3 days of controversy

[ipswich45]

i feel the last 3 days deserves its own thread 

Thursday we saw a jockey forget / fail to weigh in at Taunton  Alex Thorne having rode Twin Star 1405 contest didnt weigh in and was disqualified 

Saturday  we saw the incident of a `safe' dead head being called in poor light in the last contest of the day the bumper at Cheltenham where Richard Hoiles commentating on ITV appeared to correctly call the winner on the stands side rail 

Today we saw a shambles of an incident in the 1550 Fontwell contest where about 50 yards after the 3rd last hurder there was a horse being held by the rail by the jockey, as the field were closing in on the hurdle the ground staff were trying to put bypass markers on beyond the flight of hurdles with a flagman to keep the remaining runners away however all bar 1 horse and jockey thought the bypass markers were in the hurdle so went round it as one jockey pointed out in a pre enquiry brief interview with Robert Cooper on SSR   only Jack Tudor on Dharma Rain jumped the hurdle and after a lengthy enquiry was awarded the race having initially finished 7th past the post and all the other horses were disqualified, Mark Johnson said in commentary live that the hurdle was indeed meant to be jumped

anyone else have thoughts on the points?

Stewards Report on the Sunday Fontwell incident taken from the BHA website       (also posted in the Racing Chat page for Sunday)
https://media.britishhorseracing.com/pdf/stewardsreport/?fixtureId=822&year=2020

Race 7 - 3:50pm. THE 'FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH PODCAST' MARES' HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (CLASS 5) An enquiry was held to establish the placings in this race due to all riders, except for Jack Tudor, the rider of DHARMA RAIN (IRE), by-passing the third flight from home on the final circuit. They interviewed Jeremiah McGrath, the rider of KENTFORD MALLARD, Jack Tudor, the rider of DHARMA RAIN (IRE), Brendan Powell, the rider of KALAYA (IRE), Page Fuller, the rider of QUEEN AMONG KINGS (IRE), Lucy Gardner, the rider of HAVACUPPA, Harry Reed, the rider of JUST HENNY, Tabitha Worsley, the rider of LUCKY CIRCLE, Sean Houlihan, the rider of BLUEBELL SALLY, and Niall Houlihan, the rider of REMEMBER ME WELL (IRE), the Clerk of the Course, and the Racecourse Head Groundsman and an additional member of the groundstaff. Having heard all the evidence and viewed recordings of the incident, the Stewards revised the placings as follows: 1st DHARMA RAIN (IRE), all other runners were disqualified for taking the wrong course, under Rule (F) 37. However, taking into account, on this occasion; the poor visibility, and the illusion that the chevrons had been placed in the hurdle – which was caused by the chevrons being carried across the course behind the hurdle, which gave riders’ cause for concern for the safety of all involved – no penalties were imposed on any rider. They further ordered a report to be forwarded to the Head Office of the British Horseracing Authority.

Edited November 15, 2020 by ipswich45
stewards report added

[Villa Chris]

Basically jockeys and people involved in racing are only human. The fact that it’s come over three days creates more controversy than it would if they were separated incidents with length time gaps between them. First case is just purely human error. He’s won the race and just forgot to weigh in. It will no doubt happen again. The second incident they are looking into re arranging race times so I’ve just read. In this day and age you’d think better technology was available for incidents like this where there is bad light. As for the third incident sounds to me like confusion which can easily happen. One jockey/horse makes a wrong turn and it can set off a domino effect . Not seen the race myself but I remember Sandown last year and I totally understand the jockeys confusion in that race. Can’t remember the horse now but it just dropped dead before one of the fences. 

[richard-westwood]

The photo finish was a bit difficult....yes it looked like the closest had got it but it was blurry and if you looked close it looked like the near side horse had got an extraordinary long face ....could be he has lol ...or camera angle etc ....but I think it was fair they called a dead heat because I wasnt sure myself looking at it 

See what I mean about the long face ??...or is it just me ?

Edited November 16, 2020 by richard-westwood