NZ Metro TC – 4 February 2005 – Race 4

Following the running of Race 4, the Christian Cullen Mobile Pace, an information instigating a protest was laid by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. T. Larkins alleging a breach of Rule 869(8). The information reads as follows.

"This is a protest against horse number (8) placed 3^rd by the judge on the grounds of interference to horse number (7). The interference occurred shortly after the start."

Rule 869(8) reads as follows.

"The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to Rule 1003 thereof place any horse which:

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1. may have gained an advantage by any conduct or interference prohibited by any preceding provision of this Rule and/or
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2. may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses, -

immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.

Present at the hearing were Mr S. Walkinshaw who was the driver of "Here Lies A Dream" (8). Mr Walkinshaw is a Junior Horseman and he was assisted during the hearing by Mr A. M. Butt, an Open Horseman. The trainer and owners of "Here Lies A Dream" were not present at this hearing and Mr Butt undertook to represent their interests.

Mr Larkins gave evidence that at the start of the race "Here Lies a Dream" moved inwards and interfered with "Love That Lavros" which broke and lost considerable ground. Mr Larkins called Mr S. Smolenski, the driver of "Love That Lavros", as a witness and he said that "Here Lies a Dream" had moved inwards and made contact with his horse which broke.

Stipendiary Steward Mr B. Williams showed video coverage of this incident from various angles.

Mr Butt asked Mr Smolenski if there was also some movement from the horse inside him ("Rocken Horse Dryden") which might have contributed to the incident. Mr Smolenski accepted that there may have been a slight movement outwards by this horse. Mr Butt also used the video coverage to illustrate his view that there had been movement from the inside of "Love That Lavros" as well as from the outside.

After hearing the evidence we retired to consider our decision.

The video coverage of this incident shows that just prior to the start of this mobile race the horses involved were travelling in close quarters at the time. We were also satisfied that "Love That Lavros" ran out of room and received interference. What we are not satisfied about is that "Here Lies A Dream" was responsible for the interference. We take the view that it was a combination of the two horses on either side of "Love That Lavros" moving slightly at the same time, and we emphasise that the movement of these two horses was very slight, but the combination of the movement and the timing of it caused the incident.

When we returned to the Enquiry Room we advised that the protest was dismissed. The parties were not present at that time but they had been invited to return to hear our reasons for this decision, but they did not do so.