This is appalling by the harness racing to give Kevin such a harsh suspension. Kevin has given his life to harness racing since he was nine years of age with Mini trotting.
Your Heading is correct Kevin did get a 'HEAVY' suspension.
He clearly looked distressed when he see his stable mates gear fall off and once he gets his concentration back then it’s too late to whip the horse, isn’t that what he always gets fines for?
This is politics at play! I may be his sister but I have also been in and watching the industry since 6 years of age and I have never been so disheartened
If you knew Kevin he has always looked over his shoulder since he was in mini trotting this is what it looked like but believe me he had no reason to come second! the winner paid nothing??? watch the race from a different angle and you will see the gear fall off and Kevin look at it!
KEVIN DESERVES AN APPOLOGY
Without getting into the details of this particular case, I would say that it may be expected under the current circumstances clouding the sport that anyone found guilty of a breach of the rules can expect a stiff penalty. There is still the opportunity to appeal in this case.
I watched this race. A number of times. No matter how many times I watch the race I doubt the second placegetter would have caught the winner. Mr Pizzuto has tried to act within the rules of racing in terms of whip use. The horse was maintaining its position and was not going to get beat for second. It would have been wrong to continue to whip this horse. Has any of the people bagging the driver looked up the the sectional times of the race. Has anyone worked out what Our Amazing Art ran his last sectional in? Has anyone tried to estimate waht the horse would have had to run to get over the leader?
The stewards in NSW have made a mess of things. The damage that has been done will take a LONG time to be fixed. If it will be. Unfortunately by now jumping on people whenever they feel like, or whenever the mob want a lynching. Cannot nor will it ever reverse what has happened. Giving out harsher penalities now is not going to fix it, it is like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. Bit late people, there is no way known this person should have been suspended for 12 months it is ridiculous.
It looks to me that the stewards and other industry participents are on a witch hunt and simply burning this person at the stake. It is not right and only doing the stewards more damage in the eyes of the rest of Australia.
The official times from harnessweb for the race are:Originally Posted by Minty
Franco Torres winning time for the race was 1.56.972
Our Amazing Arts time for the race was 1.57.069
Therefore if Our Amazing Art finished 0.098 of a second faster he wouldve won the race.
That is less than one tenth of a second. Would it have made up less than 1/10th of a second if Pizzuto drove it out until the finish line? The stewards think so, whoever backed Our Amazing Art thinks so, and anyone who knows anything about harness racing thinks so. The times dont lie.
At the end of the day, Pizzuto can continue to train, Bennett can continue to drive his horses as he usually does, and Pizzuto will only be at a disadvantage when Bennett cant take the drive or he has two runners in the one race. The sentence on paper looks alot harsher than it really is.
It seems Mr Pizzuto has many friends that are supporting him....or many aliases I don't know.
I should've worded that better. I was talking about the final sectional.
I cannot beleive that there is so much support for what Kevin Pizzuto did or didn't do in that race at Menangle. The perception was terrible. I have read excuse after excuse from Kevin Pizzuto sympathisers but there is no question that before the seat fell off Pizzuto stopped driving the horse. Watch the video and you will see. I understand that Pizzuto was hit with a hard suspension already for this silly whip rule. But that doesn't mean dont hit the horse. Most people seems to believe it would have won easy.
There is no doubting that Pizzuto has been good for NSW harness racing as his family have spent an awful lot of money on good horses to bring and race in NSW. Better horses mean better racing. I don't blame a Padberg from defending Kevin because all the Pizzuto stable cast offs end up in Debby Padbergs stable in WA. This doesn't excuse what happened in the race two weeks ago.
12 months is a stiff sentance but we all know it will be reduced big time on appeal. But if the stewards are going to be serious then they need to be consistent. There is no way Pizzuto should be the only one getting a massive suspension. I happened to see a race at the pub this arvo at Newcastle. The last race. The driver of the hot hot favourite didn't produce his whip until the last 20m when he was beaten by a 100-1 horse. I would believe that this driver should get a significant suspension too.
Kevin does not drive too much so it shouldn't affect him until Greg is sidelined for something like injury or suspension or for some other reason.
I wouldn't regard him as a friend, rather as an acquaintance. I am calling it how I see it.
I think with the real names rule, the faceless nameless key board warriors have nicked off. I wouldn't have dared mentioned anything contrary in that locked thread. They were (shamefully) going at it torch and pickfork style. Please! With real names introduced, people have to be more civilised because they are accountable. Which is why I think contrary opinions are now appearing, people aren't afraid of getting their head bitten off
I also think this is in his favour.
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