Why Racing Continues To Be In Trouble

Craig,

I have decided to delete my two posts as I think you are right to say that it is unfair to tarnish everyone with the same brush.

Having done that,I still don't detract my point.I haven't been in this game for 5 minutes!Denial,denial,denial.It's the classic mantra of the guilty.The game is rotten to the core.To say that it compares favourably in comparison to big business is not good enough.Racing in other jurisdictions is better policed,and as a result enjoys a far better perception from the general public.Unless we can do the same here racing will continue to perish.

Here is an example:

This is a local jockey club rule:

21.2 No JOCKEY shall bet on a RACE whether directly or indirectly, either personally
or through any other party, nor shall any PERSON or individual place a bet on
behalf of any JOCKEY on a RACE

How many jockeys tip punters for payment?Just about everyone that I know,despite the fact that it is expressly stipulated as being against the rules.Do you know of any?

Conversely,

Tips scandal

According to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Munce was arrested by the ICAC, an anti-corruption police in July 2006 with $HK250,000 stuffed into his jeans pockets along with a sheet of paper containing notations allegedly relating to wagers on horse races he had tipped. The charges against him related to actions by Munce while he was racing in Hong Kong which claimed he provided tips to local businessman Andy Lau (not the singer Andy Lau) between December 2005 and May 2006.
Sentenced to thirty months in prison, lawyers for Chris Munce have stated that their client will appeal the verdict and apply for bail pending the results of an appeal hearing.
On 1 September 2007, Munce returned to Australia to serve the remainder of his sentence. The Hong Kong and Australian federal and New South Wales state governments ruled that Munce be detained in minimum-security prison in Sydney.[1]
On 30 October 2008, Chris Munce walked free from Silverwater Jail after serving two years for his involvement in Hong Kong racing's tips-for-bets scandal.[2] [3]

The above is obviously an extreme example,but is indicative of the type of actions required to clean up the game and keep it clean.

I'm not going to ramble on and on.Anybody who has been in the game for any extended period of time knows the ins and outs of what goes on,but turning a blind eye is how things are dealt with here.Only when those attitudes change can racing thrive.

We have a generation of computer savvy kids who are all instant gratification freaks,but racing has no idea how to capture them.They have already been lost to poker or currency trading.They don't trust racing,and I don't blame them.Racing can't even keep their current customers happy,and the 'ignore the punter' attitude that prevails certainly isn't going to help save the game from destroying itself.

You are so well connected in Durban,ask the big knobs there what % of their turnover is local and what % is international.You'd be shocked!It is the international money that is shoring up the pools now.Local isn't lekker anymore.And when the generation of 60-somethings are gone there is no replacement generation because no one has bothered to get the next generations into the game.

You may call it utter crap,but unfortunately what I wrote is the truth.You may not be guilty of anything,but to insinuate that it is a tiny majority that transgress is absolute crap too.

Some time ago I posted a list of the rules that are not,and never have been enforced by our regulators.
Strong regulation has so many benefits:
a)belief that racing is policed
b)punters feel protected
c)if regulators are asking the right questions it reduces irresponsible speculation
d)It gives stables the opportunity to explain/defend speculation
e)It should raise the bar and make the whole industry more professional
What is happening in racing is not nearly as important as what the public believe is happening in racing!

agree 100%

excellent posts chaps and you both 100% correct.

Amen. You can now close the coffin.

I recall a previous posting state that jockeys are allowed to bet on their own mounts?

I think the ruling is they can as long as it is their own horse that they riding. Will make sure.

That rule was amended in 2007 already I think.Jockeys may not bet on their own mounts either anymore

21.2 No JOCKEY shall bet on a RACE whether directly or indirectly, either personally
or through any other party, nor shall any PERSON or individual place a bet on
behalf of any JOCKEY on a RACE, except as expressly provided for in RULE
21.3.
21.3 [Deleted]
(Amended 01/11/2007)
21.3.1 [deleted]
(Amended 01/11/2007)
21.3.2 [deleted]
(Amended 01/11/2007)
21.3.3 [deleted]
(Amended 01/11/2007)
21.4 No one other than the OWNER and/or TRAINER of the HORSE which a
JOCKEY rides in a RACE may offer or give that JOCKEY any money or other
benefit or incentive in relation to that RACE, provided that a RACING
OPERATOR may make a presentation to a JOCKEY, in the form of cash, trophy
or other prize for winning or being placed in a RACE.

That rule can never be policed

Would you reckon that racing is any more "corrupt" than Cricket or Soccer? the answer is quite simply no...anywhere that there is an opportunity to have a bet there will always be certain elements that will try underhanded ways of shifting the odds in their favor,however of the 3 mentioned there can be little doubt that the racing industry spends by far the most money in policing this scourge and trying to eradicate it....

I very much doubt that racing is more corrupt than other sports.In fact I am certain that it is not.

Unfortunately that is not the point.The general public perceives it to be more corrupt,and it is the failing of racing in turning around this perception that is the major problem.

the other sports are slow starters and have taken a while to reach the level of corruption that racing has owned for years - that is the reason why people frowned at me in the 80's when i said i enjoyed a punt on the races - now when i say this they ask me if racing still exists as they thought that horses only run twice a year - July and Met