Riccarton Park – Canterbury JC 10 March 2022 – R7 (Request for a Ruling) – SHE’S RECOMMENDED

BACKGROUND:

Following the running of Race 7, Martin Collins Rating 65, the Applicant, Kin Kwo, Rider of SHE’S RECOMMENDED, lodged an Information requesting a Ruling pursuant to Rules 918(1) and 632(1) to establish whether SHE’S RECOMMENDED was denied a fair start.

SHE’S RECOMMENDED did not finish in the first four placings.

The basis for the request was due to SHE’S RECOMMENDED being slow to leave its barrier and consequently it lost considerable ground at the start.

Rule 632(1) provides:

If, in the opinion of the Adjudicative Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first four placings was prevented from taking an effective part in a race owing to the mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord), the Adjudicative Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.

SUBMISSIONS FOR DECISION:

Using the head-on and side-on video replays, the Applicant showed the start of the race. He pointed out that his mount, SHE’S RECOMMENDED, was very slow away and submitted that it had been denied a fair start. He said that the horse, in barrier 6, was standing sideways with its head on the side of the gate. He called out several times for another Starter’s Assistant to help but none came. Lisa Allpress, on JACK KNOWS BEST in barrier 7, had also called out, he said. The gates then opened. The Starter’s Assistant had released the horse’s head just prior to that, he said.

Trainer, Ross Beckett, said that the Jockey had called for an extra hand but it did not come. The horse was playing up before the gates opened and had been fractious prior to entering its stall, he said. He said that Mr Kwo had requested a “man up”. It was the horse’s fault that it was standing sideways in the gate, he said, but Mr Kwo had asked for help and did not get it.

Starter, Bruce Smail,  said that he had not heard any call from Mr Kwo or Mrs Allpress. He had had four delays in the start of that race.  He had received an “all clear” just before pressing the start button. The Assistant had removed his hand when he called “watch your gates”, Mr Smail said, which is the usual practice.

Chief Stipendiary Steward, John Oatham, said that the barrier attendant had been doing his best to assist the horse. He was not holding its head when the gates opened so, in the Stewards’ view, it was a “horse issue”. At this point, the Adjudicative Committee asked Mr Oatham to read Rule 632(1) to the hearing. The Adjudicative Committee stressed the words “but not where the horse is slow away of its a own accord”. Following that, Mr Beckett said that he would take the horse back to the trials.

REASONS FOR DECISION:

The Adjudicative Committee carefully considered the submissions presented and reviewed the video evidence of the race start.

The key to the Adjudicative Committee’s decision in this matter is the wording of the Rule – “but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord”. The horse was very slow away and lost many lengths as a result. There was no mechanical failure of the starting stalls. The horse was slow away as a result of its having been fractious in the gates and not leaving its stall with the rest of the field when the gates opened. There was no impediment to its jumping on terms with the rest of the field. It brought about its own downfall on this occasion.

The Adjudicative Committee was clearly satisfied that the horse was slow away of its own accord in terms of the Rule. Accordingly, the Adjudicative Committee finds that it was not denied a fair start.

DECISION:

The Adjudicative Committee ruled that SHE’S RECOMMENDED was not denied a fair start and is therefore declared to be a starter in the race. The payment of dividends was authorised.