"I was crying in the stalls"

After being asked how he managed to get himself up for the next race

he says " look i was crying in the stalls "

Report: Doncaster, Saturday


Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes (Group 1) 1m6½f, 3yo colts & fillies


BONDI BEACH was sensationally awarded the final Classic of the British Flat season after the first past the post Simple Verse was deemed to have caused sufficient interference for the stewards to reverse the placings.


In a truly dramatic conclusion at Doncaster, Simple Verse's trainer Ralph Beckett said he was "astonished" the result was reversed denying his filly victory and he immediately signalled his intention to appeal.

He said: "I'm astonished apart from anything else as there is no consistency in the rule. Clearly whatever way you look at it both horses lean on each other and can you really say it's entirely her fault when both horses lean on each other? One thing's for certain and that is that we will appeal this."

Shock and anger

After nearly two miles of action on the course it was the stewards' room where the race was finally decided after Simple Verse and Bondi Beach had collided with each other when making their efforts in the closing stages.

The stewards deemed Simple Verse had prevented Bondi Beach from winning by bumping him and reversed the placings, a result that was met with a combination of shock and anger by the connections of the filly.

Jockey Andrea Atzeni was visibly annoyed as he stormed into the changing rooms while owner Sheikh Fahad rapidly left the course having been denied a Classic win.

Atzeni went on to win the following race, after which he said: "I felt like going home but that's racing. I was crying in the stalls and I'm gutted as I felt the best horse won. It's a shame for the boss [SheikhFahad] because he deserved a big winner."

The race


The race itself had been a thrilling spectacle with Storm The Stars, Bondi Beach and Simple Verse stretching clear of the rest of the field in the final two and a half furlongs and slugging it out for glory.

The key moments of the contest were yet to come though and the first revolved around Atzeni's manoeuvre to extract Simple Verse out from behind the weakening Storm The Stars and into a challenging position, a process that resulted in a mild collision with the Bondi Beach.

Simple Verse and Bondi Beach then went head-to-head in the final furlong and again the pair came together, this time with much more force and much closer to the finish.

Sheikh Fahad
'I'm sorry for the other horse'

Connections of Simple Verse, who would have been the first female to win the St Leger since User Friendly in 1992, had been jubilant immediately after the race having taken the bold decision to supplement the filly for the Classic at the start of the week.

However, victory instead went to Bondi Beach and trainer Aidan O'Brien admitted the way the race was won did not sit all that comfortably with him

"It is never a nice way to win a race," he said. "I am very sorry for the connections of the other horse.

"It was messy down the straight. I didn't really see it properly but it looked like it was messy and [Bondi Beach] was closing the gap going down to the line."

He added: "I'm obviously delighted and Colm [O'Donoghue] gave him a great ride. He was unlucky at York and he got two proper bumps that day and got brought right across the track [but wasn't given the race]. That's the way it goes. Some days it falls for you and some days it doesn't."

Stewards satisfied

The consistency of stewarding came into question after the result was changed but stipendary steward Paul Barton said he felt the correct decision had been made.

He said: "We had to decide if there was any interference and we decided there were two incidents, one inside the two furlong and one inside the half furlong. The combination of the two in our opinion improved Simple Verse's position.

"We try to take a dispassionate view and the stewards have to leave the room satisfied they've made the right decision and I think they have."

Race replay

What a race...feel sorry for the filly!!

Interesting decision - she was boxed in and so Bondi Beach actually got first run on her,so she comes from behind him-based on that,she would probably have kept the race in SA!
our local interpretation almost always rules that a horse from behind would "but for the interference" have still won the race!!

Then Frankie murders a horse in Ireland that would probably have beaten him and keeps it?

Stewards did fail in their jobs today IMO. The filly was hemmed in and had to barge her way thru as the " victor " was lugging in all the time.

The Irish race , amazing how Golden Horn was not subjected to an enquiry? The actions of the Stewards in the St.Leger and the race in the USA where Spencer lost the race both horses were owned by Arab connections if it is the intention of Racing Authorities to be overly harsh in some instances and glaringly lax in other then it will only leave a bitter taste for owners who continue to support the sport religiously. :silly:

I backed Simple Verse. Really feel for all concerned with the filly has they lost a Classic race. She was travelling the best but could not get through until she barged herself. Unlucky.

agree totally - jock on Bondi Beach was keeping Simple verse in for a long way and had to barge herself out of the pocket - very poor decision imho

Thanks for replays IMO bondi caused more trouble to the result and the filly should have kept the race and if bondi did win I would have expected them to give the race to the filly

In the case of Frankie he ccertainly gave the runner up a severe bump when coming with the run but guess they considered the winning distance as it did appear to run on better at the death 

Dave Scott wrote: Thanks for replays IMO bondi caused more trouble to the result and the filly should have kept the race and if bondi did win I would have expected them to give the race to the filly

In the case of Frankie he ccertainly gave the runner up a severe bump when coming with the run but guess they considered the winning distance as it did appear to run on better at the death 

Gosden commented that with the O'Brien filly finishing second it was easier for Golden Horn to keep the race.One thing that was obvious was that GH wasn't stopping.Free Eagle very unlucky though.

Imo Free Eagle was knocked off stride by the shifting under pressure Golden Horn at a crucial stage when he was mounting a serious challenge and was just not able to recover the MOMENTUM that had gathered when going around to challenge.

One thing for sure, in fact is a certainty is that the Oppenheimer owned Golden Horn will not be able to get away with any interference in the Arc if he takes on the Qatar owned super Arc hat-trick seeking Treve.

Under French rules the horse would have been disqualified? :silly: