IF A RULE IS UNMANAGEABLE IT SHOULDN'T BE THERE

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, May 2, 2017

It was a two horse war down the length of the Eagle Farm straight and ultimately only a nose separated the winner Dreams Aplenty and runner up Violate.

Correct weight was given and the result of the Group 3, Gunsynd Classic thus duly went into the record books, but it didn’t take long before a further spark ignited the battle once again.

That spark came in the form of action taken by stewards against Tiffani Brooker, the rider of Dreams Aplenty for excessive use of the whip on seventeen occasions prior to the 100m, a number of which were in consecutive strides, and ten times inside the 100m.’

That count of seventeen was no less than twelve strikes over the limit allowed under the current whip rule, and an incensed Brent Stanley, the trainer of Violate, went on the front foot threatening legal action in an attempt to get the result overturned.

But he only did so after the fact.

Racing.com quoted Stanley, who claims he only became aware of the situation well after the race was run and won, as saying, “I have had legal advice will be lodging an official complaint to challenge the result of the race and try and get it overturned.

“This is not being done over having sour grapes, this is being done because there is no consistency with the rule around Australia and it is an Australia-wide rule.

“Quite simply, I don’t feel that I was given an appropriate chance to do anything about it before correct weight was called.”

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Larry Cassidy, the rider of Violate, speaking to HRO, gave his view on the controversy.

“With all the evidence on the table now I do think of the Gunsynd result is one that got away,” Cassidy said.

“If the whip situation had been brought to my attention I definitely would have fired in a protest and I can’t see why the result wouldn’t have been overturned.

“If Tiffani Brooker’s whip was in her left hand, I might have had some idea of what was going on but it was in her right hand ... on the far side of her horse from me... so I had no idea how many times she was using the whip ... and, remember, we were going head to head so there is no way I would be going one, two, three ... counting her whip strikes. No one does that. All of your concentration is focussed on getting your horse home.

“That’s not my job. I don’t make the rules. I don’t enforce them but clearly somewhere the system has been let down.

If I was watching the race and not riding in it I would have focused on the two horses in front because they had pulled away from the rest and I would have clearly been able to see the inside rider using the whip too many times.

“Now you would expect that stewards would have had a better view than anybody else and it is therefore difficult for me to understand how they could not have had knowledge of the whip indiscretion prior to ‘correct weight.

I don't know if they did or not but, If they did have prior knowledge it should have been brought to my attention ... and I think there is a precedent for that.

“The only time a whip rule protest has been upheld was in a dead-heat at the Sunshine Coast and I was led to believe that day the stewards alerted connections of the possible overuse of the whip by one of the riders and suggested they have a look at the film.

“My point is that I should have been afforded that option as well.

“I can certainly understand how Brooker got herself into this position ... her first Group race, she thinks she’s going to win it and maybe there is a bit of a rush of blood, but the fact remains that there was a blatant breach of the rules and either myself or the connections should have been afforded the opportunity to view the film.

"Had that happened we certainly would have challenged the result.

“If the margin was half a length, there is no drama.

“Take the winning margin (a nose) and line it up with an excessive breach of the rules in terms of whip strikes and the penalty handed down to Brooker ... a $2000 fine and a week’s suspension ... and the combination of these facts, to me, suggests that the result would have been overturned on protest,” concluded Cassidy.

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John Zielke, trainer of the winner Dreams Aplenty was having none of it.

“Since this controversial, after hours threat of a legal action has been reported, I have spoken to a senior QC myself and he doesn’t believe their claim has any legs whatever.

“They are trying to say it is not sour grapes. It is what it is. It is sour grapes. Correct weight has been called. They had every opportunity at the time, as always, to view the film.

“If you want to do a whip count from the home turn until the 100m, I’d say Larry Cassidy’s count (on the runner up) was ten, also clearly over the limit. The whip rule is five ... and Cassidy used the whip a further nine times over the final 100m compared to my jockey’s eight times.

“I’ve got the footage and I have watched it over and over again and that’s my whip count for the runner-up.

“Someone erred in judgement by not having a look at the film prior to correct weight.

Everybody’s got a phone to tell each other what they thought they saw. The opportunity is there to view the film prior to correct weight.

“If the connections of the runner-up now want to take legal action they will have to put up their own money to challenge the decision, the stewards and Queensland Racing are the ones who are then going to have to give their barristers some money to defend it.

“The challenge, if it comes, is not against us, it is against their decision.

"When correct weight is called, it is correct weight.”

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HRO also spoke to Tiffani Brooker about her first Group winning ride aboard Dreams Aplenty.

“It was a real battle up the straight. There were probably three or four times when I thought I had it and another three or four times when I thought I was losing.

"It was very much back and forth in terms of getting your head in front. Even on the post I was fifty-fifty as to whether I had got up or not.

“I was shocked afterwards when I found out how many times I had hit my horse. Obviously there was a lot of emotion being my first Group race. With the adrenaline pumping throughout the race ... and after the race ... it was really quite intense.

“Even when I was told I had gone over with the whip rule, it wasn’t until I sat there and counted it that I realised how far over it I went.

“It wasn’t pleasant finding that out but I immediately acknowledged what I had done. I broke the rule and I copped a penalty for it.

“I’m going to do the time and pay the fine. There is going to be no appeal. There was never any thought of me appealing it. It was never an option in my mind.

“I pleaded guilty. I am remorseful for what I did and I will cop my punishment.”

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So what might have happened if there had been a protest?

While nobody will acknowledge it officially it has long been an open secret that stewards will always be loath to uphold a whip protest, in essence because the effect of the whip on a horse cannot be measured in terms of performance.

It’s an old story but, in simple terms, some horses will respond favourable to the whip, some will resent it. The difference in the level of expertise with the whip of individual jockeys... when to use it properly and at the right time or when not to use it ... is also unchartered territory, so it is impossible to attach a margin ... positive or negative ...to measure the effect of whip use.

Hence, for stewards to say that they would have to be satisfied that the use of the whip on one horse disadvantaged a second horse by more than the margin that the second horse was beaten by in order to uphold a whip protest simply means it is not going to happen.

If nothing else, this latest episode shows that the rule does need to be revisited and revised ... and sooner rather than later.

John Schreck, that vastly experienced former Chief Steward in Sydney and Hong Kong who writes a regular column on HRO, said from day one that the whip rule, particularly as far as it relates to any possible protest, should be taken out of the rule book.

It’s a simple argument. If the rule is unmanageable it shouldn’t be there.

It’s a long time since he said that.

Racing Australia should start listening.

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