![\"Danny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/14200608ab3621357a740646c1e6f58c8cefb511.png\")
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October 11, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Blinkers On is a weekly column covering the biggest issues of the spring racing carnival.<\/p>\n Racing has a gambling problem. The country\u2019s rank-and-file punters are being ripped off.<\/p>\n For the umpteenth time across the weekend, punters who laid a winning bet with the TAB tote were sold short.<\/p>\n The culprit? The much-touted World Pool, a Hong Kong-based betting system that is merged with Australia\u2019s tote, the TAB, for big races and on big race days as part of an ongoing agreement. They accounted for seven races at Caulfield and 10 at Rosehill.<\/p>\n The proof is in the dividends: winning sprinter Point Barrow paid $2.60 with the World Pool TAB, while returning $3.20 with the bookies. Another Caulfield winner, Land Legend, was rated a 70-1 chance by the bookies, but returned $44 on the World Pool Tab \u2013 that\u2019s a big difference for someone having a $1 bet.<\/p>\n Social media lit up again on Saturday night about the issue and has been an ongoing lament for punters heading towards Melbourne Cup week.<\/p>\n Outspoken professional punter John Walters called it a \u201cliteral brutality for all punters\u201d because the World Pool continues to retain a higher percentage of the investment \u2013 meaning a smaller return for punters.<\/p>\n He said the World Pool sits at 123 per cent. The fixed odds market (betting with bookies) sits at 115 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market percentage is higher, so, on average, all horses will be poor value in comparison long term,\u201d Walters explained on X. \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter what you back.\u201d<\/p>\n The World Pool concept was introduced as an alternative to fixed-odds betting, and to attract an international audience into the Australian market and create bigger pools of money. But it is hard to see it instilling any confidence.<\/p>\n Melham missing from Caulfield<\/p>\n The Melbourne Racing Club boosted Caulfield Cup prizemoney by $1 million this year \u2013 from $5 million to $6 million \u2013 to celebrate their 150th anniversary, but maybe that cash would have been better spent somewhere else.<\/p>\n Like on a Jamie Melham appearance fee.<\/p>\n The history-making hoop has left a massive hole in this year\u2019s marketing campaign because she won\u2019t be in Melbourne this Saturday to defend her crown.<\/p>\n For those living under a rock, Melham became the first female jockey to win the Caulfield Cup<\/a> last year on stayer Half Yours. She is the biggest star in the sport and transcends racing because she followed up little more than two weeks later to do the Cups double<\/a> \u2013 also the first woman to have achieved this feat.<\/p>\n But the 20-time group 1 winning star has opted to head to Sydney this Saturday to ride in the Everest, giving up the title defence on Half Yours to Mark Zahra.<\/p>\n Which makes the MRC\u2019s widespread promotional posters for their 150th Cup somewhat obsolete \u2013 they feature Melham in her Half Yours silk, kissing the trophy.<\/p>\n When asked over the weekend about her decision, Melham told Seven she was driven by the desire to win the Everest \u2013 a group 1 trophy that is yet to sit in her ever-expanding cabinet.<\/p>\n Related Article And who could blame her, considering the riches on offer in the $20 million mega sprint race \u2013 the brain child of the now departed NSW racing supremo Peter V\u2019Landys, who has decided to channel all his powers into the NRL?<\/a><\/p>\n But maybe a $1 million appearance fee could have persuaded Melham otherwise. Why not? It is a strategy used in plenty of other sports.<\/p>\n For the record, Melham will have her work cut out to win this year\u2019s Everest on Bjorn Baker three-year-old Blue Door. They will have to beat the world\u2019s best horse, Ka Ying Rising.<\/p>\n Why the Cox Plate is becoming an A-reserve event<\/p>\n Speaking of the need for appearance money, the Cox Plate is another event fading further into Sydney\u2019s growing spring shadow.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s $6 million Cox Plate, to be run at Flemington for the first time while Moonee Valley undergoes renovations<\/a>, will be run and won without at least three of the country\u2019s best horses.<\/p>\n Brilliant mare Autumn Glow and four-time group 1 winner Ceolwulf will instead take part in this Saturday\u2019s group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1609m) at Randwick, while emerging superstar Sheza Alibi is being lured north by the salivating $10 million purse for the group 1 Golden Eagle (1500m) on Saturday, October 31.<\/p>\n Imagine an Olympic final missing three of its best? It becomes the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n A decade ago, all three of these A-graders would have been at the Cox Plate starting barriers. Instead, we are preparing for an A-reserve event, and, for racing purists, it is a hard pill to swallow.<\/p>\n Can you imagine a universe in which Winx did not win four consecutive Cox Plates? Well, you are living in it.<\/p>\n So, back to appearance money. Earlier this year, the Moonee Valley committee weighed up financial incentives to lure international superstar Calandagan down under. Why not offer it to Sheza Alibi\u2019s connections instead?<\/p>\n Who knows, decorated trainer Peter Moody has never won a Cox Plate \u2013 it might be the only incentive he needs.<\/p>\n History repeating?<\/p>\n While on the subject of Melbourne Racing Club, which governs Caulfield Racecourse, casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that its recent history is being tweaked, if not rewritten.<\/p>\n The club\u2019s board and leadership \u2013 which put on a cracking Caulfield Guineas day, it has to be said \u2013 are continually spouting their achievements from across the past 12 months.<\/p>\n A quick flick through the club\u2019s annual report shows their boasting to include: saving Sandown Racecourse from development, introducing cheap food and drinks, which includes $8.50 schooners of beer, scrapping plans to spend a motza on a new grandstand and rescuing the mounting yard.<\/p>\n But The Age annals show the same things were being celebrated in last year\u2019s annual report, under former chairman John Kanga\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n The Age reported in February 2025 that the MRC had written off a new $60 million mounting yard<\/a> \u2013 and reverted to the old one \u2013 to keep its members happy.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/36095dcfa7e403b109fa702a25b9140df1ac7738.jpeg\")
The World Pool is the subject of ongoing complaints from punters.Getty<\/p>\n![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/be623c23bbb8dae21b01fce131016d3728d497be.jpeg\")
Jamie Melham won\u2019t be racing in the Caulfield Cup.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Giga](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/af36e6289a426d6e3bf1026031533dd845170b77.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jockey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/8f6c99e2475641b07c593c1244dd288123d30ac4.jpeg\")
Jockey James McDonald and trainer Chris Waller celebrate Via Sistina\u2019s Cox Plate win in 2024.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ecc0a897ae6c0112f938befa6a4c5065908a899e.jpeg\")
The MRC runs Caulfield Racecourse.Joe Armao<\/p>\n
![\"Trainer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/9258e518da611811331a378a8ae9f45b363459fc.jpeg\")
Trainer Ciaron Maher.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Ethan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/a4e1158511daf927305799d86a355102050768f9.jpeg\")
Ethan Brown on Vivy Air at Randwick last year.Getty Images<\/p>\n