In This Months Edition
Making the switch - with Mark de MontfortBy Peter Klein, AAP RacingIt's hard to believe, but the rider who won the apprentice jockey's premiership from Mal Johnston and Wayne Harris in the late 70's is still riding today. Not for much longer though, because popular hoop Mark de Montfort, will shortly be swapping his riding license for a trainer's ticket.  Mark de Montfort - soon to
switch from rider to trainer. Image: Steve Hart Originally apprenticed to Frank Penfold, de Montfort had seven rides for little success before transferring his indentures to Ray Guy. Mark didn't exactly get off to a flying start with Guy, smashing his femur shortly after joining him. But de Montfort does possess perseverance and when he recovered, came back to ride 300 winners in a wonderfully successful apprenticeship. For the record, he's ridden nearly 600 winners in Australia and another 600 odd winners in Mauritius, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore between 1994 and 2002. Over the years, he's competed against some gun jockeys. As well as Johnston and Harris, top Sydney riders he rode against included the likes of Darren Beadman, Jim Cassidy, Ron Quinton, Kevin Moses, Neville Voigt, Peter Cook, Peter Cuddihy, Mick Dittman and John Duggan. His thoughts on those? 'Quinton was tactically good. Peter Cook… well he didn't need too many instructions. He just went and rode how he thought, didn't think too much before a race. Mick Dittman was hard and aggressive, which suited the trainer he rode for (T J Smith) and Mal Johnston was a great rider.' Some of the good horses de Montfort rode and won races on include: Myocard - Rawson Stakes, Tancred Stakes and Derby. Chanteclair - Epsom Hcp, Bounty Hawk - Western Mail Classic, Catbird - Golden Slipper and Black Opal and Wonga Prince - AJC Sires Produce. The best horse he's seen was Kingston Town. 'I only rode him slow work once. That's the closest Mal Johnston would let me near him!' he jokes. Mark's seen a few riding changes in his time. 'There's been many things, but riding with the toe in the iron rather than with the foot in the stirrup is probably the biggest change'. According to de Montfort, he doesn't think it makes a lot of difference as long as the rider is still getting the results. 'Look at Beadman.' he says 'He splits putting his foot in the iron and riding with his toes 50/50 but it doesn't stop him getting results does it?' Mark comments on the use of rings which seems to have faded out of a trainer's toolbox; 'No real reason for their demise, maybe we didn't need them to start with.' he says. One thing de Montfort is sure about and that is apprentices get it easier now than when he was doing his time. 'Work wise, they can just play jockeys - riding trackwork then go to the races. Their conditions are certainly better these days.' One thing that will help de Montfort when he takes up training is his past business experience. Not many people would be aware that he had one of the busiest sports retail outlets in Sydney between 1997 and 1999. 'I learnt how to run a business from a cash flow perspective and manage staff and customers. A business has to make money to survive and if you don't understand that, then you won't survive.' he observes wryly. De Montfort always had it in the back of his mind that he wanted to train horses. At 48 years old, he wants to do it while still being able to ride trackwork. 'I love riding and have a good feel for it. When eight stables became available at Rosehill I jumped at it.' Mark was actually set to commence training last month, but when the EI virus struck it threw a spanner in the works of his timing. 'I want to finish up riding one day and go to the track the next as a trainer.' he said 'But until this EI thing is over, I'll continue riding.' De Montfort has some interesting observations about the trainers he's ridden for both here and overseas. 'Bart's (Cummings) a great trainer, I used to love riding his horses work, they were so relaxed. TJ (Smith) had a different style but was years ahead with his feeding and exercise routine. He used vets more often and his ritual… well everyone trains like that now. Daughter Gai has followed in her father's footsteps. Overseas, Ivan Allan is a legendary trainer and I had a lot of time for Malcolm Thwaites, a leading trainer in Malaysia. He had the ability to get horses ready on the day and they weren't top class horses either, yet he still got them to perform to their best.' Mark has his own thoughts about how he will train, lots of different ideas he's picked up from the many trainers he's ridden for. He wants to put a few of his own ideas into place - a combination of things that he has learnt. Above all, he's always taken on board and thought about a trainer's reason for doing something and whether it's worked out or not. Mark's main training goal is to just have success. He's experienced that as a jockey and would be disappointed if he couldn't achieve similar results as a trainer. Industry observers are tipping this is one jockey who will readily make the transition from jockey to trainer. Outside of racing, Mark enjoys life with his wife Carol, enjoys playing touch football, watching rugby league (huge tigers fan) and playing golf. The crippling effects of the EI Outbreakby Scott Gooley, AAP RacingOn August 22 2007 AAP Racing posted a story on our website stating that there was a potential delay to the start of the breeding season. It was reported that some of world's highest profile shuttle stallions were being kept in quarantine in Sydney's west due to high temperatures. By the end of that week, on August 25 2007, the Australian racing industry had come to a complete standstill. A month further down the track and the effects of Equine Influenza are still being felt as recent outbreaks of the disease have been identified at Sydney's Warwick Farm, and Brisbane's Doomben training complexes, crippling the industry in both states just as racing was being scheduled for a return to the major circuits. However, as the EI outbreak reaches into its second month and no immediate end in sight, the ramifications are being felt further away than just the racetrack. At this time of year the Australian breeding season should be at it's busiest. However with the restriction on horse movement, millions of dollars have been lost in stud fees already. Some good news this week from DPI Minister Ian McDonald was that NSW has been divided up into four restricted zones which will enable resources to be focused on known disease spots and high risk areas to help the breeding and racing industries survive. One other measure taken to assist the industry has been the establishment of a $110 million Federal Government Funding Package. The package will be made available to the following groups:
It is hoped that this assistance will go some way to easing the financial hardship that those in the industry are encountering. Finally, there's the first batch of 20,000 EI vaccinations that have recently arrived in Australia. These will be predominately distributed to NSW and QLD, although there seems to be some dispute from VIC over the actual numbers to be distributed there - 1500 ordered versus 15,000 requested. It is hoped that the vaccine, together with the strategic buffer zones, will help to eradicate this disease. A further 30,000 doses of the vaccine have already been ordered and an additional 100,000 vials (currently the entire international stockpile) are also to be ordered. It certainly is an unprecedented time for the racing industry. The immediate future of racing in NSW and QLD is a dark one and it could quite easily be months before racing returns to either state on a full time basis. The one thing to remember is that it's all temporary. The above measures are in place to eradicate EI as soon as possible and racing will return, bigger and better than ever. One would think that any financial support offered would soon be recouped by the Governments when racing returns. Until that point is reached however, it's imperative that the State and Federal Governments continue to, and more importantly, increase their support to an industry and it's participants that fill Government coffers more so than any other. For the latest information on the EI Outbreak, visit the sites below. AAP Racing - http://www.aapracing.com.au/Queensland Racing - http://www.queenslandracing.com.au/ Racing NSW - http://www.racingnsw.com.au/ National Pests and Disease Outbreaks - http://www.outbreak.gov.au/ Product News - AAP Racing: One site for all the winners!With the Victorian Spring Carnival about to swing into full gear, it'll pay dividends to keep a close eye on the AAP Racing website. AAP Racing is your premier source for racing's latest information and online form services. To help you find all the winners, AAP Racing have all bases covered with Runners to Watch, AAP Speed Maps, AAP Blackbook and AAP Racing's exclusive FastForm Five Ratings. Regular visitors to these services have already had a profitable month as the results below show. AAP's Runners to Watch is a stable of horses that have been carefully selected by the AAP Racing Staff who we believe are ready to win or should continue on their winning way. Take a quick look at some of the horses we've identified in the last month.
To ensure that you never miss these horses or one identified by yourself, join AAP's free Blackbook service. You can list as many horses as you wish in your own account and receive an email notification of when one of your selected horses is next entered to start! Just visit the Runners to Watch box on AAP Racing's homepage to subscribe or visit - http://www.aapracing.com.au/blackbookstable.aspx FastForm Five RatingsExclusive to AAP Racing, each runner is assessed based on a combination of factors including class, weight, race time and sectional time factors and awarded a FastForm Five Numerical Rating. This service complements your own ratings, calculations and AAP's form services and your own adjustments can be made. Here's some of the exceptional results and value FastForm Ratings have identified recently. FastForm Five Ratings are available for all TAB meetings. Moonee Valley 17/08/07
Warwick Farm 08/08/07
Eagle Farm 22/08/07
To find out more information on AAP's FastForm Five Ratings and how to arm yourself for this weekend, visit http://www.aapracing.com.au/formanlyser The perfect compliment to the FastForm Ratings is AAP's newest product to our stable of services is AAP's Speed Maps.  Did you know that around 50% of races are won by horses that are in the first three approaching the 400m mark of a race? This figure increases even more in sprint races. By using your speed maps you can take a lot of the guesswork out of form study and capitalise on these powerful statistics. A speed map is a plan of how a race is likely to be run and predicts the likely position of a horse on settling. All horse's preferred racing positions are determined and presented to the client as a simple chart, thus saving hours of race study. Speed maps are used for race analysis by professional punters, bookmakers, jockeys, stewards and others who need to know the likely pattern of a race. There are many factors that determine a horse's racing positions. Some of these include:
AAP's speed maps aren't computer generated and are only produced after careful individual assessment after race acceptances are taken. Because of the work required, speed maps are only available from noon on Fridays for the forthcoming Saturday meeting. Champion PicksChampion Picks is regarded as one of Australia's best tipsters and their long-term success is based on utilising the expertise of a team of horse racing and punting professionals. These experts analyse video replays, customised ratings, systems, trackwork and database information as part of the selection process. Champion Picks is so confident of their continued tipping success that all membership packages are guaranteed. This profit guarantee is pretty simple…either you win money or your membership is doubled. The Champion Picks website also features a twice-weekly newsletter that provides free tips, and a regularly updated articles and interviews page. Check out Champion Picks now for tips that win www.championpicks.com.au  September Book Review Publisher: Melbourne Books Author: Kristen Manning RRP - $32.95 When a horse wins the W S Cox plate as a 6yo, then is runner up the following year before finishing third as an eight year old, logic dictates that his chance of winning another Cox Plate is all but gone. Not so! Fields of Omagh (aka FOO) actually won a second Cox Plate as a nine year old in 2006. FOO contested 5 consecutive Cox Plates, won 13 races and nearly $6.5 M in prizemoney in a career which took him around the world to Dubai, Hong Kong and Japan. But he never really fired overseas, preferring to save his best his best form for the Valley, where he had a 9:3-1-2 record at that track. Part owned by Bryan Martin, it must have been the most difficult call of his career when he called the photo finish of that 2006 Cox Plate. Three horses went over the line in a blanket finish - El Segundo, Pompeii Ruler and Fields of Omagh. It was too close to call, but when the photo came up Martin's words were "He's got there!" The old champ was retired after that; what a way to bow out. Author Kristen Manning is well known in racing journalistic circles. This is her first book that she has written and judging by the result, it certainly won't be her last. A great yarn about a great old horse. September Quiz
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