WATERHOUSE SET TO FIELD AT BALAKLAVA CUP
IN what is being touted as the biggest feat in the history of the Balaklava Racing Club, infamous bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse will be fielding at this year’s Balaklava Cup, on Wednesday, August 31.
The Waterhouse name is synonymous with Australian racing, racing club CEO, Doug Hall, ecstatic Robbie will be present at this year’s major event.
“To me, the fact he has agreed to come is probably the single biggest coup the club has ever pulled off,” Mr Hall said.
“He’s a legend to people in the racing industry and the Waterhouse family is legendary in Australian racing.”
Of course, there is more to the Waterhouse name than just Robbie, with father Bill and his own son, Tom, both astute bookies.
Robbie’s wife Gai, is the daughter of one of Australia’s greatest ever trainers, the late Tom Smith, while Gai herself is also a legendary trainer, held in similar regard to her father.
“They are arguably the royalty of Australian racing,” Mr Hall said.
“I’d go and have a bet with him just to have a ticket with Robbie Waterhouse on it.
“I think he will be a real drawcard, it will reinvigorate the betting ring.”
Mr Hall said there is a rumour wife Gai, one of the nation’s most successful trainers, may also be coming to the meet.
Mr Waterhouse said the fame that comes with the name is all part and parcel of the racing game.
“I’m delighted to be invited,” he said.
“Obviously, it is advantage in my trade to be well-known.”
Securing Robbie’s attendance at the cup came right out of the blue.
“Originally, we approached his dad to come over as a guest for the media launch,” Mr Hall explained.
Given other commitments on the calendar, the club offered Robbie the opportunity to come to the cup instead.
“He said ‘yeah, I’ll come over, I’ll field’,” Mr Hall said.
“We just wanted him to come over as a guest but when he said he would field, we thought bloody hell, how good is this?”
There are literally hundreds of tales connected to Robbie in Australian racing folklore, Mr Hall recounting one incident involving media mogul Kerry Packer.
The details are slightly blurred but the story goes along the lines of Packer approaching Waterhouse to put $1 million on his own horse, at even money odds.
Waterhouse rose the stakes, offering Packer odds of $2.50, if Packer doubled his investment.
Packer supposedly snapped up the bet, only to watch his horse lose the race.
“The story goes on that Kerry Packer stormed out of Randwick, jumped on a plane, went to Darwin and won it back on the punt in the Darwin Casino,” Mr Hall chuckled.
Mr Hall believed Robbie’s fame and competitiveness would breathe new life into a bookies section starting to dry out.
“Over the past few years with TABs in marquees, the betting ring has been no where near as busy as it used to be,” Mr Hall said.
“I think with him in there, it will bring people back.
“It’s all about competition, if he has a horse a couple of points higher than bookmakers around him, it will force them either to not take bets because people will bet where the best price is, or they’ve got to match him.
“It won’t be beyond the realms of possibility that other bookmakers will bet with him too.”
Mr Waterhouse oozed confidence for a bookie set for his first visit to the Mid North track.
“It has become crucial to have done the form well,” he said.
“Punters bet where get the best price.
“I’ll be top odds and get plenty of business.”
With the betting ring thick with the competitive atmosphere, Mr Hall said it would be a spectacle to see how punters and other bookies alike, take on Mr Waterhouse.
“He’s been at it all his life and he’s damn good at it,” Mr Hall said.
ENDS
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For more information, contact the Balaklava Racing Club on 8862 1503 or email dcrhall@bigpond.net.au
