With some of the dust now having settled on the unfortunate incident in the final race at Friday’s Fairview racemeeting where jockey Gabriell Pieterse was injured, NHA CEO Vee Moodley is standing firmly behind the officials who made the call to continue the race.
The official Stipes report says that after passing the winning post on the first occasion at approximately the 1800m, Jockey Pieterse was dislodged when he became severely unbalanced after having to check his mount Maiden’s Cove away from the heels of Hey Siri (Francois Herholdt), which shifted in when insufficiently clear. Pieterse was attended to on the track by the paramedics in the pull-up area and thereafter was transported to hospital for further observation.
NHA CEO Vee Moodley – stands by his officials
Herholdt was charged with a contravention of Rule 62.2.7 in that as the rider of Hey Siri he failed to ensure that he did not cause interference to Maiden’s Cove leaving the 1800m. Herholdt signed an Admission of Guilt and is suspended from riding in races for a period of 14 days.
The major outcry was not about the accident, which can happen so quickly in racing, but about the fact that the Stipes on duty permitted the race to continue, with the medics and the badly injured Pieterse lying in the pull-up area.
The Sporting Post asked 4Racing and the National Horseracing Authority to respond.
While 4Racing have offered no response, NHA CEO Vee Moodley said that it is extremely easy to criticize the actions of the Regulator after the incident, and with the benefit of hindsight.
“Once Jockey Pieterse was dislodged from his mount past the winning post, the Stipendiary Board was in immediate contact with the NHA Chief Veterinary Surgeon and the Starting staff. They were given the ‘all clear’ to continue with their monitoring of the race as they had the incident and Jockey Pieterse within their line of sight and under control during constant and uninterrupted communication with the Stewards. As for the comments concerning the ‘pull-up area’ and personnel at risk, they are not wholly correct. Nobody was injured but for Jockey Pieterse and the transgressor of the incident was duly sanctioned,” he said.
You be the judge – does this look safe?
Moodley went on to say that in ‘normal races’, jockeys and horses take evasive action if there is an incident of a fall in a race.
“On Friday the horses were being eased up and under control and as a consequence, nothing catastrophic occurred. When making these live, split-second decisions, we fully comprehend that we would be subject to a whole lot of scrutiny and criticism. Leadership is the ability to take decisions, sometimes without the comfort of having the luxury of time or the benefit of hindsight. The outcome of the above incident was positive and we are extremely comfortable with the end result,” he concluded.
He then put the alternate case and question of what the consequences would have been if the NHA did indeed attempt to stop the race, and was unsuccessful, or for that matter, members of the general public ran onto the track to stop a race, which did not require same?
“There is no guarantee that the concerns raised would have been overcome. Jockey Pieterse was positioned approximately 50m past the finish post, and the decision made (in real time) was to continue the race and every effort made to direct the Jockeys away from him in the pull up area. A completely different scenario would have been presented had he fallen, say 50m before the finish. Ultimately, the integrity of the race, horse welfare and jockey safety were never jeopardized.The split-second decisions taken by the NHA Officials, under extreme pressure was vindicated by the positive outcome. They should be applauded rather than being targeted to provide the material for unfortunate propaganda.”
While all’s well that ends well, an experienced retired jockey told the Sporting Post that there was no price on human and equine life and that the raceday officials should always rather err on the side of extreme caution.
“This may have ended well, and we are all extremely thankful about that. But how were the Stipes assessing matters mid-race? If the fall happened well past the winning post a flagman positioned properly could maybe have waved the horses away from the critical spot. But in a driving multiple horse finish on tired legs, things could have ended very differently. They should rather have voided the race in my opinion,” he said, adding that the World Pool Gold Cup in a fortnight was an example of a race where the authorities would need to have their contingencies in place.
“Heaven forbid, but if there is a faller or two shortly after the start of the Gold Cup, I hope that there are working sirens in place at the 1600m marker for instance. Chasing haplessly with vehicles, and getting folk to wave jerseys and caps, is not effective or professional,” he added.
Another jockey who has ridden many winners at Fairview told the Sporting Post that when races started before the winning post, the riders were briefed that there would be a flagman or siren to warn them if the starting stalls got stuck and could not be removed.
“Thankfully that never needed to be called upon. But on Friday the Stipes, two of which are ironically former jockeys, failed. Failed. Failed. No question in my mind. No spin of the dice or lucky outcome is going to put this matter to bed. They had nothing in place to stop the race. Ask the jockeys what briefing they were given at the start. Nothing! Safety of horse and rider should not be a lottery. They gambled and won this time. Next time we could be burying somebody.”
The Stipendiary Stewards on duty on Friday:
Mr N Shearer (Deputy Chief Stipendiary Steward – WC)
Mr D Rahilly (Stipendiary Steward – CP)
Mrs JK Thinyane (Stipendiary Steward)
Mr M Maliti (Stipendiary Steward)
