In what other industry in Australia would fraudulent activities be tolerated to the extent that they are allowed in the racing industry.
e.g.
According to the form guide for yesterday's races at Cranbourne, M Connick was listed to ride Sir Galaway at 53.5kg.
M Connick was listed as a 2kg. claiming apprentice.
According to the results in today's newspaper,M Connick rode Sir Galaway at 54kg.In other words, M Connick rode this horse carrying 2.5kg. more weight than advertised.(I believe similar circumstances exist with other claiming apprentices.)
If this does not constitute fraudulent activity, then I don't know what does.
Surely in this day and age, it would not be too much to ask to have jockeys' riding weights published in the form guide.
Failure to come within 1/2 kg. of the published weight should result in the horse being scratched.
Incidentally,this circumstance in relation to this horse was probably the reason it blew alarmingly in the betting but then proceeded to lead all the way in a leg of the Quaddie fuelling a very lucrative dividend of around $74000-00
This horse's form prior to this event read 1 win from 27 starts, beaten 8, 10 and 12lengths at it's previous 3 starts.
I eagerly await the steward's report on this meeting because having the interests of punters at heart, surely some questions will be asked.

Hi all,

Perhaps it time to set up a punters' association' after all I think we all know who contriutes the most to the racing industry.All the other prominent groups are represented by a recognised group to make sure they don' cop the ********ty end of the stick.Our only watchdog seems to be inept government agencies and the publicly owned companies who have one object in mind.In what other industry would you see the likes of what we have to put up with?
It's definiltly time we as a group stand up to the charlatans in this industry!
Admittedly I don't know anything about setting up an organisation like this.
If you all contribute to this we should be able to work out an agenda to tackle the issues that need tackling.
I'm prepared to give up my time to see this happen,anyone else who can contribute would be most welcome.
cheers, strawb.

G'day fellas,

Yes, it is a problem and maybe we punters should stand up and be counted. Imagele, I hope that I am not stating the bleeding obvious but Victorian Stewards Reports can be accessed at:
http://www.ozracing.net.au/cgi-bin/...List.cgi?code=S
Details of that race have not yet been posted. Hope this may be of some assistance.

Cheers.

Thanks for your reply xanadu.
How do we stand up and be counted?
One of my points in relaton to this matter is this:
If a horse wins a race and weighs in heavy it is disqualified.
If I back a horse and it loses carrying more weight than advertised, do I get my money back. Not on your sweet nelly.
In other words, the interests of owners are well catered for whilst the punter is treated as nothing more than an ignorant milking cow.
If weights are not important, why do the handicappers bother messing around moving 1/2kg here, 1/2kg. there?
The problem with racing is that it is administered and controlled by ordinary people with no police powers.
Maybe it's time we had an independent body similar to the A. F. L. tribunal to review videos of all meetings and conduct enquiries.
Imagine the uproar if a marble was left out of the barrel in a tattslotto draw.
Why should gambling on horses be treated with any less importance?

OOOPS!
Not that anyone seems much interested, but I meant to say, "if a horse wins a race and the jockey weighs in LIGHT, it is disqualified".

[ This Message was edited by: Imagele on 2003-06-01 23:25 ]