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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - Page 67
Melbourne
Observer Victorian Sport
Showbiz Extra ■ From Page 60
ALL SYSTEMS GO AT PAKENHAM ■ Great news for racegoers and horse lovers, with news that the Pakenham Racing Club has sold their picturesque racetrack for a reported $38 million. Pakenham’s Chief Executive, Michael Hodge, was over the moon when the sale went through and added that the Club has also 3000 square metres of residential land opposite the course, which he feels should add another $1 million to the coffers. He added that the Club was very happy with the result, giving them the chance to move ahead with their proposed track at Tynong, just up the road. Michael said “It means we can fund what we have planned, without compromise”. “While racing begins at the new track at Tynong in August 2013, we now expect to vacate the current site in March 2013.” Hodge said he expected horses would be training at Tynong by the time that the Pakenham site ran its final meeting. The new track will be a beauty, with a 408 metre straight, and a track that will be 2404 metres in circumference and varying distances starting off with 1000, 1200, 1400, 1500, 1600 and 1700 metres. They are very confident of getting the nod from Racing Victoria to put in a synthetic track 2000 metres in circumference. They are in the last three applying to install the synthetic track, along with Flemington, which has gone a bit cold on the idea, and Caulfield. Michael feels they are a $1.20 chance to get the nod. The entire property at Tynong is 608 acres, much larger than Flemington. Some 150 acres of the 608 will be offered to trainers to purchase different size pieces of land. They range from 5000 square metres, 7500 square metres, and 10,000 square metres, or half acre lots Another great added feature will be an $8 million event centre, along with a tunnel, two sand
Ted Ryan
DVD Recommendations Verdict: Comic great Mel Brooks does to the horror genre what he did for westerns with Blazing Saddles, the brilliant side-splitting parody of the Universal classics Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein, as Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, after years of living down the family reputation, inherits his grandfather's castle and repeats the legendary experiments with unforgettable, laugh-out-loud results, everything just falls right into place right from the opening frame to the last, Marty Feldman is a standout as Igor in the best and funniest big screen role of his career, a classic! FILM:
Coulthard at Pakenham recently, and he was full of praise for Brett who puts his heart and soul into the job, and in recent times
has been under the pump, with all the disappointments they have had at the Yarra Valley track. I have worked un-
der Brett for some three years now, and he is superb to work with along with his top team. - Ted Ryan
Observer Racing
tracks, and a fully roofed race day’ training stalls and the stage 1 Trainer allotments as mentioned earlier. Even when they pull up stumps at Pakenham they will hold on to their lucrative pokies venue, the Cardinia Club, which is going ahead in leaps and bounds. It’s great news for the Pakenham Racing Club under Michael, his hard working staff and Committee.
Top move ■ In a very smart move, the Victoria Racing Club, in their wisdom, have introduced a new ruling that the top 35 horses in the 2011 Melbourne Cup order of entry will have to undergo a veterinary examinations before final acceptances. Racing Victoria’s Chief Steward, Terry Bailey, said that the vet check process would start on the Thursday before Derby Day. He said it would be completed the next day on the eve of the Victoria Derby meeting at Flemington. Any horses with issues would have to be cleared to race before 5pm on Derby Day. “Any horse that is doubtful, connections will have until 5pm to prove otherwise. VRC Chief Executive, Dale Monteith, said “Any horse not declared fit before acceptances would not be allowed to be a final acceptor, thus eliminating the likeli-
hood of Cup eve or morning scratching, as has been the case in the past two years”. It is unlikely similar vet checks will be undertaken for the Caulfield Cup, which has emergencies, or the Cox Plate, which rarely has a capacity field.
Moe in trouble ■ Yet another Victorian country racetrack is having track problems. The recent meeting scheduled for Moe had to be transferred to Sale, now it looks like they will lose their important ANZAC Day meeting on April 25. Work is continuing to repair damage caused by flash flooding recently. During an inspection a partly collapsed drain was discovered, which forced the entire track to be inspected by engineers. Racing Victoria had no option, but to close the track for both racing and training. No return date has been set for a return to racing or training.
Top CEO re-signs ■ In a coup, the Yarra Valley Racing Club was quick to re-sign their hard working Chief Executive, Brett Shambrook, for a further three years. I was having a chat with popular President of Yarra Valley, Barry
THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN: Drama/Thriller. Timothy Hutton, Sean
Genre: Cast: Penn. Years: 1985. Rating: M. Running Time: 131 Minutes. Format: DVD & BLU-RAY. Stars: ***1/2 Verdict: Compelling thriller based on the true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union, great performances throughout, most notably Sean Penn, and tightly controlled direction by the Oscar winning John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust, Marathon Man and Pacific Heights, among others) pull of this complex story with chilling and thought provoking results. - James Sherlock ■ From Page 60
Top 10 Lists
● Melbourne Cup: Americain (G.Mosse). Photo by SLICKPIX, phone 9354 5754 Melbourne
Observer
The Final Word
RATIONAL AND GREEN
■ Peter Maxwell sends these thoughts: “Have you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test! ■ If a rational person doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a Green doesn't like guns, they want all guns outlawed. ■ If a rational person is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a Green is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone. ■ If a rational person is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a Green is homosexual, he demands legislated respect. ■ If a rational person is down-andout, he thinks about how to better his situation. A Green wonders who is going to take care of him. ■ If a rational person doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Greens demand that those they don't like be shut down. ■ If a rational person is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A Green non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!) ■ If a rational person likes to visit a forests, he will. If a Green likes a forest, he will
want to turn it into a national park and keep people out. want to turn it into a national park and keep people out. ■ If a rational person reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh. A Green will delete it because he/she is "offended”.
Operators face Court ■ The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a prosecution against the former operators of a Melbourne call centre for allegedly failing to pay five workers. Facing court are Mark Vincent Gulifa and Doreen Mifsud, as well as the company they formerly jointly owned, Reacta Staffing Solutions Pty Ltd. Through their company, Mr Gulifa and Ms Mifsud previously ran an outbound sales call centre in Ravenhall trading as 'Big Mouth Malone'. It is alleged the couple failed to pay five workers a total of $3147 for work performed for the company.
MOVE OVER, DARLING [1963/Comedy/Romance/Doris Day, James Garner]. RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS! [1958/ Comedy/Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward]. TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE [1963/Comedy/ James Stewart, Sandra Dee, Robert Morley]. HEIST [Crime/Thriller/Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Sam Rockwell, Delroy Lindo]. NEW RELEASE DVD TV/DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS: HOLLYWOOD SINGING & DANCING: A Musical History - 5 Disc Box Set. BEST OF RONNIE BARKER. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS COLLECTION: 10 Disc Box Set. THE CIVIL WAR - Commemorative Edition: 150th Anniversay [Ken Burns]. NEW TO MUSIC ON DVD: WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE: A FILM ABOUT THE DOORS. ROYAL EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO 2010. TOP BLU-RAY SELLERS: 1. RED [Action/Comedy/Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine]. 2. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [Fantasy/Adventure]. 3. BAMBI: Diamond Edition [1942/Animated/Family/Classic/Hardie Albright, Thelma Boardman]. 4. THE SOCIAL NETWORK [Drama/Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justine Timberlake]. 5. THE TOWN [Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Pete Postlethwaite]. 6. MACHETE [Action/Thriller/Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez]. 7. TOY STORY 3 [Animated/Family/Comedy/ Tom Hanks, Michael Keaton, Don Rickles]. 8. WILD TARGET [Action/Comedy/Crime/Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt]. 9. DEVIL [Horror/Thriller/Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Logan Marshall-Green]. 10. THE EXPENDABLES [Action/Thriller/ Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis]. - James Sherlock