TAB and Others Refund Bets for Abandoned Warwick Farm Meeting
Bookie TAB.com.au has refunded all bets on Cellsabeel following the filly’s scratching ahead of the Inglis Millennium.
The two-year-old had opened at $7, but was backed down to $1.50 before trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace pulled her when the Warwick Farm meeting for Saturday was abandoned due to heavy rains making the track unusable.
The two trainers scratched her because if she had run the rescheduled race, she would have had only 10 days between starts, and the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes, scheduled for Rosehill on February 22 was the priority for her.
In over 10 years of following Australian Thoroughbred racing, we can count the instances of bookie generosity on one finger, so credit where credit is due.
The cynic might say, justifiably, that there was a lot of backing for Cellsabeel, so any punters who got a wager on her while she was being reeled in from $7 to $1.50 represented a potential big payout for the bookie.
Those among the group of the less cynical could point out that a $1.50 favourite in a juvenile race is not a guarantee of a win. That is also a valid point of view.
More practically, prizemoney from the Inglis Millennium does not count toward the Golden Slipper order of entry, so Maher and Eustace, reacting swiftly to the abandonment of the meeting, made a good call by holding Cellsabeel out of the sales restricted race.
TAB went further. “As a gesture of good will for TAB customers,” by refunding all all-in and pre nominations bets, along with all final field bets.
We would gladly shout TAB if they ever came to our local and their money would never again be any good if they were to announce that all losing punts would be forgiven.
Other bookies responded similarly, despite the fact that all-in bets are not typically refunded and there is no legal obligation for them to do that.
The current times are unusual, however, in that the heavy rains have dampened the fire danger, only to replace it with flood danger.
Ahead of Saturday’s big meeting at Randwick, the course is rated Heavy 8, with quality races on tap, including the Group 2 Apollo Stakes and Light Fingers Stakes and Group 3s Triscay Stakes and Southern Cross Stakes.