SPRING RACING NEWS BRIEFS
Thursday, 14 November 2013: Lucky Nine; Aeronautical; Perth Scratchings; Puissance De Lune; Damien Oliver; Industry Stats; George Souris; Victorian Betting Figures
Lucky Nine
Hong Kong star Lucky Nine, lame after his failure in the Sprint Classic at Flemington last Saturday, has arrived home from the Melbourne carnival with hopes still alive that he will contest the International Sprint at Sha Tin on December 8.
Trainer Caspar Fownes said he will continue to monitor Lucky Nine's condition but is likely to push ahead with his preparation for the HK Sprint.
Lucky Nine was sore in his off-hind quarter the day after his uncharacteristic sixth in the G1 Sprint Classic.
The six-year-old was back in Hong Kong under quarantine on Tuesday night and was given a thorough inspection by Hong Kong Jockey Club vets who found no signs of any soreness.
Fownes said he will give Lucky Nine light work while in the quarantine section for the next two weeks.
"We will start cantering in the next few days and see how he is, and if we are happy with him we will go forward to the race in December," Fownes said.
* THE pressure is on trainer Lionel Cohen to get Aeronautical an invite the Hong Kong Sprint after his sprinter missed a barrier trial at Rosehil on Tuesday.
Aeronautical’s trial was washed out by the weather but Cohen hopes the G1 Newmarket placegetter can impress the HKJC enough when he trials at Randwick on Monday.
* ANTHONY Cummings has decided not to proceed with Perth trips for Fontelina and Strike The Stars despite their strong form.
Fontelina is going for a spell but Strike The Stars will stay in work with the G2 Villiers Stakes at Randwick in December as his summer target.
Also heading to the paddock at the expense of a Perth trip is G1 winner Bel Sprinter. He wil be back in the autumn when his targets will be the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield and The Galaxy in Sydney.
Snizterland is another to be turned out after her brief cameo at Flemington while Brisbane star Better Than Ready is staying home to be set for a some big sumner races instead of a rushed trip to Perth for next week’s Winterbottom Stakes.
* PUISSANCE De Lune, arguably the biggest disappointment of the spring, underwent surgery on an injured tendon this week.
The big grey will require a long spell before he can start a build up to another campaign in 2014.
WA born and bred Damien Oliver will return to his hometown of Perth for the Super Saturday meeting on November 23.
Oliver has been booked to ride the Sam Pritchard-Gordon-trained Mutual Trust in the G1 Railway Stakes.
* HERE are some figures for all in racing to mull over!
The new edition of the Australian racing Board’s Racing Fact Book shows that Australia has 389 race clubs, 367 racetracks, 19,626 races, 989 jockeys, 3891 trainers and 95,971 owners in an industry that employees over 200,000 people.
* CORPORATE bookmakers and Betfair now command more than 30 percent of the turnover invested on Victorian racing from punters around Australia.
Racing Victoria has reported that the corporates increased their market share by 16 percent in the last 12 months, accounting for $1.59 billion of the national turnover on Victorian racing and coming at the expense of betting with interstate TAB and on course bookmakers.
The Victorian TAB held its market share with the total turnover on Victorian racing reach $4.975 billion with more than a quarter invested on the 23 meetings that make up the spring carnival.
Mobile and internet betting accounted for 44 per cent of betting on Victorian racing, totalling $2.2 billion, a rise of 25 percent, although 60 per cent of TAB wagering is done through retail outlets.
Racing Victoria expects to collect product fees of $85 million from wagering operators betting on Victorian racing in 2013-14.
RV is set to release its Strategic Plan for the next three years where wagering trends will underpin future activities and objectives.