Well-liked stayer Efficient, winner of the 2007 Melbourne Cup, has been retired after sustaining a leg injury.

The Lloyd Williams-owned gelding, who has been plagued by injuries throughout his profession, had been due to run in either Saturday’s Metropolitan Handicap at Randwick or the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

Williams’ son and racing manager Nick confirmed the retirement of the nine-year-old in a tweet on Thursday following what was believed to be the recurrence of an outdated injury.

“Productive has been retired after struggling a leg injury this morning,” he stated.

“Efficient will be retired to a 5 star paddock at our farm. He will have a quite pleasant retirement with his outdated mate Zipping.”

Effective burst to prominence during his three-year-outdated season winning the 2006 Victoria Derby.

He returned the following spring to give Williams and then-trainer Graeme Rogerson a memorable Melbourne Cup victory, turning out to be the 1st horse considering that Phar Lap to win Australia’s best race a year right after declaring the classic.

The grey looked to be on track for yet another shot at the Cup when he scored a last-ditch win in the Turnbull Stakes in October 2009 but injury struck and he did not race again for virtually two many years.

Productive has had to be very carefully managed considering that but he did display a glimpse of his best when he beat all but Niwot in the Group 1 Sydney Cup during the autumn.

By Zabeel, the sire of two other Melbourne Cup winners – May And Electrical power and Jezabeel – Productive raced 29 times for seven wins and just beneath $ 4.eight million prizemoney.

Claims that a senior Victorian racing official declared jockey Danny Nikolic really should be run out of the business have rocked an inquiry into charges against the embattled rider.

The bombshell came from Victorian Jockeys’ Association executive officer Des O’Keeffe who mentioned the official from Racing Victoria telephoned him to express the view.

O’Keeffe informed the inquiry conducted by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary (RAD) Board he acquired the call some three weeks ago at a time when Nikolic’s name had been linked to allegations of race fixing at the moment beneath investigation by police and stewards.

O’Keeffe was unable to say if the official who he named in-camera but who was referred to in the inquiry as Mr X, was expressing his very own views or people of Racing Victoria.

“This individual explained Danny Nikolic has run his course right here and racing would be better off with no him,” O’Keeffe explained.

Mr X allegedly informed O’Keeffe the race-fixing allegations had triggered a decline in turnover.

It is also alleged he claimed Nikolic was a negative influence on younger jockeys and was accountable for rowdiness in the jockeys’ area at race meetings.

O’Keeffe explained he was shocked to obtain the contact and could only guess at why it had been produced.

One particular likelihood, he told the inquiry, was that it was an attempt to prompt him to encourage younger riders to give “forthright” proof about race repairing.

The inquiry is listening to two, unrelated expenses concerning alleged threats created by Nikolic against Victoria’s chief steward Terry Bailey at the Seymour race meeting on September 4.

Bailey alleges Nikolic produced the threats as element of a torrent of abuse against him.

The inquiry noticed Nikolic told Bailey: “We all have households c***, and we know exactly where yours lives, c***.”

Nikolic was stood down from his rides on the day and ordered off the track and stewards laid the two fees final week.

Bailey told the inquiry he was “rattled” by the comments and feared for his family’s safety.

Below questioning from Nikolic’s lawyer Sandy Robertson, Bailey rejected a claim Nikolic was the victim and it was he who had produced the threats.

Robertson stated Bailey had been the aggressor, telling Nikolic he would “f*** his career”.

He stated Bailey had engaged in a lengthy-operating feud against the jockey.

The two sides deny making any threats and Nikolic has pleaded not guilty to the expenses that he has brought racing into disrepute and behaved dishonestly, fraudulently or corruptly.

The inquiry chaired by RAD Board deputy chairman Brian Forrest continues on Thursday.

Major trainer Robert Heathcote has some unfinished company at the Magic Hundreds of thousands carnival with Racing Heart.

The Magic Millions Stayers Cup (1800m) at the Gold Coast in January has been nominated by Heathcote as the prolonged-phrase purpose for Racing Heart who maintained his superb staying type when he won at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

The gelding has been a fringe performer at the previous two summer time carnivals at the Gold Coast, finishing third in the 2011 Magic Hundreds of thousands Nation Cup ahead of a similar putting in this year’s Stayers Cup (1800m) won in dominant fashion by the Gai Waterhouse-trained Kontiki Park.

“Without having a doubt it would suit us far better if the Cup was 2400 metres and not 1800 metres but he’s eligible for it so why not have yet another crack,” Heathcote explained.

Heathcote praised talented apprentice Kirk Matheson for a clever front-operating ride aboard Racing Heart when he led from the outset and defied a spirited challenge from runner-up Topping in the straight.

“I advised Kirk not to let one more horse come about him and dictate to us and he received it spot on,” Heathcote mentioned.

“He permitted Chris Munce on Topping to eyeball him in the straight but this horse is rock-tough fit and loves a stoush.”

Heathcote is considering starting Racing Heart in a 2000m open company race at Doomben in three weeks just before he spells to prepare for a summer time campaign.

“There is also the Wyong Cup to consider but I’m satisfied to maintain knocking off these kinds of races while he is in this kind of very good winning form,” he mentioned.

Matheson was unconcerned when Topping loomed ominously at the 300m.

“He really responds when one more horse comes up on his outdoors and I was confident he would give a good kick,” Matheson stated.

“Rob mentioned before the race to make sure I kept him rolling along in front and that is what he did.”

While Racing Heart has discovered his niche as a stayer, that was not the first impression he gave Heathcote.

“It’s humorous when I believe back to the time he won his initial race by 4 lengths in an 1100-metre race I thought to myself ‘what a very good minor sprinter I have got’,” he said.

“But then he stored bettering every time we stepped him up in journey and he’s turned out a extremely steady stayer.”

The world’s fastest racehorse, the guy who trains her and the jockey who rides her have been named Victoria’s major performers for the 2011-2012 racing season.

As effectively as becoming named the state’s Racehorse of the Year, Black Caviar officially presented the season’s most memorable moment with victory, the 19th of her unbeaten occupation, in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington in February

For the second yr on end the champion mare’s trainer Peter Moody won the Fred Hoysted Award, given to Victoria’s most exceptional trainer, and Luke Nolen took out his second Scobie Breasley Award as the most excellent jockey.

Along with “Team Caviar”, the awards commemorated the achievements of a guy who rode only 33 winners from his 85 rides for the yr, but who is plainly a single of the all-time-greats in his field.

Steve Pateman’s Tommy Corrigan medal, awarded to the most exceptional jumps jockey, is his fifth in six many years.

Whilst the awards are not necessarily given to the most profitable participants, in Moody’s case the fat of numbers is not possible to dismiss.

The former Queenslander qualified far more winners than any individual in Australia, leading in 209 for the yr.

But his dealing with of Black Caviar, who scored nine of her 22 wins in the previous season like the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, assured him of much more than numerical superiority.

Nolen is in a similar circumstance possessing been champion jockey in Melbourne for the past 4 seasons.

Like Moody, however, his association with Black Caviar has created him a national sporting figure.

Moody received 60 factors to beat France’s Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Mikel Delzangles (44) and Robert Smerdon (39).

Nolen scored 66 votes in the jockeys’ award, 15 ahead of Dwayne Dunn.

Pateman’s 53 votes produced the Tommy Corrigan medal a 1-act affair, his nearest rival Gavin Bedggood (Bedggood) earning a mere 12.

Black Caviar dominated the Racehorse of the Yr voting in comparable design, earning 156 votes, 100 much more than runner-up Atlantic Jewel.

The NSW Trainers Affiliation and bloodstock organization Inglis have thrown their blended assistance guiding John O’Shea in the wake of a latest Court Of Attraction ruling in opposition to him.

The organisations will be a part of forces to keep a racing market night in assist of the Randwick trainer who has to shell out around $ 500,000 in damages and costs to horse owner Humberto Vieira next the court’s findings previously this thirty day period.

A yearling in which Vieria bought a 70 for every cent talk about was labeled with a “low chance” issue acknowledged as cystic lucency in a hind leg but this reality was not handed on to Vieria.

O’Shea won the original court situation in December 2010 before shedding the appeal.

As the case was initiated numerous many years in the past when O’Shea was under the old Australian Trainers’ Association insurance coverage policy, he will only obtain $ seventy five,000 to go over his costs.

Underneath the existing NSW Trainers Association insurance coverage he would have acquired up to $ 250,0000.

The aim of the racing evening is to make up the $ 175,000 shortfall.

“These days it’s John O’Shea but tomorrow it could be a tiny region coach and the NSW Trainers Affiliation never want to see any trainer go below due to the fact of an insurance policy technicality,” NSWTA’s Steve McMahon mentioned.

“Along with other protections we are functioning by means of with the business, it really is our purpose to boost the insurance coverage coverage further next 12 months so that trainers have the greatest possible go over, and to function towards this incident by no means happening once again.”

The night will be held at the Inglis Newmarket complex at Randwick on April 17 and will contain a silent auction on the night time and a dwell auction of stallion nominations to some of Australia’s leading sires.

All proceeds raised will go in direction of the O’Shea family’s legal expenses.

7 horses and jockeys had been concerned in a terrible drop in an 8-horse race at Charles City in West Virginia.

Sharp Attractiveness broke down although primary the eighth celebration, triggering the incident that left Miss Fifty as the only finisher.

Miraculously, only 1 of the 7 jockeys was held overnight in hospital for observation whilst all the other folks walked away.

“Everyone appears to be alright,” Charles City chief steward Danny Wright said.

“Anthony Mawing continues to be in the hospital for observation and is reportedly in secure issue.”

The other six riders to be thrown from their mounts had been Grant Whitacre, Mitchell Snow, Jose Montana, Katie Reynolds, Clifford Dooley and Carlos Marrero, who was aboard Sharp Attractiveness.

Sharp Elegance had to be euthanised but all other horses concerned suffered only slight accidents.

Damp weather conditions caused the racing surface area to become sloppy, but Wright said the condition of the monitor wasn’t a issue in the drop.

“This was not an issue of the track issue creating an incident,” Wright said.

“This was a horse breaking down throughout the race that however took the field with them.”

After a stewards inquiry the race was judged official, with Miss 50 spending $ 5.50 for the win.