Weir Racing Personality

Darren Weir could be excused for missing the Victorian Racing Media Association’s racing’s personality award, for the previous season, conducted at the Emerald Hotel in South Melbourne

It was a case of business before pleasure; he had a prior engagement at Hamilton where he led in four winners, half the program, while stable rider, Dean Yendall, was aboard three of the winners.

Airways Need To Lift Their Game

Surely if airlines are serious about transporting racehorses from state to state, they need to provide a much better service than they are offering at present.

In the case of The Cleaner, it was ridiculous having the horse waiting in a float for three hours, and on top of that, a five hour flight to Perth for the Railway Stakes to be run on Saturday.

If there was going to be delay a phone call is not all that difficult, the horse could have remained back at the stable instead of getting agitated in a float with little room to move.

The Cleaner

Commanding Jewel Retired

Commanding Jewel has been retired and will ultimately go to stud, but not this season, as it is getting too late and her owner, Greg Perry, wants to give the mare every chance when she is mated.

She was a $205,000 yearling out of the Magic Millions Sales, purchased by leading syndicator, Brad Spicer; she won five of her 13 starts.

Trained by Leon Corstens, he nursed her through several nagging injuries; as a result she was sparingly raced.

Commanding Jewel is a three quarter sister to Atlantic Jewel, from Regard, by Zabeel, her only two foals to race.

Commanding Jewel

Sleep Walking Tom

Tom Queally, the regular rider of Frankel during his unbeaten sequence of 14 wins, has had his driver’s licence cancelled for 22 months, charged with drink driving.

He was more than twice over the legal limit behind the wheel of his B MW, however, there seems to be some confusion between sleep walking and drink driving.

His lawyer claimed his client was morally totally innocent, the jockey was asleep driving at the time, claiming the law needed to be changed.

Furthermore, the lawyer said,” Queally was forced to admit to the charge of drink driving, because the law had not caught up with medical science in recognising sleepwalking as a legal defence for drink driving. “

At 5.40 am an officer saw the offender with the car’s headlights on and the engine still running.  

Lee Freedman Returns To Training

Lee Freedman is ready to take on training again; he intends to form a partnership with his   brother Anthony, at Flemington.

He said, “I have missed the lifestyle and have more to offer and I am ready to settle down to some unfinished business.”

Freedman was the big occasion trainer, not many of the rich plums of the turf escaped him, five Melbourne Cups, four Caulfield Cups, two Cox Plates, four Golden Slippers, plus more than a 100 Group 1 races.