Charlie Brown is credited with the quip that ‘if you don’t like their rules, whose would you use?’
An example of a damned if you do and damned if you don’t, or you can’t please all the people all the time type rule played itself out in the Greyville fourth on Wednesday.
The Sean Tarry trained Silence Descends was impeded by the handler at the start, lost three lengths, yet was declared a runner – to the detriment of anybody who may have backed him for a win or place, or bankered the gelding in the Place Accumulator.
The bottom line is that the Stipes have the discretion to declare a horse a non-runner in the event of him being disadvantaged at the start – but not if he should finish in the top four.
Is that fair – and what would be an alternative?
Later on we saw Tanjiro experience a similar issue with a handler at the start of the fifth race – but he was riderless and was declared a non-runner.
If Anthony Delpech had somehow clung on and he had snuck into a dirty fourth, the world and his dog would have been crying.
The fourth race Stipes Report says:
SILENCE DESCENDS (*E Ngwane) was fractious in the stalls losing three lengths.
SILENCE DESCENDS (*E Ngwane) became fractious as the start was effected which resulted in the handler being slow to release this gelding. In terms of Rule 61.5.10.2 and the fact that this gelding finished fourth, no further action was taken.
The relevant rule says:
61.5.10.2 In the event of the actions of a handler preventing a HORSE from starting in a RACE and/or resulting in a HORSE being impeded and thereby losing a significant distance when the stalls are opened, and no false start is declared, such HORSE may be deemed by the SB not to have started and the SB may declare it to have been withdrawn, provided that a horse which is ultimately declared first, second, third or fourth in a race by the judge shall not be declared a non-runner.
Watch the race here:
So what is the solution? And let’s imagine you have a runner in the Vodacom Durban July – he gets impeded by a handler, loses six lengths, but manages to fly up and win it.
You’d definitely want them to declare him a non-runner, wouldn’t you?
