What an average month or two it has been for harness racing and greyhound racing in Australia.
Harness racing took two body blows - firstly, through Sulkygate at Ballarat in December and more recently with the race-fixing scandal at Mildura. While some pundits suggested the Mildura mess was an isolated case which might not resonate too far, bad publicity has hampered harness racing in Australia for years, and is one of the reasons why punters have switched from the ''red hots'' to the puppies.
Until this week, perhaps.
I refuse to watch the footage from the Australian TV show Four Corners, which revealed small live animals were being used as bait on a lure to encourage greyhounds to chase the lure. Not because I refuse to believe it, but because I am squeamish with that sort of thing.
Regardless, reading reports and press releases from the Australian industry, there's no doubt it has been happening.
And it's disgusting.
I have a personal rule that I never use the word ''disgusting'' out of context - i.e. to describe a supermarket running out of potato chips or someone's child not getting to play half a game of rugby.
But this is truly abhorrent. What convinces these trainers to introduce blood and death into their training regime? One answer is money, of course, but surely at some point there's a little voice in the back of the trainer's head saying ''Gee, isn't this a bit off?''. Or are these scummy operators completely without any form of morals?
. . . of foot-shooting supremacy
So what's next for greyhound racing - not only in Australia, but in New Zealand? The possibility of suspending or shutting down the industry in Australia is being bandied about. That would give the industry's regulators the chance to deal to the rogue trainers, and find new trainers for the greyhounds. But that all seems a bit too late to me - and besides, they have allowed these acts to go on for years, so what trust can we have in those stewards and the greyhound industry leaders to get it right this time?New Zealand authorities have been quick to point out they completed more than 100 random checks of training properties last year and have found no evidence. These checks need to be maintained and ramped up if budgets allow.
Thoroughbred racing weathered the storm of the two horse deaths after the Melbourne Cup but Australian harness racing and greyhound racing require strong leadership - not whitewashing experts - to get through this. Let's see if that eventuates.
Lazy Fiver
I underestimated the class of Rising Romance last Saturday, as Sakhee's Soldier had to settle for third. I'm looking to Kasundi to get her form back on track in race 4 at Riccarton today.matt.smith@odt.co.nz
