Canterbury JC – 9 October 2004 –

hearingid: 1efb9d23cb8175112e56c018a181c5f0

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hearing_racingtype: harness-racing

startdate: 09/10/2004

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hearing_title: Canterbury JC - 9 October 2004 -

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Stipendiary Steward Mr S. C. Ching has asked the Committee for a ruling as to whether "The Raj" should be allowed to start in Race 2 because of the track conditions.

Stipendiary Steward Mr S. C. Ching has asked the Committee for a ruling as to whether "The Raj" should be allowed to start in Race 2 because of the track conditions. The information reads as follows ?

"I the above named informant hereby apply to the judicial committee to seek a ruling on the following matters: in that "The Raj", who was late scratched at Ashburton 1 Oct. 2004 due to a change in track conditions (easy to soft), be withdrawn from Race 2 on today's card due to the track being described as soft with penetrometer reading of 3.9 which was calibrated approx. 6-30am this morning, 9 Oct. 2004."

Mr Ching gave evidence along the lines of the above request. He said that he believed that the horse should be scratched because it was scratched when there were similar conditions at Ashburton last week. Mr Ching said that permission was given to scratch the horse, but Mr Williams was made aware that if he sought to start the horse in similar conditions in the future he would be asked to scratch the horse or be required to explain the situation to the judicial committee.

Mr Ching also said that "The Raj" would be one of the better supported runners in the race and that it was necessary to protect the punters if the horse was unable to cope with the soft conditions. In summary Mr Ching said that he believed that "The Raj" should be withdrawn from the race.

Mr Williams gave evidence that the reason for not wanting to start "The Raj" at Ashburton was not that the track was soft, but that he felt that the condition of the track with lack of grass on the bends, and the fact that "The Raj" was a long striding horse, would make it dangerous to start him. Mr Williams also said that he believed that the Riccarton track today was much different. He said that he had walked the track on four different occasions during the week, and had also galloped his horse on the track last Thursday when the horse had handled the track "quite good".

In summary Mr Williams said that ?

-   The reason for scratching the horse at Ashburton was for safety reasons rather than the track conditions.

-   He had walked the track during the week and considered that it was quite different to the Ashburton track, and much safer.

-   He had galloped the horse on the track last Thursday and it had handled the track.

-   He believed that the horse would handle the track today.

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Mr Ching was asked by the Committee if he agreed that there was a difference between the Ashburton track and today's track. Mr Ching said that there was a definite difference and today's track was more "holding" than at Ashburton. Mr Ching also agreed that the track at Ashburton did become "shifty" during the day, but as the day progressed this shiftiness lessened.

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After hearing the evidence we adjourned to consider our decision

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Our decision is that "The Raj" should be allowed to start. Our reasons for this decision are as follows.

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We accept the evidence of Mr Williams that he scratched the horse at Ashburton for safety reasons rather than the track conditions.

We also accept Mr Williams evidence that after walking the Riccarton track during the week, and galloping "the Raj" on the track last Thursday, he believes that the horse will handle today's track conditions.

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