http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/11/03/foreign-trainers-trying-to-run-our-cup-as-well-as-win-it/ now with extra source Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:34:24 +1100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/11/03/foreign-trainers-trying-to-run-our-cup-as-well-as-win-it/#comment-1757 David Stephens Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-1757 Are there no llimits to what the racing industry will do? According to Bruce McAvaney yesterday: "Master O'Reilly's come back for a second crack!" Are there no llimits to what the racing industry will do? According to Bruce McAvaney yesterday: “Master O’Reilly’s come back for a second crack!”

]]> http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/11/03/foreign-trainers-trying-to-run-our-cup-as-well-as-win-it/#comment-1758 Chris Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-1758 In the face of all the international ‘raiders’ I’m not surprised at the patriotic reaction to any subtle effort to dictate the state of the Flemington track. But Jeff Wall forgets that it’s not just the owners and trainers of overseas horses who are culprits here. It wasn’t long ago that the owner of Makybe Diva let it be known to all and sundry that the surface would have to be “good to dead” if he was going to bother letting her out to win her third cup in a row. If it was an Australian horse that preferred a wet track in 2008, would anyone be making such a fuss? Probably not. In any case it’s just a bit of gamesmanship and I’m sure the VRC will play a straight bat to it all. In the face of all the international ‘raiders’ I’m not surprised at the patriotic reaction to any subtle effort to dictate the state of the Flemington track. But Jeff Wall forgets that it’s not just the owners and trainers of overseas horses who are culprits here. It wasn’t long ago that the owner of Makybe Diva let it be known to all and sundry that the surface would have to be “good to dead” if he was going to bother letting her out to win her third cup in a row. If it was an Australian horse that preferred a wet track in 2008, would anyone be making such a fuss? Probably not. In any case it’s just a bit of gamesmanship and I’m sure the VRC will play a straight bat to it all.

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