Stewards News 2

[Messenger]

The initiative was fine but it immediately rang alarm bells for me (that it was about getting the fav beat) when he continued to persist when told NO

[Messenger]

First past the post in R2 at Bendigo tonight DISQUALIFIED

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#BNC13062308

I guess it is pretty obvious what he has done But we will have to await the Stewards Report for details

[Messenger]

Brian Gath, driver of HOLD THAT GOLD was found guilty of a charge pursuant to AHRR 163(1)(c)(i) which reads “a driver shall not allow the driver’s horse or the sulky or any part thereof shift inside the marker post” with the particulars of the charge being that “after activating removable gear, Mr Gath then directed his drive down the track into a position where the gelding has contacted and raced inside several marker pegs”. In determining penalty, in accordance with the HRV Minimum Penalty Guidelines, Stewards considered Mr Gath’s not guilty plea, the circumstances of this particular incident, with HOLD THAT GOLD gaining ground whilst racing inside several marker pegs, Mr Gath’s good overall record under this rule, relevant penalty precedents, and suspended Mr Gath’s license to drive for a period of two (2) weeks, with the suspension ordered to commence immediately. Mr Gath was advised of his right of appeal.

At a subsequent inquiry, first past the post HOLD THAT GOLD (8) was disqualified in accordance with AHRR 163(5) which reads

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/st...l/?mc=BN130623

[Showgrounds]

I watched the replay twice and assume the offence occurred where the horse ran up the inside of the leader at the end of the back straight. I can only assume this because the stewards, always on the ball, neglected to say where this occurred. I will watch the replay again and watch for when Brian "activates the removable gear" (steward-speak for pulling the deafeners) because i could not see where the horse raced inside the markers.

[Messenger]

I thought it had to be when he came up the inside of the leader in the back straight but try as I might, I found the video quality was not good enough to make out the pegs. The caller did not say that the leader had drifted up the track

[Messenger]

I can understand the QDT's for R5 at Ballarat last night.
Could Mark Pitt have stayed off the pegs - you would have thought so, seeing as though he started from barrier 2
"There's an interesting scenario" from Dan when crosser Aaron Dunn decided he would stitch up the fav - put it 3 back the pegs
The Stewards Report accepts their explanations, Dunn admits his was tactical, I can see that Pitt had to be somewhat careful but I think he was strangely going to the fence on the odds on pop even though there is no Sprint Lane at Ballarat

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#BAC15062302

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/st...l/?mc=BA150623

[Messenger]

Kate Gath will have to be questioned as to why she went inside the pegs when Encipher capitulated in the lead - was she giving her stablemates more room to get past her?

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#MXM17062304

[Messenger]

How can there be no mention of going inside the pegs??????????????

[Messenger]

PP has gone hard at Kate and the Stewart stable.
I don't know how he can suggest the race was being run for Petillante to win without anything to support his suggestion

I think Kate has questions to answer but I do not think she did what she did in a calculated way, it was just an instinctive reaction - sheez, I had better get out the others way.
Nevertheless I don't think she would have done it if the runners on her back were from another stable. IMO (only) it is ingrained in these regular Stewart drivers, frequently driving in races where the stable has multi runners, that they are out there as part of a team.
I am a fan of Kate but she made a mistake this time and has to be made aware of it

I would not expect a big penalty - remember earlier in the year we had a driver admit he did not drive his horse out so that the stable's more fancied runner would win - he only got a reprimand. I am not sure what the penalty should be for an experienced driver like Kate but for a first offence, not much

[Showgrounds]

If I was driving a horse that I suspected was either choking down or having a heart attack I wouldn't be worrying about the rules. Safety first, that’s what Kate did.