Tasmanians who voted for Mystic Journey in the All-Star Mile promotion have been dudded, according to some racing commentators and many on social media.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Everyone who voted for a horse to make the final field for the inaugural $5 million race went into a draw to become that horse's ambassador.
The ambassador of the winning horse pocketed $250,000.
However the conditions were different if the horse you voted for made the field as one of the four wildcards.
The wildcard runners' ambassadors were not restricted to just those who voted for them - everyone who voted for any horse went into those four draws.
That's how the $250,000 ended up in the pocket of Ballarat traffic controller Damian Murnane.
He voted for Moss N Dale (second-last) but wasn't drawn out as that horse's ambassador.
But, like everyone else, he then went into the second-chance draw for the wildcards - and came up with Mystic Journey.
So, someone who didn't vote for the Tasmanian filly became her ambassador and won the money.
In hindsight, it's now generally agreed that only those who voted for Mystic Journey in the first place should have been in her draw.
That would have given 3835 people (mostly Tasmanians) a good chance of collecting the cash.
Instead, Mystic Journey's voters went into a second-chance draw with the 140,000 others who participated in the promotion.
So rather than having a 3835-1 chance of winning, their odds were 140,000-1.
Enough said.
Racing Victoria has acknowledged that some of the All-Star Mile conditions will be tweeked before next year's race.
That must be one of them.
TASSIE BREEDERS' ADELAIDE SUCCESS
Tasmania's two premier thoroughbred studs topped the averages at last week's two-day Adelaide Magic Millions sale.
Grenville Stud sold three yearlings at a sale-best average of $163,333 while Armidale Stud's three offerings averaged $133,300.
To put that in perspective, the average price of the 251 lots sold was $39,681.
Although none of the Tasmanian studs' six yearlings were by local sires, Grenville's Graeme McCulloch said there would be some indirect benefits for the local industry.
"It probably doesn't mean a great lot for the Tasmanian industry in general apart from the fact that it puts a bit of money in our kitty and we can go buy some better mares," he said.
McCulloch sold a Zoustar filly for $190,000, Brazen Beau colt for $190,000 and Mongolian Khan colt for $110,000.
Armidale's best result was $180,000 for a colt by Exosphere.