RACING'S regulator now has a five-person board. Much needs to be done, and it would seem influential race player John Messara will be anointed as the Racing NSW chairman.
Apparently Messara was first selected to the board, receiving six of a possible nine votes from a selection panel representative of the racing industry.
Fellow inductees Tim Hughes and Kim Harding, the first woman to sit on the ruling body, join the Arrowfield Stud principal on the board along with Joseph Crepaldi and Phillip Esplin, who was on the old nine-member board.
So much to do - race fields legislation, race programming, the debacle known as the AJC, a government-sanctioned review of wagering in NSW, broadcasting rights, a national approach to racing - so where does the new board start?
Then you have the financial deal between the three codes of racing known as the inter-code agreement. It is up for review. The same goes for the intra-code agreement, the financial model for metrop, provincial and country race clubs.
And what about rationalisation? Messara is on record as saying serious thought must be given to selling Canterbury racecourse. Warwick Farm must also be looked into. Supposedly it is all about utilising racing's assets to the best financial advantage.
Bring on the debate, but keep it short and sweet. Participants should have their say, and then leave it to Messara's mob to get the job done.
The new board also had better make a beeline for Alan Cameron's office. The former chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has been charged with conducting the wagering review. Housed within is racing's integrity, for without it punters aren't going to punt.
The mail is stewards from the three codes of racing will be united to form a super-snooper group. Can you imagine Ray Murrihy, top law enforcer at the thoroughbreds, fronting up at the pacers on Friday, the doggies at Wenty on Saturday evening? It's ridiculous.
The rules governing the three codes are all different, but Murrihy and his like could get a handle on that. But what about the form of the horses, the dogs, those in charge of the animals and those who ride and drive? Keeping the players on a righteous path is what it is about, and a super stewards panel won't work.
The board also has to decide what to do with the expected bounty from the race fields legislation. Bookies and TABs will pay 1.5 per cent of turnover wagered on NSW racing to the ruling body. Maybe the rulers can help out the AJC and every other race club as well.
Why not scrap track fees for working a horse on training circuits? Track fees gathered from around the state tally $4m annually, but use the money from the race-fields windfall to make up the shortfall. No more paperwork from the clubs to the trainer, from the trainer to a myriad of owners now involved in horse syndications.
As for the intra- and inter-code arrangements, be careful what you ask for. Not everything is as it seems. Certainly not when money is involved. Good luck to Messara's mob, and suits of armour for all five. They'll need them.
cyoung@access.fairfax.com.au All above board as trainer defends his vote TRAINER John O'Shea has fired back at speculation lawyer Phillip Esplin gained a seat on the new Racing NSW board because of a vote from the trainer, whom he is representing in a court case.
O'Shea was elected by trainers to represent them on the nine-member selection panel, which covered all sectors of the industry, that had the task of picking the Racing NSW board which was cut from nine to five. "It is irrelevant, I went through a probity check, " O'Shea said when asked about the Esplin association. "Did I have to disclose I trained horses for John Messara, for Tim Hughes, that I own shares in Star Games, does that mean I can't vote for Joseph Crepaldi?"
Esplin is representing O'Shea in a court case where an owner is suing the trainer in a bid to recover costs for a horse that broke down. "I've also got a commercial arrangement with the STC," O'Shea said. "I pay them $50,000 for a corporate box at Rosehill, did that mean I couldn't vote for their chairman Alan Brown."
Craig Young