Stipes seen in poor light at Mysore

The quality of stipendiary stewards has gone down all over India. There is not a single stipe in any of the turf authorities who could be considered as being better than the rest. RWITC has already been hit hard because of poor stiping and Hyderabad, despite its successful racing operation, has always been looking for a good stipe. The problem has now extended to Bangalore as well as where the senior stipendiary steward lacks experience, maturity and also willingness to learn. He has been placed in this critical position without reasonable experience or expertise.

The Senior Stipes’ lack of race reading was evident by the manner in which the enquiry was conducted with regard to the objection in the Poonawalla Derby on Sunday. The Stipendiary Steward was not willing to take any other view other than the one he had already made up so much so that his questioning was directed at only confirming his belief and he was not interesting at accommodating any other opinion. And to think that the same stipendiary steward had recommended in the past for objections to be upheld when there was no noticeable interference defies logic.

Fleet Indian drifted from a straight course almost the entire home stretch, taking Messalina along with him. Each time, the drift became more prominent, Messalina was shying away. And when it came to a stage when Messalina was in danger of being sent out of the grass track, the jockey had to completely check the horse, change course and make a renewed effort. Though Fleet Indian had gone away into an unbridgeable lead, Messalina did well to pick up speed once again and finished second. Jockey Wayne Smith who rode Messalina objected against Srinath who rode the winner for interference as well for the winning jockey’s whip coming perilously close to the point of making contact with the nose of the filly which caused her to be intimidated and unbalanced and shy away violently.

The jockeys explained their position in the Stewards room with Srinath even suggesting that Wayne Smith could have switched on the inside as he was drifting. Senior Stipe Mahendran then took over and then began stating that Wayne Smith had enough opportunity to shift and that he did not was reason enough to overrule the objection. He told Smith that since his horse was not coming in despite using the whip on the right hand side, it meant that the filly was not good enough. Despite the jockey explaining that the horse was being taken out and was shifting out only because of Fleet Indian coming across his patch, went in vain. What does the stipe expect when the front runner comes in front of the horse making its run from behind? Should he not drift or collide or clip the front runner?

Mahendran did not put any question to Srinath after he gave his view. He did not ask Srinath what steps he took to prevent his horse from drifting. He also did not ask Srinath to prove his point of view. All the questions were directed at Wayne Smith, asking him what he should have done instead of looking at the nature of interference. The stipe, in his wisdom, stated that Wayne Smith could have exercised the option of going on the inside when the actual fact was that the horse was already on the outside of Fleet Indian and committed to make the run on the outside. Does he think that horses are like Ferraris that their stride can be broken, made to change course and then pick up speed to show the material difference? Even a Ferrari takes time to go into full flight.. A simple check can cause a few lengths difference especially when it happens close home and there is very little recovery time.

How did the stipe quantify that the interference which lasted the entire length of 300 metres as having not made a material difference? The interfered horse was not allowed to get into full rhythm as she kept shying away from Fleet Indian and was further inconvenienced by the whip coming on the face of the horse. If Fleet Indian had not been wayward, Messalina would have passed the front runner without much ado. Fleet Indian started on the rails and ended on the edge of the grass track and in these circumstances, how can a horse which is immediately behind go on the inside of the horse? It is also crucial as to how a decision is arrived at to inspire confidence.

Former Senior Stipendiary Steward Raman who is in the advisory capacity as race day stipe, himself appears intimidated so much so that he is not willing to express his opinion or take the lead because of the role he has been assigned. He voice is muted.

The fact of the matter is that there was severe interference which had a bearing on the eventual result. The interference should be viewed from the perspective of the severity of it. Looking at things like whether the horses made contact, bumped each other should not be the guiding factors. Expecting tragic occurrences for basing their decision does not call for any technical expertise. Any common man would do that job.