So the controversy over the release of the YouTube video that appears to show the mis-handling of the stricken hurdler Sirrocean Storm, followed later in the week with the laying of nine charges by Racing Victoria Stewards against leading jockey Danny Nikolic, was both legs of the daily double from hell.

Unfortunately it also underlines how few in the industry have any real modern media smarts about the way they go about their business.

As far as the jumps are concerned, after my BPL column last week, I was invited to debate the issue with Rodney Rae (President of the Australian Jumps Racing Association) the following morning on the racing industry's station Sport 927.

His stance - and one I believe fully supported by the power brokers who managed to resurrect jumps racing after it was axed late last year - was to claim that it was "nothing new" from The Australian columnist Patrick Smith, as he had been wagering a war against the sport for years.

However when I pointed out that the YouTube piece had indeed provided Smith and the associated protestors with fresh ammunition due to the seemingly obvious poor treatment of the horrifically injured animal, Rae was quick to agree that the action was inappropriate, and has followed that up on Monday in the opening of his article in The Australian:

"THE handling of Sirrocean Storm following his fatal injury at the Warrnambool jumps carnival was a disaster and it made me feel sick watching the YouTube footage... I believe the trackman in question was acting in good faith by trying to move Sirrocean Storm away from the oncoming field, but we must ensure we handle such circumstances in a more appropriate and compassionate way for an injured horse in the future."

Read the full story here.

So why has it taken six days since this latest shot across the bow to the jumps fraternity was fired by Smith - a renowned anti-jumps campaigner - before the 'pro' lobby came back with strong condemnation of the YouTube video?

The reality is they have simply got their strategy wrong.

By the 'pro' jumping lobby taking a passive stance, Smith was able to run three consecutive columns unchallenged, complete with further strong condemnation for the industry in the associated on-line reader's comments.

I believe most of the heat could have been taken out of the debate had Rae and his associates loudly denounced the actions that appeared on the vision as soon as they were made aware of it as totally and utterly unacceptable, and that it went against everything that they had strived so hard to achieve with their sport's (possibly temporary) reprieve.

The message could have been driven home further to outsiders had Monday's non-descript Moe (and thankfully incident-free) Hurdle been postponed or cancelled, so all track attendants were given extra training in handling distressed animals.

Sure it might have been all for show, and those involved - if you'll pardon the crude expression - would consider it 'a bit of a wank', but for the so-called swinging voters on this polarising issue, it would at least appear to be a group treating one poor incident in a relatively positive week, very seriously.

In relation to Danny Nikolic being charged, Racing Victoria chose to release the news in a very basic style, with the nine charges emailed out on a one-page PDF document at 3:59pm last Friday with "no further comment will be made" as a footnote.

While the intention of releasing the charges in an anonymous fashion was honourable to both Nikolic and the sensitivity of the case, (as the stewards are clearly keeping their powder dry for when they have to give evidence) in practice it didn't do justice to the intense public interest and as such invited wild speculation.

It would be unthinkable that a similarly serious charge to a high-profile AFL, NRL or Australian cricket star, wouldn't see an in-person media announcement from a key figure such as Andrew Demetriou, David Gallop or James Sutherland, as they would be slaughtered by their respective sport's key journalists if they were absent during a controversy.

In Victoria, due to its sensational and all-encompassing spring carnival, the racing industry spends one month in the nation's sporting headlights and the rest if the year wondering why they're irrelevant to most of the population, so a good starting point to year-round acceptance would be to use the same open media management standards that the big mainstream sports now do whenever a so-called 'bad' news story appears.

On this occasion, Racing Victoria CEO Rob Hines could have easily publicly underlined how thorough, considered and professional his stewards have been throughout the drawn-out inquiry, without in any way jeopardising or compromising the case.

As a general rule, those of us who follow the four-legged lottery in a forensic fashion have great faith in how clean and well run Victorian racing is, and know that if you put the work into studying the form, a degree of confidence is warranted in no small part due to the vigilant nature of a top-class judicial system.

There's no need to keep it a secret.

"Racetrack" Ralphy Horowitz is a full-time racing analyst for private clients and media commentator for Sport 927. He is a former producer at The Footy Show, Sunday Footy Show, 3AW & SEN.