I don't think it was any surprise that the board of Harness Racing New South Wales lifted the life ban on former glamour boy Chris Gleeson last week. Gleeson had applied for the ban to be lifted in 2006 and while it had been knocked back, time was always going to be a friend to the "Colgate Kid". Obviously there are still a number of bridges to be crossed before Gleeson is granted a trainer's licence including a yet to be heard inquiry into an elevated TCo2 reading before he received his life ban but I think it's fair to say that it is only a matter of time before he is granted a licence to train in New South Wales.

Is it a good or bad decision? I said on In The Gig on Monday night that I really didn't have a strong opinion either way and things haven't changed for me. Most people would know that I am a stickler for rules and believe they should be followed strictly yet what is fair punishment for Gleeson's role in the Coloresque affair? This issue is going to divide the industry. I have spoken to a number of people within the industry about the decision handed down by the HRNSW board and I think it's fair to say that there are more against the lifting of the ban than for it.

My view on the matter is this. Here is a man that was rubbed out of the sport for life for a very serious offence that goes against the rules of the sport. A life ban for tampering with a horse's gear seemed like the right punishment at the time but time is kind to most rule breakers and I think the time he has served is long enough.

I have never spoken to Chris Gleeson. When all of this happened back in the mid 90's I was still at school but I get the feeling from those who know him well that there won't be a rush to get his licence back but when he does come back he won't have to worry about attracting owners.

Turning my attention to what has happened on the track in the past seven days and I think you must have been watching a different race to me if you didn't think Karloo Mick was impressive on Friday night in the Macarthur Cup. The rising ten year old rolled forward from a middle draw and was caught outside the leader when they screamed out of the gate in 26.5. The middle half was 60.5 and that allowed the son of Panorama to catch his breath before racing away in the last quarter to record a comfortable eight metre win, clocking his final 400 metres in 27.3. What impressed me the most was his desire and zest for racing. He attacked the final corner and was low flying as they straightened up before flattening out nicely. Quite unbelievably it was the gelding's first win at Menangle but when you consider his only other start on the track was last year's Miracle Mile it's easy to see why he hadn't won on the 1400 metre circuit before.

Barry Lew has made no secret of his desire to return to Queensland for the start of the Grand Circuit and in his current form he is going to be a major player when he heads north. What surprised me the most was when Lew suggested there were no plans to head back to New Zealand in November for the cup and at this stage the gelding will be aimed at the feature sprint races like the Miracle Mile and Newcastle Mile. The plan will then be for Lew to freshen up his stable star before heading to New Zealand for another crack at the Inter Dominion. Looking back now I just wonder whether Barry went to the well once too often last campaign. Instead of doing "the right thing" by some of the country clubs around New South Wales he should have been more single minded towards the Sydney Inter Dominion.

The highlight in Victoria was the Minuteman FFA with Smoken Up winning again accounting for a solid field including Ti Vogliobene, Cincinnati Kid, Bold Cruiser and Benny Mac. Smoken Up was forced to do all of the work outside the leader and looked to be in some trouble approaching the turn when he lost ground on the leader but when Lance Justice turned the whip around and asked his seven year old to get serious, he put his head down and did his thing recording a 1.5 metre win. I have said in the past that I expect Justice to concentrate on one race and one race only this year and that is the Miracle Mile.

What about the actions of James Ponsonby in the final race at Menangle on Friday night? Ponsonby took both of his feet out of the footrests and basically stood in the sulky in an attempt to drive his horse out to the finish and while he was doing his absolute best to get the horse over the line in first position, the stewards took a dim view of his actions and fined him $200. It wasn't a good look and I don't think he will be doing anything similar in the future. I thought he was trying to do an impression of Vince Silvestro without the fireworks at first!

Congratulations to all of the premiership winners in New South Wales. Steve Turnbull has had a great season to take out the state trainers premiership while Greg Bennett does a fantastic job year in and year out considering he doesn't have the support of a massive stable. His win in the state and metro driver's titles is a credit to his work ethic. Sure he has the backing of a number of small stables but he has to juggle all of them to ensure he remains popular with everyone. The trainer's metro title was shared between Paul Fitzpatrick and Ian Wilson. It gets a bit quiet for the next few weeks but there are still races to be won. Catch you next week.