Ardabil and Bombers In The Sky go to the line on the outside rail. (Picture: Cape Racing).
There was controversy in the last race at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth this afternoon (Wednesday) when the Justin Snaith-trained Ardabil, ridden by Grant van Niekerk, and the Glen Kotzen-trained Bombers In The Sky, ridden by Denis Schwarz, raced in close quarters all the way up the straight, initially on an outward path, and then two or three bumps took place after they had reached the outside rail.
Ardabil got up by a neck and an objection by Denis Schwarz was overruled.
One racing aficionado believed the correct decision was made and explained, “You can not possibly say definitively that but for the interference the second horse would have won. The winner was headed and came back to win.”
However, can it definitively be said that Bombers In The Sky wanted to go to the outside?
He was travelling well at the top of the straight and taking the shortest way home would have been a good option.
However, he had no choice but to go to the outside because he was sitting on the quarters, or even alongside, the eventual winner at the top of the straight and the winner made a beeline for the outside.
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It is a grey area in South African racing and used to happen regularly on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly in the days of the infamous “golden highway” on the outside.
If a fancied horse turned for home one off the rail and decided to head for the golden highway, all the horses making runs behind it were forced outwards themselves and it was seldom, if ever, brought to book.
One of the detractors to good racing in Cape Town is the tendency for horses to head for the outside in the straight, which causes a lot of hard luck stories, and it seems to happen especially in big races.
One way to stop this practise would surely be to enforce the rule about being two lengths clear before being able to go across other horses?
In fact, an exasperated Glen Kotzen wondered today what his jockey would have had to do to shake off the horse who gave him no chance of having a trouble free run in the straight.
Kotzen did not go into the objection inquiry because he thought an upheld decision in favour of Bombers In The Sky would be a foregone conclusion.
He said, “I think we were just going past Ardabil as we came into the straight and Grant wasn’t clear of us to allow him to go across. He takes us right from the inside right to the outside and then bumps us three times. On the one occasion he bumps the hindquarter, so our horse’s head clearly comes in (i.e. he was knocked sideways). We go down 0,2 lengths and they don’t think we would have won the race? To me that is preposterous.”
Bombers In The Sky appeared to be coming back at Ardabil at the line too.
Kotzen added, “What should my jockey have done? Should he have clipped heels at the beginning of the lateral movement, or should he have reined to the left to try and get the other horse off him halfway up the straight so that he would stop bumping him and he could then try and ride his horse out … or should he just take the punishment and then wait for the objection, because basically that is what he had to do … he couldn’t get the other horse off him all the way up the straight.”
He concluded, “If Ardabil had been two lengths clear when going to the outside my jockey could have gone straight down the inside, but he did not have that option.”
The stipendiary stewards have to abide by the rule which says the interfered with horse would definitely have had to have beaten the horse who interfered with it for the objection to be upheld.
However, they are able to dish out punishment for interference, even if the objection goes in favour of the offender.
It will be interesting to see whether there is a suspension given here or whether this incident falls under the aforementioned grey area about going outward in the straight.
It is a grey area that should be looked into.
A horse should need to be two lengths clear before coming across another horse whether it happens down the back straight, in the case where a horse is trying to slot in to get cover, or whether it happens at a slighter angle at the top of the home straight when they are all accelerating for home.
Furthermore, serial interference offenders should surely be given more than just the standard seven days here and ten days there after a certain number of suspensions in a season.
If there is continual repetition of the transgression then it points to the punishment not being effective and a bigger punishment should be given.
A proper detractor is needed in the case where suspensions are being dished out over and over again to the same rider.
