Fairview – Stipes were busy on Friday (Pic – Pauline Herman)
The Stipes were busy at Fairview on Friday, and cracked the whip by issuing R7000 worth of fines to 6 trainers for a contravention of Rule 57.1.2. This is a failure to present their runners in the security area at least 60 minutes before the official starting time of the race.
While he produced the knockout 33-1 shot Family Law to win the first, jockey Yuzae Ramzan was questioned regarding his riding in this race.
Ramzan told the Stewards that his instructions were to provide this colt with a positive racing experience that would be beneficial to its future career.
He told the Stewards that the colt had been stubborn loading, was restless in the stalls and had lost ground when the stalls opened. He added that the colt had raced green and had demonstrated a tendency to hang inwards.
The Stewards advised Ramzan that they accepted his report as these were also their observations.
Watch the replay of Family Law’s win here – he is in the gold cap on outside:
However, his riding had come under notice as it appeared that he had not encouraged the colt out of the starting stalls and, in the opinion of the Stewards, he had not shown an acceptable degree of vigour and determination in his riding in the closing stages when the colt had finished the race off strongly and it was obvious that it could be competitive for the winning placing.
Ramzan was advised that, notwithstanding that the colt had won the race, he is required to ride with sufficient determination and purpose so that his riding does not come under query from the Stewards.
He was also informed that if he hadn’t won this race, he could very well have faced serious race riding charges.
Before his day ended with a terrible fall in the third, jockey Wes Marwing was questioned regarding his riding of String Of Light in the concluding stages of the second race where the Stewards pointed out to him that there appeared to be a hesitation in his riding.
Marwing, who was beaten a half length into second, conceded that he had misjudged the position of the finishing post and that there had been a momentary hesitation with his riding.
The Stewards pointed out that he is required to ride his mounts fully until the finish line but felt that his finishing position in this instance had not been compromised. The Stewards advised Marwing to ensure that he is fully aware of where the finishing line is positioned and to ride to the finish in future engagements.
Two jockeys went one over the 12 strike crop use limit and left the track with a dent in their pay-packets.
Jason Gates was fined R5000 on Maiden’s Cove who finished fifth in the sixth race, while Yuzae Ramzan was lumbered with a R2000 penalty for his whip use on Forest Spy, who ran second in the next race.
- The next Fairview racemeeting is a polytrack programme on Tuesday 13 February.
