Photographer Steve Hynes captured this jockey in clear breach of the training rules at Lady Bay in March this year, working two horses at once, no high-vis gear and no identifying saddle cloth.Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Well blow me down. The Warrnambool City Council is finally taking action against multiple breaches of the rules around racehorse training at Lady Bay.
Apparently, after quite a lengthy process, one trainer has had their permit cancelled, another has been suspended and another has received a warning.
I don’t have any names but if one of them is Jarrod McLean, then I would say it is the least of his worries right now.
This is the first time any serious action has been taken by the WCC against tall of the complaints that have been reported by the public over the past three years. #notalltrainers
Why now? I can only wonder if it’s connected to the Warrnambool Racing Club continuing with its plans to soon move into Spooky’s Beach, near Levy’s Beach, where up to 120 racehorses a day will be able to train, five days a week.
Another 40 a day will be able to train on the long ‘Hoon Hill’ dune.
Things have gone very quiet on this lately, but I can assure you that all of the work is still very much going on behind the scenes to get the beach ready before Lady Bay is cut off to trainers on December 1.
Perhaps the WCC wants to reassure the public that they will be enforcing the rules around having mass racehorse training in a coastal reserve.
I still find the whole Levy’s/Spooky’s plan unjustifiable.
As it happens, thanks to the Walkley Foundation, I have been doing some Freedom of Information applications into the whole Lady Bay and Levy’s situation.
I will save those stories for another day.
In the meantime, thankyou to photographer Steve Hynes for this image of one such breach (two horses, no id, no high vis gear etc), taken at Lady Bay in March this year.
Thankyou to the Walkley Foundation for funding part of my investigative work with this on-going story.
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