Skip to main content

Some days I'd love to be a judge

When I was at high school, I fancied the idea of being a lawyer, probably from watching too much LA Law. Once I got to uni I realised it was never going to happen and soon changed my career plans (which I then did a few more times before stumbling into the betting industry, an option I never thought possible as a youngster). All the paperwork and tedium of law put me right off it, not to mention the work involved when all I wanted to do was enjoy my first years in a big city.

But the idea of being a judge, having a platform to tell people they are fuckwits and should be punished for it is much more appealing. Particularly when their defence is simply pathetic and should be laughed out of court.

Take the front page of today's Racing Post, the case of experienced veterinarian James Main, who admitted injecting one of Nicky Henderson's horses with a banned blood-clotting agent on raceday back in 2009. Henderson was banned for three months as a result.

Main's case was "we didn't think we had administered anything terribly illegal" and claimed he was unaware of the rule which effectively bans anything other than feed and water on a raceday. This is a member of two BHA committees and a veterinary adviser to the British Trainers' Federation claiming to not to know of the most important rule in the book for a vet. And he claims to be deeply shocked and disappointed to have been struck off the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons register.

If you're that incompetent at knowing the framework of your job, then it's time you became a binman....

This case was heard by his industry body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. One can only wonder how soft the penalty would have been if a racing body was hearing the case - "oh, that's ok, it's perfectly acceptable not to know how to do your job. If the rules weren't delivered to you by royal decree then obviously you can't be expected to have read them. Take a holiday for a couple of weeks and then come back and be your incompetent self again....."

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments, but if you're a spammer, you've just wasted your time - it won't get posted.

Popular posts from this blog

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

BBVA Compass Bowl preview

Just a few more College Bowl games to go to complete the season. Here's another preview by James Jack, @materialista27 . And a reminder that if any previews aren't posted here, you should be able to find them on his dedicated College Bowl site . --------------- BBVA Compass Bowl Saturday January 5th, 12:00 CST (18:00 GMT) Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Ole Miss Rebels The BBVA Compass Bowl was originally created as the Birmingham Bowl in 2006 and has also been sponsored by Papa John's Pizza in its short history. The Bowl initially had a tie-in with the Conference-USA but they decided to rip that up in 2008 and signed a deal with the Big East and the SEC. It currently matches the 6th team from the Big East with the 9th team from the SEC, however in recent years, it appears to have become the Pittsburgh Bowl as this will be their third straight appearance, splitting the last two with SMU. Should this game follow that trend, Pittsburgh ...