How does a clearly ordinary and average horse, who is still in the maidens after 10 races and most of a year’s racing, suddenly improve to win by 6 lengths?
Perhaps the field was small? No, 16 runners.
Perhaps a drop in class? Nope, maiden plate with level weights except for the 4 fillies.
So what then?
Tony Mincione writes that we find out in the post-race interview when the trainer, in an expression coined by racing’s good friend Charles Faull, drops a ‘tellygloat’.
Racing afficionado Charles Faull (photo: Form Organisation)
Mr Faull’s definition of a ‘tellygloat’ is when the connection of a winner, goes on TV AFTER a win, and drops the bomb as to how they “knew” the horse would improve, to the silent majority holding worthless tickets; aka ‘after the race merchant’.
You see, the trainer revealed that the horse showed much improved work in blinkers. So after the card was already printed, the blinkers were added with permission of the stipes.
The rule says:
11.2.8 The TRAINER shall ensure that a HORSE trained by him is presented in the parade ring with all the equipment it was declared to run in, unless permission to do otherwise has been granted by the SB.
The trainer did nothing wrong in terms of the rules – in fact he declared the equipment many days before. It is possible that a trainer could know of a horse’s improvement with blinkers, and then declares blinkers a minute before the 09h00 deadline on the day of the race.
But here’s the rub. The Tellygloat is absolutely the worst public relations we have.
To say to your customers, who are clutching hands full of losing tickets, that they are just basically ‘out of the loop’, should have racing administrators sprinting for the 7 second delay button on the broadcast.
It is exactly the same as a casino announcing to a room full of losers that the tables were rigged.
Commenting after the ‘tellygloat’, an appalled Charles Faull said, “The new equipment change made the difference. Was an effort made to tell the public that he was working better in blinkers? It’s not good enough,” he exclaimed.
It doesn’t matter if it’s all innocent, because perception becomes reality. If people have lost their money and they think that they’ve been had, then all confidence in the gambling product is gone. And a gambling business with mass loss of confidence will go bankrupt…(ahem).
The NHRA refers to things like blinkers as ‘equipment’, and changes to equipment are allowed until 09h00 on race day.
But common sense tells you that allowing changes like adding blinkers on the day of a race, which may suit a lazy trainer to the detriment of all the public who have already placed bets, or who are not in a space to hear the changes, is crazy for PR.
There is no upside to doing this – any gambling business should be able to see this.
Our business can no longer afford blunders like this on the television broadcast. If (most of the time) nearly all of our customers experience the product on TV, then all the bells and whistles won’t help when you are not trusted.
As a gambling business is built on trust and confidence more than anything else, should we be letting unnecessary last minute changes sneak through and possibly affect a result?
And then tellygloat it, nogal?
