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Watching thorn shake his head over the line made my night! Karma is a bitch!
Didn't much like the look of that one. Interesting to read the Stewards Report. Was there a 'change of tactics' notification made? (cough, cough, bullshit, cough, cough)
Watching thorn shake his head over the line made my night! Karma is a bitch!
My interest is in how the Stewards read the race rather than the personalities involved.
G'day Spurbuck,
I'm not at all concerned about it from that angle because I don't believe for a minute that is what it was.
I am however extremely interested to note what, if any, action was taken by Stewards in light of their current interpretation & application of the change of tactics rule as I believe it's a rule that is being routinely incorrectly & often most unfairly applied here in NSW.
I firmly believe the rule has been/is often being misinterpreted, that...for want of a better term...the actual spirit of the rule...is perhaps not the first & foremost thing in the minds of those empowered with enforcing it.
I believe it is a rule that is rightly in place BUT that it's a rule that was put in place to put a stop to exactly that which appears to have taken place tonight..i.e. so as to allow them the opportunity to subsequently question a horse being driven, for no apparent reason, in a manner that appears to be in contravention of its well & truly exposed pattern of racing and...in this instance with pretty considerable weight being added to the reason for such questioning by the fact the horse involved went postward at 33/1 or thereabouts.
It was not, it was never at any stage meant to be nor was it designed to be or expected to be interpreted as, a rule which would allow unneccessary & IMO unjust interference with honest, reasonable, normal tactical decisions that trainers & drivers must make on a week to week basis...with each & every decision depending upon their assessments of the track, the draw and the relative class/quality of their opposition.
Before anyone jumps on the 'what about the Punter' bandwagon...let me say that if Owners, Trainers and Drivers must sit for a moment or two in order to try and work out what is most likely to occur in a race, then maybe the Punters should take a leaf or two out of their book and do the same. Punters need not be spoonfed. That is why it is called Gambling.
I logged on this morning to pose the question about this race and quite obviously it was noticed by many others. I live in victoria and really only check on the Menangle replays out of interest, but that race stood out like the proverbial and if I thought it was dodgy, surely the stewards will be taking action. I am a big fan of Luke Mcarthy, I think he is a great trainer and driver and great for the sport, so I am not questioning his integrity, but if a name like Small, Butcher or even the great G lang was involved in such a race situation, I am sure their feet would not touch the ground on the way to the stewards room. Whatever the rule or interpretation, this needs to be examined and explanations sought. As for the call on Mister Anthony's huge run, check out Big Fella Mach... was cost 15-20 metres by the flailing BCB and almost got the money!
G'day Termite,
Glad I'm not seeing things. Like yourself, I'm not questioning the integrity of those involved either, but rather I'm highlighting what I believe to be an ACTUAL instance where the rule should be applied...versus the numerous instances, and especially so in recent times here in NSW, where IMO it has often been quite incorrectly used/invoked/where driver have been reprimanded/reminded of their responsibilities in that regard.
Heres what the stewards report says about the incident:
Race 3 –MAJOR IN ART PACE 2300M
Stewards questioned B Sarina (Beef City Beau) in relation to the driving tactics he adopted on the gelding. B Sarina stated when he was caught outside the leader he restrained the gelding to look for cover but then Beef City Beau was making contact with the offside sulky stay which caused him to over race and after passing the 600m mark the gelding gave ground quickly resulting in the offside sulky tyre being punctured when Big Fella Mack was checked from that point on B Sarina desisted from driving the horse forward and Beef City Beau finished distance. The gelding was examined by the clubs veterinary surgeon and no abnormalities were detected in view of this Beef City Beau was stood down until it successfully completes one requalifying trial.
Well, that leaves me absolutely gobsmacked. I do not have the words.
Well , really. After reading the steward's report I just checked the date on the calendar. No it's not actually April Fool's Day :-(
Last edited by David Summers; 06-13-2011 at 10:45 AM.
Beef City Beau has always been one to fly out and take a sit, couldnt cross so he straight away was looking for a sit, but did you see how Sarina turned around seen it was Luke on his back, head down, ar*e up and went up to eye ball the leader. Classic case of helping a stable mate out. Thorns head shake summed it up I think.
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