Canterbury Racing – 25 September 2004 – Race 6

Prior to the running of Race 6, Racecourse Hotel Motor Lodge Intermediate, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S C Ching, seeking a ruling on the following matter:

Present at the hearing of the information were Mr Ching, Mr Pitman, Mr T W Mills (Chief Executive/Secretary), Mr J R Langan (Racing Manager) and Mr R M Lory (Course Manager).

Mr Ching informed the Committee that Mr Pitman, trainer of CLASSIC TYCOON, an acceptor for Race 6, had approached him prior to Race 2 and asked that a request be put before this Committee regarding the late scratching of the horse for the Race. Mr Ching said that there had been no change in the track condition since 7.30am on race morning. He said that he wished the Committee to rule on the matter.

Mr Pitman called senior jockeys, B Hibberd, J S Bullard and L M Robinson. All expressed various views that the track was "bordering over soft", "a little bit loose", "soft in the straight", "quite soft", "a very, very slow track" and "definitely worse than easy". Mr Robinson stated that horses were "definitely going right into it in the straight".

Mr Langan pointed out that the a penetrometer reading of 3.3 was at the higher end of easy and getting close to the threshold of 3.6 at which point a track is classified as soft and that the winning time in Race 1 had been 58.20 for 1000 metres. He further stated that the track was drying out throughout the day.

Mr Lory told the Committee that he had done the penetrometer reading on Friday afternoon and the readings were very even all the way round. He said that 1mm of rain had fallen on Friday night. When he saw the sky on race morning and heard the weather forecast, he decided that the rain would not have made any difference to the reading he had done the previous evening. Another reading was made on race morning only if there had been "excessive rain" overnight. This was in accordance with NZTR guidelines, he said.

Mr Pitman stated that he believed that a fresh penetrometer reading was to be made on race morning and that he believed that it had been done when he decided to leave two of his runners in their fields. Had he known that a fresh penetrometer reading had not been made, he would probably have used his own judgement and withdrawn those two runners, he said. He submitted that, in his opinion, the track was definitely soft. He said that he believed CLASSIC TYCOON would not handle today's track. It had previously trialled on a soft track and could not handle it. He said that he had a high opinion of the horse and was preparing it for better races and did not wish to risk him.

Mr Mills submitted that a horse could only be scratched if there had been a change in track conditions after 7.30am resulting in a downgrading of the track.

Mr Ching informed the Committee that, from his viewing of the films, he had observed that there was "a lot more coming back on the riders in certain places on the track especially from the 800 metres home". He believed that this was the result of "patching" on the track.

The Committee noted the provisions of Rule 828(7). That Rule requires the Committee to determine whether there are circumstances which warrant a horse being scratched after 7.30am on raceday. On the Committee's interpretation of that Rule, a material change in the condition of the track constitutes such circumstances although it is not the only situation in which the Committee can authorise a late scratching. On this basis, the Committee had to determine whether other circumstances existed in the case of Mr Pitman's request to scratch CLASSIC TYCOON from Race 6.

In determining this, the Committee looked, in particular, at the following:

1. The evidence of the three senior jockeys which was quite compelling. Their views were respected by the Committee and they were unanimous in the view that the track was worse than easy, or soft;

2. Mr Ching's confirmation that the track was, effectively, cutting out from the 800 metres to the finish which would tend to suggest a soft rather than an easy track;

3. The fact that there had been rain fall after the taking of the penetrometer readings on Friday afternoon. It is the Committee's view that this should have been a sufficient basis for a further reading being made prior to 7.30am on raceday. This was not done and the penetrometer reading taken the day before may, therefore, have been unreliable; and

4. Mr Pitman's submission that the horse would not have handled the prevailing track conditions. The interests of the betting public must be taken into account. CLASSIC TYCOON was likely to have been a well-favoured runner and, on the basis of Mr Pitman's submission, the public's investments would have been misspent.

Having regard to the above matters, the Committee was satisfied that special circumstances existed to warrant CLASSIC TYCOON being scratched from Race 6 and, accordingly, the Committee ruled that Mr Pitman was entitled to scratch the horse.