FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: LLOYD WILLIAMS HAS GOT A LOT OF THINGS RIGHT. I THINK HE GOT THIS ONE WRONG

By John Schreck | Thursday, November 16, 2017

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Schreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

I have a great respect for Mr Lloyd Williams as a successful businessman and as a racehorse owner.

Recently, however, Mr Williams has come out saying that the CEO and the Board of Racing Victoria should ... publically ... be more supportive of their stewards and their work and ‘stand up’ for racing.

That surprised me because, if you take such a statement literally, the implication is that it means the stewards will be supported by the hierarchy while the participants before them will be starting from behind scratch ... which would be quite unfair.

The stewards don’t need to be supported by the Board or the CEO, or anyone else, other than to be provided with good facilities and such things as good films, the finances to sample horses when they want to and that kind of thing.

And they have that support ... and more ... at Racing Victoria.

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I have seen the behind the scenes support Racing Victoria provides their stewards in a working capacity.

They have a room full of men and women watching films of races in real time checking on rides and observing if horses are ridden in a similar way to last time they ran.

These people are looking continually at the business being done by bookmakers both on and off the track and are forever looking at what is being done on betting exchanges.

This support for stewards is right where it needs to be, behind the scenes as part of an important, formal and appropriate working structure ... whereas the sort of public support being suggested by Mr Williams is simply not necessary, nor is it appropriate.

The judicial control of the sport must be on a level playing field. The stewards must be able to do their job without fear or favour.

Nobody needs any more support than anybody else at inquiries and such like. If that is the case, as Mr Williams suggests it ought to be, it becomes unfair to the participants and that is simply not right.

Whilst Mr Williams gets lots of things right, in my opinion, he has got this badly wrong.

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Mr Williams, in putting forward his argument, referred to the way in which the likes of Peter Armytage (a former Chairman of the VRC) and Jim Ahern (a former Chief Steward) ... with whom I have worked ... conducted affairs in ‘the old days.’

I know how the system worked in those days and I have the greatest regard for Mr Ahern who was extraordinarily good to me over a long period of time ... but that was fifty years ago!

Things are very different now. You can’t simply go back to the future.

The way things worked then ... well you couldn’t operate like that today. I can’t speak for him but, deep down, I feel Mr Williams would know that.

As I say, it is unfortunate that he even suggests that the people with the power to penalise should be somehow more supported by authorities than those on the other side of the table.

He may not have meant it that way but I think that is the way it has come out.

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It should be remembered that stewards hold a position of extraordinary responsibility.

They have the power to penalise others in a manner which can have a serious impact on their lives and, ideally, they are required to exercise those rights in a manner in which everybody is treated equally and with dignity, whatever the charge and the final outcome.

That is their duty of care and that is the job they must be allowed to do free of any outside influence, perceived or otherwise.

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I am always reluctant to comment on a penalty that has been imposed in a case that has been completed ... and I won’t do so now.

The only point I want to reference with regard to the case of the South Australia jockey who struck his horse behind the barriers is that, with the animal liberation people watching the sport so closely these days, racing can ill afford to have negative publicity in the animal welfare field.

Whether racing participants find some of these people credible or not they have become players in the game and we are living in a time where racing now has to be ever-mindful of the presence and the power of that lobby group.

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Finally I would like to give credit to all of those involved with the care given to Gingernuts after an unusual incident in which he sustained an injury shortly before the start of the Emirates at Flemington on Saturday.

It is always unfortunate when serious injuries of this nature occur but, if it had to happen, we can all at least all be grateful that it occurred when it did ... on the way to the start and not 100m into the race.

Latest reports have confirmed that Gingernuts has come through surgery well and, while there is some way to go, he hopefully is on the road to recovery.

After what we witnessed and worried about pre-race that is a very pleasing outcome.