Avondale JC – 14 September 2005 – Race 10

Following Race 10, Stipendiary Steward Mr AR Coles, filed Information 41417 requesting a ruling under rule 912(1) on the following ?

"Was the horse ITZYDAME denied a fair start??

Rule 912(1) provides ?

"If any ticket is purchased on a horse in a race which horse is for any reason withdrawn from the race before the start of the race or has been, in the opinion of the judicial committee?..prevented from taking an effective part in the race owing to the malfunction of the starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where a horse is slow away by its own accord), the judicial committee shall order that the amount paid on the purchase of the ticket be refunded on production of the ticket."

Mr R Cameron, the trainer of the horse, and the rider Mr A Calder, were present with Mr BJ Lindsay representing the connections.

Assistant Stipendiary Steward, Mr TL Treweek, demonstrated the incident on video and pointed out the ITZYDAME had drawn one and was second last horse to enter the starting stalls. It was led up wearing the barrier blanket and could be seen in the starting stall being restless prior to the start. As the gates opened it was seen to be slow compared with the rest of the field and continued, finishing midfield at the end of the race.

Mr Humphreys, the starter, confirmed he observed ITZYDAME prior to the start and because it was wearing the barrier blanket it was left out as long as possible and entered the stall second to last. He described it as fractious in the stall but he made sure it was standing properly before starting the race. He observed that it was slow out of the stall but from his observation could not say why this was so.

Mr Calder, the rider, confirmed that the horse was moving its feet in the stall and contacted the side just prior to jump out. It was slower than he wanted, and he wondered if the blanket had moved prior to the start and distracted it or whether it had felt the blanket round its leg but he was unable to identify anything specific which might have prevented it from a fair start.

Mr Cameron, the trainer, noted that the "rug" seemed to be the cause of ITZYDAME being annoyed at the start and he submitted to the committee that would indicate it was denied a fair start. Mr Lindsay suggested it was important to take account of the interests of the betting public who had supported the horse if it had been denied a fair start in these circumstances.

Summing up, Mr Coles said the barrier blanket was in position as the horse entered the stalls. There was no evidence to show that it had in fact shifted or had been the cause of the horse being slow away. It was undeniably slow away but it was for the committee to decide if it was denied a fair start.

Having considered the evidence and viewed the video the committee finds that ITZYDAME was slow away from the start and while there were various suggestions put to it as to why this should be so there was no specific evidence of anything which actually denied it a fair start other than that it was fractious in the stalls. In the absence of such evidence the committee finds that the standard of proof has not been met to refute the possibility of it being slow away by its own accord. The committee therefore declines to order a refund of investments and rules accordingly on the information before it.