All The Aces

She was very unsettled in the birdcage and going out onto the track, if fact put on a bit of a performance which would not have helped in anyway. Those antics would have put a lot of those off who witnessed it.

Stipendiary stewards and JCA get it horribly wrong at Ellerslie by Brian de Lore Published 6th December 2019 Saturday at Ellerslie saw one of the worst decisions seen on a New Zealand racecourse for some years when stipendiary stewards reversed the first and second placings in race two, the Executive Travel Maiden Two-year-Old over 1100 metres. To add insult to injury, the Judicial Control Authority (JCA) ratified the mistake by rubber-stamping the decision – bringing into question both the competence of the JCA officials on the day and the entire Racing Integrity Unit (RIU) structure which has in the past been the subject of criticism from key stakeholders. Protests, upheld or dismissed, race interference, jockey penalties, etc., isn’t a domain to where The Optimist would typically venture. Too many grey areas exist, and too often, decisions are made on narrow margins of a controversial and debatable nature which often polarises racegoers. It’s better to stay away from the debate in those cases, and this blog has always attempted to deal with facts and make a neutrally fair evaluation. It wouldn’t be an easy job being a stipendiary steward. Race day responsibilities are wide-ranging, and the requirements would generate a reasonable degree of pressure, often thought to be the reason why stipes are rarely seen to smile. Rule 204 of the Rules of Racing says: “The functions of Stipendiary Stewards and Investigators are to: (a) maintain the integrity of Races and racing; (b) regulate and oversee all Race day matters and all matters related to Races and racing; (c) investigate potential breaches of the Rules; (d) assist in relation to licensing matters; (e) generally, to do all things necessary so that Races and racing are conducted efficiently and with integrity and in accordance with these Rules.” But Saturday’s episode was blatant. It was a clear-cut error of judgment; should a protest even have been lodged? Grandstand critics are never wrong, and from the safety of a green leather lazy-boy chair in front of the big flat screen, I watched the race live. When the siren went, my thinking was that it would take only around 60 seconds to reach a ‘protest dismissed’ verdict. How wrong can you be! Incomprehensibly the stewards and JCA went with it and turfed-out first-past-the-post horse Taroni and promoted Bordeaux Le Rouge into first place. Since the live viewing, I have revisited the video replay on the Love Racing website no fewer than a dozen times. On every occasion, the same conclusion was reached. The two horses briefly came together right on the winning post, but Bordeaux Le Rouge was never ever going to run past Taroni and win the race. Had Taroni kept a straight line it would have won by more than a length. So why did the stipes change the result and the JCA ratify it? Firstly, Rule 642 of racing says that to change the result: “the Judicial Committee is of the opinion that the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first mentioned horse had such interference not occurred.” In my view, that criteria had not been met – nowhere close to it. Could I be so wrong, after all, I had been studying races for over 50 years since the days of such greats as Palisade, Eiffel Tower, Kumei, Weenell, Daryl’s Joy, Jazz, Star Belle, Laramie, Royal Bid, Piko, Game Call, Spray Doone, Koral, Lindred, Teak, Pep and Brazil to name a few – what a fabulous era of great horses. Perhaps the years have dimmed my vision and fogged my judgment? “If the punters out there don’t have any confidence in our judicial system they are not going to bet.” – Nigel Tiley The only way to determine this was to consult others. As a top-class ex-jockey and now a highly experienced trainer, Nigel Tiley was my first call. Nigel also sits on the committee of the Trainers’ Association Committee and is the trainers’ representative on the NZTR Members’Council, and few horsemen would be better credentialled to review the incident. Nigel said: “On Saturday’s decision, the fact that I had two phone calls from Australia questioning what the rules were in New Zealand. These were two experienced race watchers who could not get their heads around the reversing of the placings. They were both adamant that under their judicial system the protest would not have been upheld. “But under our rules, it also should have been dismissed. We have discussed it in a conference call of the Trainers’ Association Executive, so I can’t speak on behalf of the Association, but I have spoken to a lot of racing people, and it’s 100 percent unanimous that the stipes made the wrong decision. I was appalled. “If the punters out there don’t have any confidence in our judicial system they are not going to bet,” concluded Nigel Tiley. Next, I phoned Racehorse Trainers’ Association President Tony Pike who was also willing to express his concern at the outcome of the race. “I had no problem with the siren going off,” commented Tony, “but it should have been dismissed. There’s a lot of backlash out there and it will be interesting to see what the final outcome is. “I was on-course in Perth watching on TV and didn’t see the head-on film until later but I was disappointed with the process in the room. The stipes shouldn’t be asking or assuming the connections are going to lodge the protest and when the connections didn’t lodge it, and they had to lodge it themselves and have gone down that path, they probably felt the need to uphold it.” The process of which Tony Pike referred to went like this: In the hearing room, the Chairman John Oatham stated mistakenly that the connections of the second horse had lodged the protest. It was soon established that was not the case and that a protest would not be forthcoming from them, so the Stewards lodged it themselves. The siren sounding before the horses had returned to scale was also initiated by a steward, but Oatham was apparently not aware of that which raises a serious procedural question. Other questions arising are: Was that initial mistake in the room a mitigating factor in making the final decision? Was the fact that Bordeaux Le Rouge was the hot favourite at $1.30 for the win a sub-conscious pressure on the stewards, and would that pressure not have been present had it been a $20 shot? No one is suggesting that this was anything but an honest mistake, but it should be noted the loser here has no grounds for appeal. “My experience with the JCA is that they lack racing experience and an ability to read races.” – Tony Pike Further second-hand anecdotal information received is suggesting that not all four stewards officiating agreed with the decision, but that cannot be confirmed. The same source also said that Bordeaux Le Rouge’s jockey Sam Collett was not questioned at all. Tony Pike further commented: “My experience with the JCA is that they lack racing experience and an ability to read races, and they have gone and upheld it. They are obviously intelligent people, but on the subject of reading races, they’re not really qualified. “Mistakes are made and this may be a one-off case, but we have to make sure the process and the rules are adhered to – the decision by the JCA was blatantly wrong. It was a lower-level race, and the ramifications were not great, but racing is lacking confidence in getting good decisions, especially from the JCA, and there will come a time and place when this will happen in a significantly bigger race with far greater ramifications.” The Stewards Report Said: “Following the race a protest was lodged by the Stipendiary Stewards alleging interference by the 1st placed horse TARONI (D Johnson) to the 2nd placed horse BORDEAUX LE ROUGE (S Collett) inside the final 100 metres. After viewing films and hearing submissions the Judicial Committee upheld the protest relegating TARONI to 2nd placing. The final placings now read – 1 BORDEAUX LE ROUGE 1st, 8 TARONI 2nd, 6 DRAGON QUEEN 3rd, 5 TARGHEE 4th. BORDEAUX LE ROUGE (S Collett replaced T Harris) – Promoted to 1 st placing after suffering interference inside the final 100 metres. TARONI (D Johnson) – Relegated from 1st placing after causing interference inside the final 100 metres.” Interestingly, if Danielle Johnston had failed to keep her mount straight enough to stop the second horse from winning and the interference was severe enough to warrant a change of placings, one might have thought that Johnson would at the very least received a warning if not a fine or suspension. But not a mention. Further to that, the Stewards Report above is very sheepish in its wording. It states a reversal of placings takes place but doesn’t go as far as saying that, “in the opinion of the stewards the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first-mentioned horse.” Everyone with an interest in the judicial system of racing should review the race themselves and make a judgment, Depending on your opinion, you may have a future on the JCA panel because they are clearly having problems with people who boast a series of letters behind their names.

The overall stats should be in bigger print and have been cut down ie no full fresh up or second up stats why bother with stats for the last two months. They will basically be in the form line anyway. Clean white paper with black print makes for far easier reading. At present in the this format it is far too difficult to read and I am not visually impaired at all. After purchasing the book I got the TAB agent to print me off the sheets that they place up on the wall which made for much easier reading and will use those for reference. Will not be buying any more in the current format. PS Chief. Take another look full field are not all on the one page as you state.

From what I have heard Thomas is right in what actually happened surrounding the enquiry but he is incorrect in that the gelding would have beaten the filly home. She always had him covered.

Kim Clapperton was another and she may have ridden over 1000 winners. Can't think of any others with wins over 1000.

“I was very lucky to be mentored by Mr Gray – I still call him that to this day too. I think he’s had five of us go on to win over 1000 races which has to be a record,” she says. Not so sure about that. Dave O'Sullivan had at least four Lance, Shayne Dye, Roger Lang and Peter Johnson. Brian Deacon had a number of good apprentices go through his stable. Childs, Walker, Campbell to name three.

It only got to within a head because DJ stopped riding Taroni . He was on the outside of her at the top of the straight and couldn't get past all the way down the straight and was never going to. It is apparent from discussions (and posts) that very few people have agreed with the decision and of course the statement above is always going to be written in support of their decision. We will have to disagree on this one.

Have to disagree with you on this one Thomas. Collett never stopped riding her horse at all. Meanwhile DJ couldn't ride her mount out. Forget chasing shadows, have a look at the horses themselves. There was no way the filly was going to let him get past. They could have gone another 100m and she would still have beaten him. Very poor decision I feel.

Had a look at this race this morning. What a farcical decision that was. The second horse across the line Bordeaux Le Rouge would never have beaten Taroni in a month of Sundays.

Went over to Whanganui races today with a couple of mates. We had a brilliant day, good crowd, great atmosphere and some very good racing. Excellent dinner and drinks on the way home and to top it off a quick check to see how the self promoted experts went on the other site and a great laugh to finish a fantastic day. ?

I'm in the Bay Murray. Burridge and Lange haven't mentioned anything about it. Will let them know ?

They used a sophisticated computer generated algorithms system to determine "win expectation" ie Multiplying the "horses" computer calculated probability by it's current odds. They both made hundreds of millions with Bob Benter striking a massive Triple Trio of $16 million which he never collected instead the Jockey Club giving it away to charity. They had a massive operation with a lot of people working for them. They both had teams of expert analysts including several Kiwis watching every race and video for subjective factors such as wide runs, unlucky runs, tempos etc. They found by doing this it made the algorithms far more effective.

Mardigras, is your computer system based on a similar system that Bob Benter and Allan Woods used in Hong Kong in the early 90s?

Probably Pat Comerford

Interesting reading value concept on the other site. Mardi's brother Bazza has had 1547 so far this year. This is the bloke that tried to prove to everyone two betting theories on how to make money with both ending disastrously very quickly with both threads abandoned. Anyone following either concept would go broke. Mardigras You say your system selects around 500 a horses a year, do you back all or cherry pick from the one's selected? I would total 150-170 bets per year no more and have never exceeded 200 in a year.

Incredible. No video analysis of races or trials. You would be the first and only form analyst that I could name to anyone that fails to do so.

Still is Murray. Hey, a couple of the older boys here in the Bay recall you at Awapuni when you were doing photographs at the races. Around the time when Ken Lush was doing it they said if you are the same person.

Seeing you don't watch videos of races or trials how do you assess first starters?

So you backed Piping Hot. Perhaps if you had taken time to watch the video of Captive you would have been on a winner instead of a loser...…..after all as he crossed the line George Simon said "And the punters got it right." perhaps he should have added" except Mardigras." ? PS. Did you notice that blinkers went on for the first time also ?

Well you agree he was a very good bet then. I trust you were on. Was your brother "Hesi" ?

I see that dickhead Hesi has been looking on and commented on the other site. Quite happy to name the horse "DH", it was Captive. Go and have a close look at the video of his run at Ellerslie when he finished tenth and if you weren't on yesterday ask yourself why the hell not.

Please yourself Mardi, no skin off my nose. I will keep doing what I do after all it is what I do that counts as far as my racing account balance looks and your opinion on matters has diddly squat to do with that.

Never mind Mardi you don't do video analysis so you probably wouldn't pick it up anyway. I don't mind if you think it is waste of time doing so I as I know being able to read races is an extremely important asset. Just the one bet today for me up at Te Rapa using that asset and I am pretty sure that Thomas would have been on as well. ?

Yes they do need to update their records. After hearing the time yesterday at the track I decided to check their records last night as 1:O8: something is a very quick time at Awapuni. So yes Gift Of Power ran 1:07:46 last December and they obviously haven't updated. Any way the time is irrelevant and a red herring as that was not the point I was making. The point was an unlucky runner last start going down in grade which is two things I take into consideration when doing a pre-race analysis as I advised earlier in the thread.

AWAPUNI TRACK RECORDS DISTANCE HORSE WEIGHT DATE TIME 800m Go Go 53kg 25 September 1993 00:48.20 1000m Navel Spray 51kg 12 January 1980 00:59.00 1100m I Robot 55.,5kg 22 December 2007 01:03.09 1200m Red Cent 53kg 17 December 1994 01:08.69 1300m Baldessarini 54kg 11 December 2004 01:15.66 1400m Maximum Star 55.5kg 28 March 2009 01:20.41 1600m Navajo Brave 51.5kg 26 December 1990 01:33.68 2000m Izonit 56kg 28 March 2009 02:00.14 2100m Antipodean 54kg 11 November 2008 02:08.17 2200m Azranee 52.5kg 16 January 1982 02:12.10 2300m Drogheda 50.5kg 17 December 1994 02:18.00 HURDLES HORSE WEIGHT DATE TIME 2600m Go For Broke 59.5kg 30 October 1976 02:49.80 2900m Ipso Facto 62kg 06 July 1992 03:11.68 STEEPLES HORSE WEIGHT DATE TIME 3200m Gold Reign 62.5kg 16 June 1978 03:57.20 3400m Black Ace 64.5kg 8 May 2002 03:59.71 4000m Grey Calute 57.5kg 12 May 1982 04:51.60 4150m The Jolly Dancer 64kg 16 September 2006 05:14.73 4400m Rioch 67kg 15 June 2013 05:13.30