lochinvar Art ($2.00 fav), explained that he did not commence to apply pressure to the leader Bondi Lockdown until passing the 1000m and added that he felt passing the 600m that Bondi Lockdown had commenced to be placed under pressure and as Lochinvar Art was travelling strongly he allowed the horse to progress forward. Post-race veterinarian and endoscopy examination of Lochinvar Art revealed the horse to be displaying Grade 4 EIPH. In accordance with HRV Policy, Lochinvar Art will be stood down from racing for a period of 28 days, until a veterinary clearance is received and Lochinvar Art trialling to the satisfaction of Stewards.

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/st...l/?mc=MX170922

[Showgrounds]

Well Old Fox, you are not quite correct. Moran didn't cheat, he was outed for actions he took against a former partner. Those actions took place in her workplace. Had Worksafe Victoria become involved I am certain he would have copped more than a seven month suspension that allowed him to master puppetry while others trained his horses.

There is a fair chance he might be eating porridge thrice daily had the law investigated the incident. Lucky him, he had HRV prosecuting his charges.

What you say about the compliant, weak-kneed, grovelling harness racing media is true. As mentioned previously, the fact none of them questioned the "minor bleed" claims with LA will never rate as quality journalism. Gee, where is the next generations of Richard Trembaths and Bob Cainsc coming from?

The reality is freedom of speech is outlawed by HRA and state controlling bodies. While rules are in place to prevent licensees and owners from stating the bleeding obvious the "accredited" media seem to play to that rule book.

Recently, my insomniac self watched a great series of documentaries on late night pay TV called The Prohibition. Al Capone, now widely acknowledged as one of the shonkiest gangsters of the era, was given celebrity status by the press of the day (no "media" back then). They were even more compliant then than harness racing media are today. Villains are good guys in their view. Of course, when the CEO of a state controlling body relicences a 13-time disqualified offender on grounds that "everybody deserves a second chance you realise why the sport is in a death spiral.

[aussiebreno]

Well Old Fox, you are not quite correct. Moran didn't cheat, he was outed for actions he took against a former partner. Those actions took place in her workplace. Had Worksafe Victoria become involved I am certain he would have copped more than a seven month suspension that allowed him to master puppetry while others trained his horses.

There is a fair chance he might be eating porridge thrice daily had the law investigated the incident. Lucky him, he had HRV prosecuting his charges.

What you say about the compliant, weak-kneed, grovelling harness racing media is true. As mentioned previously, the fact none of them questioned the "minor bleed" claims with LA will never rate as quality journalism. Gee, where is the next generations of Richard Trembaths and Bob Cainsc coming from?

The reality is freedom of speech is outlawed by HRA and state controlling bodies. While rules are in place to prevent licensees and owners from stating the bleeding obvious the "accredited" media seem to play to that rule book.

Recently, my insomniac self watched a great series of documentaries on late night pay TV called The Prohibition. Al Capone, now widely acknowledged as one of the shonkiest gangsters of the era, was given celebrity status by the press of the day (no "media" back then). They were even more compliant then than harness racing media are today. Villains are good guys in their view. Of course, when the CEO of a state controlling body relicences a 13-time disqualified offender on grounds that "everybody deserves a second chance you realise why the sport is in a death spiral.

Maybe Old Fox is referring to the bet placed on another runner when he was driving in the race where there was a 6 month suspension imposed at the same time as the other incident.

[Theoldfox]

Indeed, I didn't even know there was also domestic violence factors added to the charges! I thought it was for the betting charges..and behaviours that could stem from that. The fact that there was domestic violence only makes the washing of his character for media articles even more deplorable in my view. Sad state of affairs when these are the hero trainer/drivers of the sport.

Until the media drags culprits over the coals and their careers are affected in the long term, the deterrence level will not be high enough....and the public will view us as backward fools.

Maybe Old Fox is referring to the bet placed on another runner when he was driving in the race where there was a 6 month suspension imposed at the same time as the other incident.

[Showgrounds]

True, I overlooked the betting charges because the other long-standing matter took years to be dealt with. Enough time for the horse to reach champion status and for the trainer's charges to be treated like minor indiscretions.

There was no domestic violence, just tipped his ex out of the cart and let the horses she was leading escape.

[Messenger]

I was going to say that there are a lot of ordinary characters in the racing game but on reflection, probably no more than in any other industry.
In other industries, if you do something very wrong you are probably not going to be welcome in the industry any longer.
It is also probably true that some will get away with it because in many cases (unlike sportspeople and entertainers) the offence may not receive any publicity.

But just as being in the public eye thanks to the media can be damming for racing people, it can also be a godsend (as Theoldfox suggests) for the media see their role as promoting the industry/portraying the positives - not reporting facts.
This is because the media see themselves as part of the industry team - and pretty much adhere to the belief that you don't air your dirty laundry in public

I know Aussiebreno hates it every time I mention PeterProfit but the only reason PP has an audience is that virtually nobody in the mainstream media is prepared to make waves.
PP up on the beach at Port Douglas may like waves a bit too much but it is his declared mission statement 'Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying'

The other thing that strikes me about our industry personalites is - how many of them are media performers
Compare it to AFL, Patrick Cripps told us last night that he sort out help in order to be comfortable speaking to the media, look at how many AFL players perform so very well in media roles (yes, I know some are overrated too)

I don't really follow the gallops other than springtime but it seems to me that they always have a few that are good performers.
I don't watch/listen to Burning Questions - not just because of JB but because I am discerning when it comes to allocating my time - especially because hearing is not that easy for me SO I don't know as well as some of you, who we should be getting in front of the camera to promote our industry. Who we should be 'training up' - I know some do media training

I am trying to think of who I have seen on TrotsVision who seem comfortable and personable - Kate Gath, Greg Sugars - people that NON rusted ons are going to listen to.
ps And hosts who are good at sharing/not dominating the mic

I know I have drifted off track a little - but only a little, as I am concentrating on Theoldfox's point about how the public see us

[Messenger]

US Drivers Premiership
They are only 262 days into the year
and yet the leader has had 2924 drives
Not that he could have driven every day
but that is an average of over 11 drives a day!

[gutwagon]

Trevor, my horse had her first bleed earlier this year (level 3) and received a 28 day ban. That seems to be the usual for a first bleed. The horse you refer to may have bled before.