Gold Circle Publishing’s Michael Clower wrote on the front page of the Cape Times today about the Magic Feet debacle at Kenilworth yesterday.
Clower’s article states that Magic Feet served up a 66-1 shock when making a winning debut in the first race at Kenilworth yesterday but that was nothing compared with the consternation the newcomer caused when it was found that she was a different horse altogether.
The mistake was discovered when she was taken away for a routine dope test and the chip in her neck was electronically scanned. This showed her to be another chestnut three-year-old from the same stable, that of Darryl Hodgson, but an unraced filly named Ignition Lady.
Amazingly the error was not discovered by the horse identifier whose job it is to scan all horses before they go into the parade ring to ensure that their chips match the numbers in their passports. The chips were also scanned, and checked with the passports, by an official some weeks ago when the two fillies were taken through the pens to get their starting stall certificates. Again the error was not discovered and apparently the original mix-up occurred when the pair were brought from their stud in the same float on the same day.
Hodgson said: “They arrived at my stables with stickers on them giving their names. From that moment on we assumed Magic Feet to be the filly who had that name on her sticker, and the same with Ignition Lady.”
Magic Feet now faces disqualification and, unless something unexpected crops up, the race will be awarded to 9-10 favourite Abyssinia who was beaten less than half a length into second. Senior stipendiary steward Ernie Rodrigues said: “I have lodged an objection to the winner and this will be heard in the morning. In the meantime the horse identifier has been suspended and will face a disciplinary hearing.”
UPDATE: Magic Feet, Wednesday’s “wrong horse” 66-1 Kenilworth winner, was disqualified today and the race awarded to runner-up Abyssinia but the NHA’s inquiries into how nobody spotted the blunder are continuing.
