SHAILER MAKES STRONG POINT ABOUT RACE TIMES

By Graham Potter | Monday, July 28, 2025

The Paul Shailer trained Mister Bianco just can’t catch a break.

First there was the late scratching episode from the Winx Guineas back on July 5 when no suitable replacement jockey was available following the injury to Ryan Maloney in an earlier race … and then, on Saturday, Shailer and Mister Bianco were still on the road heading for Doomben when the trainer was notified that Mister Bianco’s race (scheduled to be the last race on the day) had been postponed and transferred to Wednesday.

That decision was made after a mid-meeting storm delay had set all races back with stewards making an early call on the fate of the last race after weighing up its new scheduled race time in relation to the gloomy conditions and additional forecast rainfall.

“Look it is always disappointing, but it is what it is. It can’t be changed,” was Shailer’s response to his personal circumstances on the day, but he didn’t mince his words when commenting on the broader issue which impacted Saturday’s outcome.

“For the life of me … I’ve been thinking about it … I just don’t understand the times of the races … the starting time and the finishing time.

“I mean, lightning aside, if the battery went flat in the tractor and they couldn’t move the barriers … if a patron went down and they had to use the ambulance and we had to wait for another one … if there was a fall in a race … any of those sort of circumstances on the day and we would have lost that last race.

“It’s madness to me … and then we sit at home and watch three races being run and won in Sydney before we even start.”

It is a fair bet that Shailer’s frustration on this topic will be shared by many participants … not least his fellow trainers and owners who had horses lined up in the last race on Saturday … and, hopefully, it provides fair food for thought for those who set the racing schedule.

Somewhere obvious logic should take precedence over the mass flooding of races to seemingly fill every conceivable slot in a driven by turnover formula.

For Mister Bianco, it will be a case of going again on Wednesday.

The son of Zousain has won three of his last four starts. Those wins came in a row as he put himself on the radar as an emerging talent before finishing fourth last time, when taking on a QTIS Three-Year-Handicap in town a week after missing out on that run in the Winx Guineas.

Mister Bianco was game in defeat in that last start under the steadying burden of 61kg.

Mister Bianco carried 7kg more than the winner and 9kg more than both the second and third placed runners on that occasion and was only beaten by 2.25 lengths. On Wednesday he will again give between 3.5kg and 9kg to all of his rivals.

Shailer is happy with his horse and ready for the challenge … dare we say it … if he can get a start.

“He’s fit. He’s healthy and he is doing great,” said Shailer.

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