Harness Racing NSW will be back in the court of appeal this week fighting to uphold the absolute rule that a horse must be disqualified if presented to race and found to have a prohibited substance in its system.
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The long-running case bought by Dean McDowall and Neil Day after both were found to have presented runners with levels of cobalt above the threshold, has ramifications for all racing, and so far the court system has upheld the right of rule 190 in the harness racing book.
In the many high-profile cases involving cobalt, including Peter Moody, Mark Kavanagh and Danny O'Brien, it has generally been accepted that presenting a horse with a prohibited substance is an open and shut case and it will be disqualified.
A finding against HRNSW would open another line of argument in any positive swab case.
Move to 12-horse fields
Harness Racing NSW is set to move to 12-horse fields at Menangle, Newcastle and Goulburn from September 1 due to wagering turnover benefits shown in a trial since the new Bathurst track was opened eight months ago.
"The optimum number for runners in a race is 12 and that drives turnover, so on our bigger tracks we are going to 12-horse fields because it means if you have a couple of scratchings each-way betting is not effected," HRNSW chief executive John Dumesny said. "The results from Bathurst were very encouraging and it is another way to drive turnover in a competitive market."
HRNSW have also trialled the use of a sprint lane in the straight at Bathurst and will roll it out at Goulburn and on the new track at Wagga Wagga and Tamworth when they are constructed.
"It is other initiative that has worked well at Bathurst. For the moment the significant cost of building them at Menangle and Newcastle means we have deferred a decision on sprint lanes at those tracks," Dumesny said.
Nathan's Courage looms large
After two wins in five days, talented Western Australian two-year-old Nathan's Courage could add some real star power to the Breeders Crown series in Melbourne later in the month.
Trainer Michael Brennan qualified the Courage Under Fire pacer for the series at Gloucester Park on Monday and then backed him up to win in a 1:59.8 mile rate on Friday night.
Named in honour of Nathan Berry, who died from Norse syndrome last year, Nathan's Courage is part-owned by his twin brother and jockey Tommy and races in the 4tracks4kids silks with a chunk of its prizemoney going to the charity.
Brennan will make the decision whether to head to Melbourne later in the week.
