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Punters fume as ‘racing certainty’ is beaten by stablemate.
Picture: iStock
Good-mannered, old-fashioned gentleman that he is, Vaughan Marshall didn’t show emotion other than happiness in the aftermath of the R5-million HSH Princess Charlene Big Cap at Kenilworth on Sunday.
However, the veteran trainer would have experienced a swirl of conflicted feelings: he’d just won the race with 25-1 shot All Out For Six, but his 1-3 hot-pot One Stripe had finished down the drain after running into rough seas in the final stretch – interference arguably whipped up by the winner.
One set of owners was celebrating and Marshall had to share the elation. The other lot was fuming. Who said being a racehorse trainer was a breeze?
The result of the big-money sales race confirmed the adage that the only certainty in racing is the uncertainty.
One Stripe looked like the best banker bet in local racing for a long time and his eclipse dashed the hopes of a vast majority of punters on the day.
It was a “coming together” of horses and riders in the Kenilworth straight, 150m before the finish line, that scrambled the script. All Out For Six, ridden by Grant van Niekerk, shifted inwards as he challenged the leader The Grey King, partnered by Craig Zackey. Both horses veered to the left – just as One Stripe was barreling up the inside rail and jockey Gavin Lerena had to yank on his reins to avoid a major pile-up.
One Stripe never regained rhythm or momentum and trailed in sixth. The Grey King slowed into fourth. By contrast, All Out For Six seemed galvanised by the argy-bargy and took off to win going away from another outsider, 33-1 chance La Pulga.
The stipes report said All Out for Six and The Grey King had brushed; the latter and One Stripe had then “made heavy contact”, resulting in both horses becoming “unbalanced”.
“After reviewing this incident, the stewards were satisfied, taking into account the finishing position of the horses concerned, an objection in terms of Rule 68.2.6, read with Rule 69.3.1 and Rule 69.3.2, could not be sustained and took no further action. An Inquiry will be held into this incident.”
Punters have not been so calm about it all.
Van Niekerk, something of a whipping boy lately, has copped much of the criticism for the contretemps. A few observers say All Out For Six was galloping so well he would have won anyway. Others shrug and say it was “the rub of the green in racing”, a consequence of aggressive but fair “race-riding”.
The outcome of the stipes’ inquiry is awaited. Fans are hoping judgment isn’t postponed and left to unhappily fester – as has been the case with several controversial cases before the National Horseracing Authority in recent times.
Meanwhile, One Stripe will be jetting to the US soon, with a tilt at the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year on the agenda.
His father One World, South Africa’s champion freshman sire, was in the same position as Vaughan Marshall: a champion son was taken out, but another son took the massive first prize for his owners – One World Racing Syndicate.
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