Canterbury JC – 1 August 2009 – Race 10

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startdate: 01/08/2009

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hearing_title: Canterbury JC - 1 August 2009 - Race 10

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Following the running of Race 10, Speight’s Premier, Information No. 41987 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Sanders, requesting a ruling on the following matter:-
In that whether or not Race 10 on today’s card is declared void due to several runners being restrained over the early stages when a false start was perceived to have been declared. Five starting gates were slow or did not open when the start was declared”.

Following the running of Race 10, Speight’s Premier, Information No. 41987 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Sanders, requesting a ruling on the following matter:-
In that whether or not Race 10 on today’s card is declared void due to several runners being restrained over the early stages when a false start was perceived to have been declared. Five starting gates were slow or did not open when the start was declared”.

Rule 1102 provides as follows:
(2)  The functions of a Judicial Committee shall be:
  (a)  from one hour prior to the advertised starting time of the first race of any day of a race meeting until after the conclusion of the last proceeding which it commences to deal with on that day, or thirty minutes after the last race run on that day (whichever is the later) to:
       (iii)   declare a race null and void and if it thinks expedient order that such race be run again

Present at the hearing of the information were Mr Sanders, the Informant, Mr S C Ching (Stipendiary Steward), Mr T W Mills, Mr P L McKenzie, Mr A Bull, jockeys D M Walsh, R J Hannam and T R Moseley, Mrs S Payne and Trackside presenter, Mr Greg O’Connor.

Mr Sanders stated that the Stewards were seeking a ruling that Race 10 be declared void. He said that there had earlier been a false start declared in the Race when the gates of THE PRAWN STAR and LONELY GEORGE failed to open and the starter, Mrs Payne, declared a false start. The horses were pulled up and returned to the start where they were vetted. After some attention to the gates, the field was reloaded. When the field was released, the same two gates did not open and the two horses outside those two gates, containing MISS KEY and ELEANOR COUP, were also slow to open, as was Gate 1 (ONE MORE THYME). In the circumstances, a number of riders attempted to restrain their mounts, in the reasonable belief that a false start would be declared since a false start had been declared on the previous two occasions when gates had failed to open (there had been a false start declared in Race 9 when two gates had failed to open). A number of jockeys had informed the Stewards after the Race that they had attempted to restrain their mounts – Jillian Morris (PARTEE’S OVER), Vinnie Colgan (ITSADREAM) and even the eventual winner, CAUGHT OUT (D M Walsh) and the horse on his inner, YOURHAVINMEON (Kelly Myers). MISS KEY (Lisa Allpress), ELEANOR COUP (Mark Du Plessis) and BISCUIT GREEN (Daniel Stackhouse) could also be seen to be restrained. The chances of those runners were clearly affected, Mr Sanders submitted. The majority of the field did not have “a fair and equal opportunity”. The race would have been run differently, Mr Sanders submitted, and there would likely have been a different result in the Race. In addition, he said, punters who had invested on the Race were entitled to a refund of their investments. Weighing up the interests of all those concerned – the TAB, the Club, owners, trainers and riders and, most importantly, the punters – Mr Sanders submitted that the Committee should exercise the power under the Rule to declare Race 10 to be void. As an alternative, it would be necessary to declare a number of horses, at least five or six, to be non-starters.

The Committee asked Mr Sanders if the second attempt to start Race 10 had been declared a false start. Mr Sanders said that it had not. The starter, Mrs Clark, said that after the first false start in the Race she had enquired of Mr Sanders what to do if it happened again. Mr Sanders had told her that, in that event, it was her call. Mr Sanders believed that a precedent had been set in Race 9 and the first false start in Race 10.

At this point in the hearing, Mr Sanders showed head-on and side-on video replays of the start of the Race and pointed out the runners that he had made reference to in his submissions and the extent to which, he believed, the chances of each runner had been affected.

Mr Peter McKenzie, trainer of the winner CAUGHT OUT, said that from talking to some of the riders the perception was that, if the stalls malfunctioned again, it would not be declared a false start. The starter did not declare a false start and the red flag was not waved to stop the Race. In addition, he submitted, the effect on the runners allegedly affected had not been as great as suggested by Mr Sanders. To declare the Race void, would affect a lot of people – a lot of people were going to be affected in any event, Mr McKenzie said. His rider, Mr Walsh, had been instructed to take a hold of the horse and take it to the rear of the field and let it settle. Only the horses left in the gates had been affected to a great degree. Mr Walsh endorsed the comment that, no matter what the decision of the Committee, a lot of people were going to be affected. He urged the Committee to consider a “damage control” approach.

Mr Adrian Bull said that he had two horses in the Race. The rider of one, YOURHAVINMEON (Kelly Myers) had no idea what had happened until she was unsaddling. Mr Hannam said that he rode the runner-up, SKIRMISH. He said that he had heard, prior to the start, that even if the gates malfunctioned again it was “going to be a race”. He said that he had “dragged” the mare back because that is how she races. He suggested that the first three placegetters had come from the second half of the field. When asked by the Committee, he stated that he was not aware that there had been a problem with the start.

Mr M G Humphries, Assistant Stipendiary Steward, said that he spoke with the starter after the first false start and the starter telephoned Mr Sanders. He confirmed that Mr Sanders had said it was the “starter’s call” in the event of the gates malfunctioning at the second attempt.

Mr T W Mills, Chief Executive of the Club, said that the credibility of the Race had to be viewed through the eyes of the punter. If the matter could be resolved by declaration of late scratchings that would be up to the Committee but, if this could not be done, he accepted that the Race should be declared “null and void”. Clearly, he said, there were horses in the Race that could not be declared runners. He did not regard the Race as being “a fair race”.

Mr Sanders said that the race favourite, ITSADREAM, and the second favourite, YOURHAVINMEON, were both affected. They finished 3rd and unplaced respectively. 

Mr Walsh asked whether, if the race had been declared a false start, would a third attempt have been made at starting it. Mr Sanders said that it was highly unlikely. Mr Walsh submitted that there was obviously “confusion” but, in the end, most runners had their chance had they been good enough.

The hearing was then adjourned to enable the Committee to deliberate.

Following a deliberation, the Committee announced that its ruling was that the race, Race 10, was declared to be void. In arriving at that decision, the Committee took into account the following matters:
1. The gates of the two runners, PRAWN STAR and LONELY GEORGE, failed to open at all;
2. The gates of at least three other runners, MISS KEY, ELEANOR COUP and ONE MORE THYME were visibly slow to open;
3. A number of other runners were clearly seen to be restrained, to varying degrees, by their riders – notably, PARTEE’S OVER, ITSADREAM, CAUGHT OUT and YOURHAVINMEON;
4. Therefore, it was apparent that up to nine runners in the 15-horse field were affected;
5. The riders of those horses that were restrained by their riders after the start were, in the Committee’s view, perfectly justified in doing so given that, on the two previous occasions on which the gates had malfunctioned, in races 9 and 10, the starter had immediately declared a false start.
6. It was not practical or, indeed, possible for the Committee to determine with fairness which of those affected runners should be declared as non-runners if the Race were permitted to stand;
7. The merit of the arguments in support of avoiding the Race clearly outweighed the merits of the arguments in support of not doing so. Common sense dictated that the Race had to be declared void by the Committee;

There are two other matters that the Committee wishes to comment upon:-
1. In the Committee’s view, on the second occasion on which the starting gates malfunctioned in Race 10, the starter ought properly to have declared a false start. While this may have, in any event, resulted in the abandonment of the race, it would have been a better option than to have allowed the remaining runners to continue to race. This is particularly so since false starts had been declared in similar circumstances in Race 9 and earlier in race 10. However, the Committee does accept that the starter was under considerable pressure after those earlier false starts which were beyond her control and that, in allowing the race to continue, she acted in the genuine belief that it was the best thing to do.

2. In anticipation of criticism that the matter took a long time to resolve, the Committee records that it was necessary for the Stewards to conduct a preliminary investigation involving a number of jockeys and connections and others involved before filing an information requesting this Committee to rule on the fate of the Race. It was some 30 minutes after the last Race that the information was put before the Committee and the hearing commenced. Fortunately, the race was the final race on the programme. The issues were complex and sufficiently important to warrant a full hearing at which all of those parties affected were given the opportunity to put their views before the Committee.

R G McKenzie
CHAIR
41987

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meetdate: 01/08/2009

meet_title: Canterbury JC - 1 August 2009

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