By MIKE DILLON
Okay, so they are banning jockeys from flourishing their whips in victory salutes.
Necessary? Probably, but what a shame in a game built on passion.
Glamour and money are vital ingredients of racing, but safety has to be the bottom line.
And that's the responsibility of chief stipendiary steward Noel McCutcheon, who has finally clamped down, probably as a result of Academy Award winning up-in-the-saddle exhibitions by Robert Hannam winning the Hawkes Bay Cup on Greene Street and Matthew Williamson taking the Easter Handicap on Zayaad.
You can't blame jockeys in major races, but while major is relative in this context and with all due respect to Robert Hannam, the Hawkes Bay Cup pales a shade against the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
Australia has had its purges on whip waving, but the odds have traditionally been on the jockey's side.
The Aussies say they are cracking down too.
But with a winning riding fee in excess of $A200,000, it doesn't take much working out how long a jockey will debate with himself whether to risk a $A2000 fine waving the whip with a whoop.
I know what I would do.
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As a body the New Zealand Trainers' Association has it flaws.
Not the least of which is that trainers by nature are arch individualists and attaining any level of consensus is tougher than teak.
But you can't disagree with NZTA president John Phillips' call that it is staggering not one trainer is appointed to the Racing Minister's Task Force looking into racing's structure.
"Professional trainers as a group control the product which generates the TAB's turnover and, in turn, the club's revenue, yet they appear to have no interest in our views on the funding, administration and development of the industry," said Phillips.
It's hard to believe a Frank Ritchie, Chris Wood or John Wheeler could not contribute more than a couple of names on the list.
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Former New Zealander Idol won the $HK2.6 million Queen Mothers Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Saturday night.
Idol was owned in Hong Kong when he finished third in the Derby at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, while trained at Matamata by Jim Gibbs and Eric Betty.
The Masterclass 3-year-old is now trained by Alex Wong and was ridden on Saturday night's wet track by Weichong Marwing.
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Maserati cost punters plenty at Ellerslie on Saturday, but stay with him.
He tried to anticipate the start, mangled it and the fact he settled back in the field under his 58kg topweight was what stopped him.
Although he made ground into fifth, he could not sprint under his weight, but he will next time, particularly on a loose track.
Racing: Spirit could vanish with flourish
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