RVL and the AJRA do it again! The Mosstrooper Awards Part 1.
Big news everybody….the Mosstrooper Awards have been decided and presented …although you’d never learn it from RVL’s website – or almost anywhere else. What’s wrong fellas? Not ashamed of jumps racing, are we?
Buried in The Age this week was news that their racing journalist Michael Lynch has won the media prize at the Australian Jumps Racing Association’s Mosstrooper Awards. We wrote recently about these awards – in fact if you Google ‘Mosstrooper Awards’ you’ll come up with notice of the pending Awards event on 25th September plus two links to Thrillsnspills. Apparently the racing industry doesn’t even want to talk about it….not that we blame them! But we want to talk about them!
In that piece we wrote, “MRC Jumping Media Story of the Year Award: Doesn’t matter – just another award to be shared around so that racing journalists keep writing nice things about jumps racing. We suspect that Patrick Smith won’t be considered.”
Guess what? Patrick Smith didn’t win – again – (actually in 2010 his pro-jumps colleague Brendan Cormick won this award…..more about him later). Anyway, let’s take a look at one of the Lynch offerings:
“Go jump: keep the horses on course.” The Age May 4th 2011.
Fergus McIver crashes at Sandown…and dies. We admit that he was well cared for whilst alive, and yes, his squillionaire owner probably spent more than $30,000 on him (real economic benefits)……however he didn’t deserve to suffer like this. Foaled in Ireland on 10th February 2006, he wasn’t even six years old. Bad Luck Fergus, but you went spectacularly!
Our Chateau escaped fatal injuries in this fall near the end of the season. Just two days earlier he’d chased home champion Black and Bent in the Houlahan Hurdle at Sandown. His jumps career had started on 6th July when he ran second. A fortnight later he won a six-horse hurdle at Pakenham, beating the likes of Echelon, Downes and Gothic Crown. That apparently fitted him to run against Black and Bent in a $100,000 hurdle. He meritoriously finished second and then two days later was sent out in this $15,000 hurdle at Pakenham. Stewards noted: “When making a number of the obstacles throughout the race Our Chateau shifted out. Our Chateau failed to make the final the obstacle cleanly and fell. A subsequent veterinary examination of Our Chateau (NZ) revealed the gelding to be moderately lame in the near hind leg.” Anyway, not to be daunted, the horse was sent out again 25 days later and finished 4th in a pissy $15,000 event….even finishing adrift of Jockey Jack, which after three jumps races has registered one third placing. Could it be that he had a sore neck?
The ‘wastage’: an ignominious final act – hidden behind a screen: Oakbank 2011. Java Star, winner of his first jumps race at Hamilton on April 17th – dead six days later, after falling at the final jump at Oakbank. He was whipped just prior to the jump. Apparently we should be prepared to accept such ‘wastage’. Would the same apply for his jockey?
Above, Morsonique: The Grand National Steeplechase winner in 2010 fell twice during the 2011 season. In his 102nd race (that’s a lot Michael – how many of those Irish horses get to 102 starts?) – he crashed at Sandown, and did so again at Warrnambool nine weeks later. Luckily he escaped death, however he didn’t win a single race in the season. Yes, we think this is wrong. Michael Lynch thinks it acceptable. His readers seem to agree with us, and we suspect that there are not many working at The Age who will agree with him either.
It seems we’re not the only people that think that the sport which excites Michael, Rodney and Naff Naff stinks! As the former SAJC executive Steven Ploubidis said recently:
“….. banning the sport would be popular among most trainers in the state, who felt flats racing was subsidising the jumps competitors, most of whom came from interstate.
“The argument is weak. Flat racing would not miss jumps racing. It’s not popular with the public or the punter,” Mr Ploubidis said.
Source: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/jumps-racing-bad-for-industry/story-e6frea6u-1226148467510
“Not popular with the public”, huh? Well how about that!
thrillsnspills 