Pride of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre to keep his lips sealed on retirement talk for champion mare

News.com.au02-06-2025

Scarred by the keyboard warriors who criticised Pride Of Jenni 's second coming, prominent owner Tony Ottobre has vowed to keep his lips sealed when he decides the time is right to retire the champion mare for good.
Ottobre made what he admitted was an emotional decision to call time on the triple Group 1 winner's career after she bled when last in the Champions Mile at Flemington in November.
But Ottobre changed his mind in the new year and in March, Pride Of Jenni returned with a bang, winning the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield under 61kg.
The seven-year-old then flopped in the $2.5m Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington before a 2.25-length victory in the Listed Anniversary Vase (1600m) at Caulfield early this month.
She was then sent to Queensland for the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m), won by local hero Antino, but faded badly to finish 10th out of 12 runners.
It prompted further questions over whether it was time for Ottobre to again hang up the saddle for the Ciaron Maher -trained mare, but the owner insisted Pride Of Jenni would be the one to make that call, not him.
'When she's ready, then we'll retire her. And there won't be any fanfare,' said Ottobre, who told Racenet recently that he had banned himself from social media.
'One day she just won't turn up to the races and that'll be it.
'I've already made an announcement and I tried to apologise to say that 'look, I did get it wrong' but it was 'boo-hoo to you Tony, we're still going to give it to you'.
'Well it'll be 'boo-hoo to you guys' because I'm not going to tell them when she's going to retire so it works both ways.
'I've always talked the truth but now I just have to clam up a little bit because it's not good for my family.
'I don't care, you can bag the s*** out of me but my family – my wife, my son, my grandchildren and my friends – they don't like to see that kind of stuff.
'I just can't believe how bad some people are with their thoughts about horses. It's pretty rank.'
Pride Of Jenni returns with a bang at Caulfield as she goes all the way to take out the Listed Anniversary Vase ðŸ™Œ @cmaherracing @craig_newitt pic.twitter.com/hK9cYMVDRo
— Racing.com (@Racing) May 3, 2025
•
Ottobre said he felt vindicated in bringing Pride Of Jenni, who had won almost $10.5m in prizemoney, back to the racetrack.
'Because I mentioned that she was going to retire last year, ever since then everyone's been jumping on my case saying 'you should retire her',' he said.
'Then she won the Peter Young Stakes. She was just outside the course record that was 20 years old and had to carry 61kg.
'We did the right thing and people have got to give us some sort of credit for that because we don't retire her just because people say that we should.
'We have a judgment call to make and nine times out of 10 we make the right call.
'As far as I'm concerned, bringing her back and winning two out of the races she's raced in was vindication enough to say we were on the money.'
The great mare is back! ðŸ'«
Pride Of Jenni picks up where she left off, stringing her opposition out & trouncing them in the Peter Young Stakes. @cmaherracing @craig_newitt pic.twitter.com/qayDiM7HpB
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 15, 2025
Pride Of Jenni left Brisbane on Monday on a truck bound for Melbourne, where she will enjoy a spell before a likely spring carnival campaign.
But just don't mention the R-word to Ottobre because he's had a gutful of the negativity surrounding his champion mare.
'They all talk about retiring and age but horses can run up until they're 13,' he said.
'I'm not saying I'll do that with her but it's no big deal that seven or eight-year-olds keep running.
' Chautauqua is the perfect example. He just told everyone that he didn't want to run.'

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‘Gross': AFL broadcaster under fire for showing young Carlton fan sobbing

News.com.au

29 minutes ago

News.com.au

‘Gross': AFL broadcaster under fire for showing young Carlton fan sobbing

The AFL world is divided after Fox Sports decided to showcase a distraught child during Carlton's embarrassing eleven-point defeat to North Melbourne on Saturday. The Kangaroos, one of the league's weakest teams, sprung a huge upset over the Blues on the weekend much to the anger of fans, with a chorus of boos sounding out around the MCG at several points in the match. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. There was no shortage of sad or dismayed Blues fans in the stands as their side was dominated for large parts of the game but many felt one move by the AFL broadcaster went too far. With Carlton down 84-45 in the final quarter, Fox Sports' decision to pan to a young distraught Blues fan drew the ire of many watching at home. 'That is a summation of what's happened for the Blues with that poor young fella. Mum and Dad have brought him to the footy today, full of hope,' commentator Mark Howard said. While Brisbane Lions great Jonathan Brown quipped: 'That's just bad parenting'. However, many footy fans didn't see the light side of it, slamming the broadcast giant on social media. 'Fox needs to stop zooming in on upset fans. It's not just uncomfortable, it's invasive and exploitative. You don't know why someone's crying. Maybe it's not even about the game. And filming crying kids for broadcast? That's not storytelling, it's just gross,' one angry viewer wrote on social media. 'They should be zooming in on fans but kids crying is not right,' another added. While a third said: 'That poor little fella who is a Carlton supporter & was crying is about to become a meme. He doesn't deserve that. His day is bad enough as it is!' But others didn't see the fuss. 'It's part of the entry policy you accept when buying a ticket. Unlucky, just bottle it up like the rest of us,' one fan wrote. Others commented 'Australia is the land of snowflakes, grow up' and 'They're at a live football match ffs in the public eye how can it be invasive if you don't want people to see your emotions then stay home lol'. After the loss, Carlton coach Michael Voss was equally dismayed, but his anger was shared between his team's performance and the fans' decision to boo. 'It's not time to isolate, it's time to come together,' Voss said in regard to the booing. 'We love coming to the ground and having the supporter base we have and the passion that our supporters have, but we share in their disappointment.' But fans were not done complaining, with 3AW in Melbourne bombarded by angry Blues fans after the game. Eddie called in and said: 'I'm 57 years old and I've been watching Carlton for many years and we still lack heart. 'I'm pleased for North Melbourne, but we were absolutely done in the third quarter. I'm calling it out Voss, sorry mate, you've got to go. It's time for a change.' While Adrian said: 'They show a bit of spine in the last quarter so they can get selected again and not get dropped. 'There's no heart and Michael Voss, you've got no idea what you're going to get from that coach. 'You've got to take most of the blame Michael and we want you out of the football club. Time is up.'