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Australian harness racing meetings in three States were decimated yesterday (Feb. 2) as the fallout continued from the release of the damning Murrihy Report findings into Tasmanian Harness Racing.
The report, headed by former steward Ray Murrihy, found the state’s leading trainer Ben Yole had engaged in race fixing and animal abuse. The report was completed in November, but was released by the Tasmanian Government on Thursday.
TasRacing swiftly issued formal “warning off” notices to participants implicated in the report but it left uncertainty as to whether Yole runners would be scratched from the Launceston meeting last night.
A statement by TasRacing noted the participants had a “show cause period to provide evidence why the Notice should be rescinded”, and the stable’s runners remained in the fields until yesterday afternoon.
In New South Wales 11 runners of participants named in the report were scratched yesterday morning from the Leeton day meeting, and by mid yesterday afternoon, the 46 Yole runners had been removed from Launceston.
That left the Leeton meeting with the rare scenario of a “walkover” race – with only one runner in the opening event.
This was run and won by the Paul Kahlefeldt-trained 11-year-old Hilly (Rocknroll Hanover), his 16th victory from 207 starts, and picked up $5184 for connections. Jared Kahlefeldt took the drive.
To watch the replay, click here.
At Launceston, 46 runners were scratched, leaving two races with just one starter. An additional two races had two starters making up the field.
Petrea Bromac (Art Major) trained by Paul Medhurst and driven by Jacob Duggan was the only starter in Race 5. And in Race 7 Taxi Meter (Lonestar Legend) trained by Geoffrey Smith and driven by Rohan Hillier strolled around solo to collect the winner’s cheque.
Tasmania’s Hobart meeting set down for tomorrow will have another one-runner affair, in Race 1. A total of 47 runners have been removed from that meeting.
