Report on protest hearing from Graham Potter's blogspot:
Race 4:
Class 6 Handicap - 1110m
1st - King Leonidas; 2nd - Shudule Gee; 3rd - Cardio
WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Larry Cassidy (speaking directly after the race): “He wasn’t really handling the track and when I reached the lead he shifted out. I don’t think I made contact, but we’ll have a look anyway.”
It was to be a very close look. Apprentice jockey Luke Rolls, the rider of the second placed horse Shudule Gee, put in a protest against the winner and the action moved into the Stewards room.
Apprentice jockey Luke Rolls (giving the grounds for his protest): “Coming to about the 100m mark, Larry Cassidy has given me a very definite bump. It cost me a length. It really put my horse off-balance. I had to stop riding it and re-gather him up and he’s come again once he got balanced.”
Jockey Larry Cassidy (questioning his accuser): “When you say I gave your mount a decent bump, how many strides did you have to stop riding for?”
Luke Rolls: “I probably stopped riding three, maybe four strides. I had to stop with the whip.”
Larry Cassidy: “... and you believe that cost you one length?”
Luke Rolls: “Yeah. Might even have been more ... but at least that”
Larry Cassidy: “Just short of the line, do you think your horse got in and bumped me?”
Luke Rolls: “No I don’t.”
Daniel Wheeler (representing trainer John Wallace): “They made their runs together. Larry Cassidy’s horse has started to shift and I see, about two strides before they actually bumped, he had the stick out. He was probably struggling to keep it as straight as he possibly could. He’s bumped our horse. Our horse never moved. He kept a straight line until he got the bump, and then he has had to shift out another three or four horses. When he got balanced up he made another run at him and I thought the inside horse has come out again right on the line, probably two strides before the line, and bumped us again. Clearly our horse is a 1400m and if he keeps straight on the inside horse, I believe we win. If the interference didn’t occur, I’d say the result would be different.
Larry Cassidy: “There are many points that should be pointed out. Firstly, we actually didn’t make our runs together. I was about a length-and-a-quarter behind the second place-getter when we made our runs. Obviously he come up the outside and I come up the inside. Sure my mount has shifted out, but I’ve given him a length-and-a-quarter start from the point of the home bend. As I started to shift I was clear of any other horse. When I finally did get out and finally brushed the second horse – and that’s really all it was, a brush not a bump, like Luke has said ... a severe bump like he said, has cost him a length. There is no way in the world, looking at the film gentlemen with your experience, there is no way in the world that has cost him a length. Um ... Luke suggested he stopped riding for three strides. Well, if you look at the film, he’s probably stopped for one stride, even half a stride ... he’s hardly missed a beat. It’s an ever so slight brush.
“As I’ve straightened my mount and we’ve got going again, I believe Luke’s mount has actually got in on top of me the last five strides and actually inconvenienced me again. There is no way in the world he would ever have beaten me and I believe the placings should stand.”
Luke Rolls (to Larry Cassidy): “After the incident occurred, how far did you put on me?”
Larry Cassidy: “Very hard looking at the angle. It wouldn’t have been much at all because my momentum was slowed. I actually stopped riding for six or seven strides and we were probably still head to head.”
Scott Hammersley (representing trainer Bryan Guy): “As Larry said there was a slight brush, but I don’t believe there was any great inconvenience to the second horse. The movement inwards and outwards close to the line was irrelevant. I mean the race was over in that point in time. I couldn’t see that those placings can be changed on that.”
Luke Rolls: “Just looking at the film, Larry’s mount was probably a neck in front of me as we bumped. My horse had to re-balance up and fight back and he has only been beaten a half-a-head ... short-head. I think if he hadn’t have been bumped he would have won.”
Daniel Wheeler: “Just a question to Larry. How far do you reckon your horse shifted out from the time you started pulling the stick to when you hit the winning post, and how far do you think you took our horse out?”
Larry Cassidy: “The first part of your question is irrelevant, because I was clear of any other horse ...”
Daniel Wheeler: “How far did you take our horse out? How many horses did he come out?”
Larry Cassidy: “I brushed the horse, maybe, that’s about it. It was only a slight brush. But I don’t believe you took ground off me. Over the last 100m, my horse was holding yours quite comfortably behind us.”
Daniel Wheeler: “In my opinion we counted three horses ... that he was taken out three horses.”
That brought the protest hearing to an end.
The protest was dismissed.
Topic: PROTEST! (Read 307529 times)