In today's Straight Shorts, the Save Rosehill group has taken a swipe at the Australian Turf Club's revised proposal for the sale of the racetrack, a double for Wootton Bassett, blueblood filly Sisstainable breaks through, US wagering continues a 2025 slide and Sword Of State's little sister on the board.

Rosehill
The Save Rosehill lobby group says the Australian Turf Club's pitch to members is an "inappropriate incentive". (Photo: Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images)

Membership ‘gimmick’ fails to sway Save Rosehill

Lobby group Save Rosehill has accused the Australian Turf Club of implementing “a $57 million gimmick”, with the promise of a Loyalty Program should members vote in favour of the $5 billion proposal to sell the western Sydney racecourse on May 27.

The ATC’s 111-page document briefing members was sent out on Tuesday, with five years of free membership among the perks on offer, as well as $1000 annually in food and drinks.

But Save Rosehill have said that proposal “impinges on the principles of freedom of choice and the long history of members rights espoused by the ATC and its forebears”.

“It is an inappropriate incentive to mask the ATC’s failure to answer the members' concerns. The proposal should stand on its own merits without any enticements,” the statement said.

It was damning of the revised proposal which was put forward after Racing NSW suspended the previous member vote which was due to be held in April

“Although repackaged in a shiny new document with personal incentives designed to distract from the flaws, the ATC has delivered yet another proposal that fails to address members’ concerns about the sale of Rosehill,” it said.

“What is still clear is this: the club’s leadership has lost sight of why the ATC exists.

“The constitution of the ATC states that the object of the club is racing – not building health centres, gyms or social clubs.”

Juvenile double for Wootton Bassett

Coolmore shuttler Wootton Bassett’s late-season claim to win Australia’s first season sire title received a timely boost with a Sydney two-year-old winning double.

The Chris Waller-trained colt Regulated Affair, runner-up on the Kensington track in March, resumed from a freshen-up to win a two-year-old maiden over 1000m at Warwick Farm on Wednesday by 1.5 lengths in a performance that signalled there was more in store.

In the following race, it was a Wootton Bassett filly who won convincingly with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Agarwood made the perfect start to her career under jockey Tim Clark.

Immediately following Regulated Affair’s victory, Waller revealed that stakes races in Brisbane such as the Group 1 JJ Atkins would be his campaign goals.

“He's definitely going to Brisbane, we just gave him a chance to catch his breath and then we picked out this race as a good stepping stone,” Waller said.

“He's got a different sort of action. He's a small, compact horse. He gets his head down and really likes to work. We’ll look at races over 1200 to 1400m and he may get the chance to go to a JJ Atkins.”

Regulated Affair was bought from Supreme Thoroughbreds’ Inglis Premier draft last year by Waller and Hermitage Thoroughbreds.

Bott said Agarwood, a half-sister to stakes-winning filly Lilac who was bought for $420,000 at last year’s Inglis Easter sale by her trainers and agent Bruce Slade, had won her most recent trial at Randwick by almost eight lengths.

“I think she'll improve sharply and naturally just settle down off the back of today,” Bott said.

“The positive experience will do her the world of good and also in running, I think she'll learn plenty from that as well.

“Whether Scone sort of comes up a little bit too quick for her or not, but we could look at Queensland for her.

“Obviously any valuable black-type we can get is a benefit, but we do want to just do the right thing by her because I think there's plenty of upside.” 

Wootton Bassett is the sire of eight southern hemisphere first-crop two-year-old winners and is less than $500,000 behind freshman leader, Vinery’s Ole Kirk.

Million-dollar carrot for valuable filly Sisstainable

Tony and Calvin McEvoy will attempt to win the $1 million Magic Millions National 2YO Classic for the second year in a row with a well-bred filly.

The Ballarat-based trainers won the first running on the race last year with Arabian Summer and Sisstainable, the first foal out of Sunlight’s sister Sisstar, is on track for the National 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast on May 23.

Sisstainable, a $450,000 Magic Millions purchase by the McEvoys and agent Damon Gabbedy last year, won an Eagle Farm maiden over 1000m on Wednesday, her first win in four starts.

The daughter of I Am Invincible, however, added to her value at her previous start when stakes-placed in the Listed Dequetteville Stakes at Morphettville.

“She’s a lovely, sweet filly. She’s a very small filly, she didn’t grow much, but she’s fast, and she thinks she’s good,” Tony McEvoy told Sky Racing.

“She’s been a little bit stiff at home, she’s run really well in a couple of stakes races, and was quite unlucky last start in Adelaide, so this was a lovely race for her.”

US tote wagering down on year-on-year figures

Pari-mutuel wagering on US thoroughbred racing was down $US132.7 million for the first four months of the year, representing a 3.77 per cent decrease on the same period in 2024.

Disjointed scheduling, especially for the start of the Keeneland season because of bad weather, has been partly blamed for three consecutive months of declining turnover.

Keeneland postponed its opening day on April 4 and its Blue Grass Day on April 5. 

Instead of running those days on a traditional Friday and Saturday, they were postponed to a Monday and Tuesday, and turnover fell from previous years. 

Blue Grass Day wagering fell from a record $US29.3 million in 2024 to $20.4 million in 2025. 

Figures supplied by Equibase LLC, the US thoroughbred industry's official database, show a total of $US878,811,558 was bet on 252 race meetings in April, representing a 5.16 per cent decline in wagering.

There was a 6.32 per cent drop in race days compared to April 2024. The number of races run fell by 6.15 per cent.

According to the Paulick Report, the most positive sign for April was a 2.29 per cent increase in average field size, from 7.54 average runners per race in April 2024 to 7.71 this April. 

Sword Of State’s half-sister breaks through at Ellerslie

Well-related New Zealand-trained filly Paravane has shed her maiden status in winning at Ellerslie.

Out of Group 2 performer In The Vanguard, Paravane is a half-sister to Te Akau Racing’s Group 1 winner Sword Of State, who now stands at Cambridge Stud.

The daughter of Merchant Navy jumped well and was taken straight to the front before running out a comfortable 2-1/2 length winner for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson.

Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis purchased Paravane out of Newgate Farm’s 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft for $120,000.

Te Akau’s racing manager Reece Trumper was pleased for her winning connections, saying they have been vindicated for biding their time with the filly.

“Paravane has taken a bit of time to mature, but the owners have been very patient,” he said.

“Mark and Sam did the right thing in giving her a bit of time after her first start and I think the owners will be rewarded now.”

Dabernig under investigation after positive swab

A horse trained by Warrnambool-based Tom Dabernig has returned a positive swab to a prohibited substance, prompting a Racing Victoria investigation.

The Dabernig-trained Ashford Street returned a positive test in a pre-race urine sample before the Millennium Sprint at Caulfield last October.

The Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory found Ashford Street’s sample to contain Testosterone, Formestane, 4-Hydroxytestosterone, and 6a-Hydroxyandrost-4-Ene3, 17-Dione, all banned under the Australian rules of racing.

Both Testosterone and 4-Hydroxytestosterone are classified as an anabolic androgenic steroid, according to the RV stewards’ release.

Formestane is a steroidal aromatase inhibitor and a-Hydroxyandrost-4-Ene3, 17-Dione is a metabolite of a steroidal aromatase inhibitor.

Steroidal aromatase inhibitors are not known to be contained in any therapeutic medications registered for use in horses.

Ashford Street, who won at Caulfield in December, died in April, according to the Australian Stud Book.

The RV stewards’ investigation is continuing.

Sky Racing rolls out HD broadcasting

Sky Racing’s two wall-to-wall channels have quietly flicked the switch to high-definition broadcasting.

From May 1, Sky Racing 1 and Sky Racing 2 have been shown in HD on the pay television platform Foxtel.

The move by the Tabcorp-owned channel has been described by media watchers such as Blackbox.com.au as a long-awaited one for racing fans.

It brings the codes of racing up to speed with international broadcasting standards and is well overdue as a means of improving and showcasing the industry to a wide audience.

“While the tech has been available for years, many networks held off — wary of alienating older viewers still using MPEG2-only TVs and the cost of upgrading transmission infrastructure,” Blackbox.com.au said.

Appeal panel adds to Qld trackwork rider’s horse abuse ban 

A Queensland trackwork rider has had the length of a disqualification increased at an appeal hearing.

Rockhampton-based Chris Wearne was originally banned for 16 months for striking a horse with a lead rope and a wooden twitch.

But that disqualification was extended to 18 months on Wednesday after a Queensland Racing Appeals Panel decision.

Wearne had pleaded guilty to a charge under section AR 231 of the Australian Rules of Racing which prohibits a person from committing an act of cruelty to a horse.

The abuse occurred in 2021 when Wearne was working for Brisbane trainer Paul Butterworth.

Wearne is reportedly considering his legal options with the avenue of a further appeal available via the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

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