Since Greyville was sliced in two, field sizes and getting a clear run have been a problem, the question though, is this due to the width of the track, what we accept as jockeyship or a lack of proper penalties for not keeping your mount on a straight course?
We have had Mike de Kock equate racing at Greyville as "dodgem cars" and trainers withdrawing horses from wide draws in 14 & 1600m events as they believe they have no chance of winning. In years past Mike has won what used to be the Grade 1 1400m race for 2yr olds on July day from the widest draw so what has changed?
I firmly believe that the further out the false rail is on the grass track the more a wide draw is nullified however there seems to never be any mention of the false rail setting in any discussions leading up to major race days at Greyville. The communication of this information is non existent until the morning of the race day. If this information is so unimportant then we should do away with the false rail all together like other racing jurisdictions.
The question to be discussed is the SA punter accepting that Greyville is a tight track or do we accept negligent riding from Jocks as stock and trade in SA because our authority does not police this correctly.
For as long as I can remember every jockey interviewed about riding in Hong Kong always says, "the stipes are very strict in Hong Kong so there is no funny business or negligent riding accepted". Yet in SA we watch daily and weekly how jocks get away with ten times more than they would in Hong Kong.
If we look at last Sunday at Greyville race 1, Fourie just about brought the favourite down by simply just cutting straight across the track, he received a 7 day suspension. The favourite won despite this but the question must be, if the favourite lost due to this interference what would happen? The conspiracy theorists would have enough ammunition for a novel firstly but essentially is a 7 day suspension adequate for a deliberate act? That is, Fourie's mount didn't shift sharply of its own accord, he moved the horse across purposefully without regard. What would be the implications at Sha Tin?
Race 8 at Greyville on Sunday, Muzi & Corne bashed the eventual winner around and shifted all over the show in the last 200m. Luckily the horse being interfered with eventually won the race but was that what we accept as race riding and what do you do when the horse finishes second to a horse that didn't cause interference after being bumped by the third placed horse? There seems to be a belief amongst the jocks that this is just "race riding" but what would this be considered as at Sha Tin and what would the penalties be?
Tomorrow we will watch plenty of "race riding" skills at work;
Cutting across runners
Slowing of pace causing multiple runners to check & clip heels
Sprinting to the front and then pulling the handbrake
Allowing your mount off a straight line as long as you can get to the finish line first
All of the above considered race riding in SA
Tigershark,
You and I are very much in the same boat on this one.
1)My opinion is that it has become much tougher, since the splitting of the courses and that a good draw is an even more of an advantage today, than it was before the split.
2)False rail info should be on the weights,as these are planned for. Sometimes , very seldom, due to heavy rainfall, this may change, a day or two before the meeting. I have spoken with Raf Sheik and he will see that it is disseminated with final fields. They will always be provisional, until race morning due to weather, as explained.
3)As for the riding of some jocks, I am most dissatisfied with what they do in races. The bottom line is that Punters accept that there are no guarantees in Racing. So, too Owners. However, all that we want is for a fair run for our money. We can wait for months for the right draw and race for a horse. And when the gates open and you are taken out or interfered with, it leaves a sour taste, especially when your money is down the drain...and you have to wait another few months for similar conditions. Not only the losses of Punters and Owners reflect directly from interference, but the form book is also turned upside down.
These incidents are especially negative to all, when you are talking about the majority of horses, who are lower rated handicappers. These horses need things to be fair in order for them to be consistent.
The small minority of horses which are true top horses or are way ahead of the handicapper, can sometimes get away with it, because they can overcome the interference, but not the majority.
I think that we need a zero tolerance approach to interference by jocks. We have quite a few average, but consistent horses in our small racing string, that have suffered some sort of interference almost every second run. I am actually tired of having to explain it. "Next time" can be a long way away for an Owner who is paying the keep... and costly to the Punter who never saw the interference, as he may leave that horse out...
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