Some of the heroes of racing rarely get a mention in mainstream media, so I try to make sure they get a go here. This man is Blackall based trainer Charlie Prow and I met him and photographed him at the Charleville Cup during EI. Most would never have heard of him - yet the wonderful job he does for the apprentice jockeys struggling out in the bush deserves special recognition. On Saturday at the Longreach meeting in western Queensland, Charlie Prow gave two claiming Korean apprentices the ultimate thrill of riding their first race winner in Australia when Kwanghee Yoo won Race 3 on the second roughest runner in the market, $12 chance Vanguard and then in Race 5 Dongcheol Jung got home first on Charlie's $5 chance Sistabella. Charlie Prow who is now 71YO, has 14 horses in work, and he understands the problems the kids face, particularly the apprentices from overseas, as he was once a jockey himself. In fact he has the rare distinction of both training and riding the 1986 Birdsville Cup winner Young Aloe. Both apprentices are with Roma based trainer Craig Smith and only recently got licensed to ride in Australia.

Racing Queensland Chairman Kevin Dixon sure had a busy weekend travelling to St George on Saturday to attend a thoroughbred race meeting - before being back in Brisbane to address a meeting of greyhound industry participants at Albion Park yesterday at 11am. I must say he did a top job at the greyhound meeting which lasted for nearly three hours, addressing a plethora of issues confronting the industry. As soon as I get a chance I will do up a story which will include some of the more interesting dialogue from the day.

Those slow learning dills that take the odds-on quotes about equine and canine athletes, finished up having an absolute shocker again last Saturday. In fact it wasn’t even noon before the odds-on devotees were already on the ropes as the Rob Heathcote trained Racing Heart, which had won with his head on his chest just seven days earlier at Doomben by 3.5 lengths at $4.20, was gone before the 300-metre mark was reached last Saturday at officially $1.60, albeit Lindsay Gallagher below states that he bet $1.80 about the galloper right throughout betting. The punters who like the tomato sauce odds then got slam dunked in Race 5 at Rosehill when opening $1.50 favourite Soledad was easily run down in a typical Chris Waller runner form reversal, when Coup Ay Tee stormed home to win that event with the disgraceful form of 7-6-8-7. Then to cap off the shocking day for odds-on favourites, champion pacer Smokin Up, a 5/1 on favourite ($1.20) could only manage third in the time-honoured Sunshine Sprint at Albion Park on Saturday night.

Around the websites today there is something for everyone. On www.brisbaneracing.com.au there is a look at which Aussie bred horses have been recognized in Hong Kong in theit just ended 2011/2012 season, on www.sydneyracing.com.au there is the story about Larry Olsen and Wayne Harris being special guests at Muswellbrook to celebrate 150 years of thoroughbred racing , whilst on www.melbourneracing.com.au Matt Nicholls looks at weekend racing from around Australia.

From the Eagle Farm betting ring last Saturday, leading rails bookmaker Lindsay Gallagher reported:

Race 1 – Bell Academy $12.00, Warrior Within $5.00 and Racing Heart $1.60
I was $1.80 right throughout betting on this favourite Racing Heart even though the call was $1.60 and I got some cash money out of the favourite at the $1.80 quote.
Warrior Within blew out to $5.50 at the finish and there was no money about for him.
The winner Bell Academy wasn’t fancied and drifted from $9 to $12, whilst Tickled had no admirers at $8.
We started the day off with a small winning race.

Race 2 – The Sixties $3.40, The Ringmaster $4.80 and Hidden Kisses $5.50
Money arrived on the phones for the winner The Sixties and he was the best backed runner here. As much as $3.80 was given in places before he ran at $3.40.
There was no money around for opening second favourite The Ringmaster, or opening fourth favourite Hidden Kisses, but Skating On Ice was specked at $5.
They only backed two in the race and one of them got the money, so it was a losing race.

Race 3 – Show A Noee $13.00, Discreet $3.80 and Red Empire $51.00
Show A Noee was specked during betting and I laid one good cash bet on him at $15, which made the race a losing one for me.
You’re Mine was specked at $21 and she ran a good race to run fourth and might be one worth following.
There was money during betting for Discreet as the filly drifted.
Fragezeichen was specked during betting.
The favourite Fantisha was always solid around $3.40 right throughout betting.

Race 4 – Goldslick $6.00, Divine City $2.60 and Venture On $4.40
The win by Goldslick probably proved that the track played as a heavy track and not a slow track, as she grows a leg on a heavy track.
The second horse Divine City was backed as she drifted out to $2.70 at the jump.
Venture On was specked at $4.60.
So you could lay both Divine City and Venture On, but the win by Goldslick gave bookmakers a winning result.

Race 5 – Revitalise $3.40, Viking Heart $9.00 and Peace Talks $15.00
Race 5 winner Revitalise was one of the best backed runners all day. As much as $3.80 was bet about his chances before he ran at $3.40 and even $3.40 was hard to get at the finish. He fought on well late to score.
There was some money during betting for Iking at $14.
Opening equal second favourite Tycoon Red was hard to lay and there was no big money for the other opening equal second favourite Black Magic during betting.
The win by Revitalise provided bookies with a nasty result as he was the only one you could lay for any money.

Race 6 – Scarbank $6.50, Nickiera $7.00 and Hyde Park $15.00
Scarbank won the Country Cup and he was the query runner in the race, but from a bookmaking perspective punters found it hard to get excited about the race.
Runner-up Nickiera was specked around the ring at $11 before running at $7.
Somnambulist had some admirers early at $4.80, but he’d drifted back to that price at starting time after the money for him dried up.
Opening equal second favourite Ibalance was friendless and drifted from $4.80 to $6.50 during betting, but Hangover Henry met with some specking.
It was a winning race.

Race 7 – Cash'N’Style $3.80, Fire Up Fifi $3.80 and Angusroy $4.00
Cash‘N’Style was specked at $4 before running at $3.80.
Fire Up Fifi was hard to lay and after opening at $3 blew out to $3.80 at the finish.
There was no money for last start winner Angusroy and you couldn’t lay Tamanu Park on the wet track and he raced accordingly.
Both first and second across the line had their share of weight, but they both handled it okay.

Race 8 – Hour Of Peril $14.00, Topping $10.00 and Carry Me Bluey $3.40
Hour Of Peril gave bookmakers a good winning result.
The second horse Topping was specked at $11.
There was no money on course for Adnocon with the prevailing conditions and he was $4.20 out to $7.50.
Belltone eased during betting, but when he got to $3.10 he met with some specking before running at $3.
Pepperwood was unlayable at $10.
There was money on the phones for Toowoomba trained Carry Me Bluey who was always solid throughout betting.
Whilst it was a winning race as stated earlier, it was a poor betting race, because the track was pretty chopped up by this stage.

Race 9 – Miss Barwang $6, Shadow Buster $4.60 and Rare Subject $17.00
There was some cash money for this winner Miss Barwang on the drift, but I didn’t lay her.
Shadow Buster was always solid throughout betting at $4.60 and you couldn’t lay the fourth horse Karoo who got out to $7.50 at the jump.
Victorian visitor Tanah Lot was specked at $5.50 and Thunder Lane was backed on the phones at $10.
It finished up a wide betting race and overall you could have won or lost on the day.

Lindsay will be fielding back at Eagle Farm on Wednesday, Ipswich on Friday, then he’s off to Doomben on Saturday and the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

Don’t forget if you would like to visit Lindsay on the web you can do that by going to www.thevipclub.com.au.