Shafar gives 110 per cent, while Ballard roasts the Liberals
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Mantra on Russell, until April 18
Michael Shafar.
You think that your 2020 was rough? Try going through a global pandemic coupled with four months of chemotherapy for testicular cancer. For the second time.
That said, due to all of his shows getting cancelled, Michael Shafar was eligible for JobKeeper and finally made some money from comedy. So, you know, swings and roundabouts.
It may only be his fourth MICF show since leaving his career in law, but Shafarâs effortless stage presence and radiant command over his audience rings reminiscent of a 10-year veteran.
RSN927
TRACK RIDERS AS RARE AS HEN’S TEETH AS CRISIS DEEPENS
April 6, 2021 9:40 am
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
Racing’s nationwide staff crisis will be laid bare when over 100 participants, from trainers to administrators, meet later this month.
The
Australian Trainers Association estimates that Australia is at least 200 track riders “short” as the effect of visa restrictions, and then
COVID, decimate rider ranks, leading to unprecedented poaching between stables as trainers struggle to find capable staff.
The recent drug sweep at
Ballarat, where six of the 40 track riders were benched by stewards, highlighted not just the issue of drugs in racing and society but also the volatility of staff numbers.
“I had things and issues to sort out in my life and normally you don’t take a holiday unless it’s an enforced holiday, probably like later on this afternoon but that’s the way it goes,” Prebble said.
Prebble said he had been slowly clawing his way back into the riding ranks, working closely with trainers
Mike Moroney (Wisaka) and
“I am really happy in myself and the way things are going and enjoying riding for Mike (Moroney) and Paul (Preusker) a lot and working in closely with them,” he said.
Hong Kong racing when he relocated there in 2002 after a very successful career in
RSN927
THREE RIDERS SUSPENDED OVER DRUG USE
April 5, 2021 7:59 am
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
Two track jockeys and a well-known
Western Districts jockey were handed suspensions by
Racing Victoria stewards on the weekend as the fallout from a random drug blitz continues.
Track riders
Nicole McKechnie and
Selim Aqbal were suspended for six weeks and four months respectively after pleading guilty to drug offences at an inquiry concluded at the
Warracknabeal races on Saturday.
Samuel Payne was suspended for six months after pleading guilty to the same charge,
The penalties followed a random drug blitz at Ballarat trackwork on March 15, where six riders, including Payne and another jockey, returned drug irregularities in urine samples.
RSN927
SIX BALLARAT RIDERS FAIL DOPE TEST
April 1, 2021 10:28 am
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
Six track riders, including two
well-known jockeys, have been
Ballarat today as
six of Ballarat’s 40 track riders were stood down.
Racing Victoria chief steward Robert Cram said he was “disappointed” with the stunning number of track staff who had returned irregularities to illegal drugs after random testing of 60 riders.
A leading Ballarat trainer said the positive tests revealed “a really bad culture” of drugs in Ballarat, that had spread to the local racing industry.
“It’s a real worry,” the trainer said. “I can’t speak for other parts of the state but it seems to be a real problem up here and it’s becoming an issue in racing as well.”