"The thoroughbred horse is one of God's most magnificent creatures and, unfortunately, self-destructive enough by nature. They don't need all this help from those who love them."

- Jim Squires, in The New York Times .

WORLDWIDE, particularly in the United States, a push to be kinder to racehorses is growing.

Mind you, it's not before time over there, considering the drug abuse. But other issues, talking points in the industry since the Byerly Turk, are again on the boil and more applicable to the Australian turf.

"Why can't we quit pushing horses into the gate and whipping them to run?" Squires asked. "If the trainer can't train his horse to go in the gate and the gate workers can't put it in there without force, scratch him. Usually there is a reason a horse does not want to go in there. And usually horses that want to run don't have to be whipped. Beating a horse during a race and having it break down under a rider and lose is no way to build public support." In my 50-plus years in racing worthy anti-whip campaigners such as Jim Bendroit and David McNicoll have put forward strong opinions but I disagreed and still do.

The whip is vital equipment for a jockey. Yes, it can be used indiscriminately but Australian stewards have the nous to police it. Bad barrier horses are few and far between, and with two-year-old Chiamaka at Canterbury on Saturday it was probably inexperience.

Thoroughbreds must rate with the most pampered animals in the world. Obviously, at times, they suffer discomfort, hardly in the same category as a cart horse or pony club mount. But any more than ballet dancers? At Doomben on Saturday, jockey Scott Seamer was questioned by stipes for giving a horse one smack on the rump from ground level in the enclosure. He replied the horse was backing up in a potentially dangerous way and he did so for the animal's safety.

COSTLY COMMENT: A loose tongue for a jockey these days can be more damaging than careless riding. According to The Sunday Age , Daniel Moor allegedly called apprentice Nick Mehmet "a f---ing terrorist" in the weighing room at Moonee Valley on Saturday after being upset by interference to his mount. After a traffic problem in another race Moor was suspended by stewards until the end of July but, because of the severity of an "improper conduct charge", he will face the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board.

DREAM COMEBACK: Brilliant two-year-old Amelia's Dream, which would have started Golden Slipper favourite had she not gone amiss, has a "70 per cent chance of returning to racing", according to trainer Gai Waterhouse.

"She is just coming out of the convalescence stage and the prognosis is good," she said.

Meanwhile, Waterhouse is planning a major campaign in Melbourne this spring and intends to have a "full stable" in operation down south.

ROUGH RIDE: Despite the race fields legislation, legal challenges promise to delay the local industry getting a just return from those who have made a bonanza out of the "product" in recent years. "The maximum fee paid under the race fields legislation is only 1.5 per cent of turnover - just half the rate wagering operators generally pay to the racing industry internationally and less than a third of the rate that the NSW industry receives from the NSW TAB," Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys said in the latest Participants Bulletin in reply to bleats from those who have had it so good for so long.

GONE FISHING: Randwick horses may be doing well at Warwick Farm but stable workers with Les Bridge on the Sunshine Coast are having a better time. "Most afternoons they go fishing," Bridge said.

Due to World Youth Day, the Randwick trainer moved his staff and 14 horses north at his own expense but has no regrets - especially after Shagerz scored at the Sunshine Coast yesterday. Meanwhile, strappers who have moved to the Farm are improvising with sleeping arrangements, including hammocks and straw, between shifts. Incidentally, Dillinger, prepared by Bridge, went down by a half-neck in the Finance Handicap at Doomben on Saturday but didn't lose his "highly promising" tag.

HORSE TO FOLLOW: Maybe Shadow Cabinet continued on the winning trail in the March Hare Handicap at Canterbury on Saturday but being bred to Northern Hemisphere time he only recently turned three thus still has plenty of scope for improvement.

DISAPPOINTING: Boncoeur , the $4.40 favourite, could finish only ninth in Saturday's Filante Handicap at Canterbury and trainer Kris Lees told stewards that he couldn't offer an explanation for the performance.