Canada: An immediate review has been requested into a “very concerning” race at Assiniboia Downs racecourse in Winnipeg in which a jockey appeared to stop riding his mount when holding a clear lead and lost the race by a neck.
Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn took the unusual decision to refer the race to the local regulator, the Liquor Gaming & Cannabis Authority, for “a full and complete review” after no inquiry was carried out by the stewards into the performance of King Witt, a three-year-old gelding ridden by Sheldon Chickeness.
King Witt was sent off a 3.75-1 second favorite in the fifth race on the card, a $5,000 maiden claimer, at Assiniboia Downs on Wednesday July 20. Chickeness took King Witt to the front from the start to open a commanding advantage turning into the straight.
However, he started to look around and then eased off the horse, taking him towards the middle of the track, and seemingly began riding with any vigour only when the rest of the field drew alongside.
His mount ran on again to take second place behind the winner Mucho Express, who was 5.65-1. The odds-on favorite, Zuri Rasasi, was sixth of eight.
The Equibase result footnote read: “King Witt dueled inside early, opened out at the first turn, increased margin, took a good lead into the stretch, drifted out and appeared to be stopping in early stretch, was passed by three horses to his inside, started to run again when the winner went by him on the inside just after passing the eighth pole, gave his best from the mid stretch to the wire, lapped on the winner, couldn’t get to that one.”
Dunn said in a statement that he made the review request because of “the unusual nature of the stretch drive”.
He added: “When I watched the race in real time, my first reaction was that the jockey was pulling the horse up due to a potential injury. When the jockey re-engaged the horse after the balance of the field caught up and then began to aggressively ride the horse to the finish line, the sudden change was very concerning.
“Though in our opinion there would not have been any adjustment to the ultimate order of finish in the race, due to a lack of any interference with any other horses, the fact that there was no Inquiry posted by the Stewards created great concern with the public from a perception standpoint. As such, we felt we needed to act and make this formal request.
“To be clear, we have full confidence in our regulator and Stewards and value the significant experience they bring to our industry. We trust that they may already be reviewing this situation on their own. However, in light of what we saw last night as an operator and the significant feedback we have received, we felt an obligation on behalf of our customers and the ASD Live brand to crystallize our position of concern on this very important matter.
“While we can’t instruct or direct our regulator on how to act on this matter, our request is for a formal review and the issuance of a statement on their findings that we can share with the public.”
• Visit the Assiniboia Downs website
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