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tbh it did occur to me it was one of the on track in running players!
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[;)]
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Who made the decision to stop the race in the first place? Invariably there are stricken horses far nearer to fences or hurdles, and they simply doll off the obstacle and wave a chequered flag. This poor horse was barely on the "running track" and was well clear of the hurdle.
It's all so amateurish. |
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Ah,yes Arleyatation, you've hit the nail on the head. The sport is run by bumbling baffoons
Why not have a siren to announce the stopping of a race instead of asking some nutter to stand in front of galloping horses waving a flag? |
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The rumour going around the track was YES he waved a flag to stop the race but he waved the wrong one [should have been the chequered one]. The official announcement said jocks suspended BUT areport would be sent to the jockey club regarding the waving of the yellow flag
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From Sporting Life website (My emphasis in bold):
A sign in the weighing room, explaining the yellow flag procedure, reads: "If at any stage during a race you see an official waving a yellow flag, this is the sign to immediately pull up." The stewards also held a further enquiry into why the stop-race flag had been deployed, but forwarded their evidence on to the British Horseracing Authority. Wetherby racecourse chief executive Jonjo Sanderson said: "Fiona (Needham, clerk of the course) was trying to contact Ian Ward, our head groundsman, on the walkie-talkie. "Unfortunately, for some reason Ian could not hear her. "Ian was concerned that the runners would not be able to get past the stricken horse and he made a judgment call. "In his roll as head groundsman he is well within his rights to make such a call. "He was in the correct place and was waving his yellow flag and blowing a whistle. "It is in his remit to make such a decision. He has held his current position for at least four years. "Ian has not made a mistake, it was a judgment call." Cook, who secured a double on the card aboard King Zeal and Amtired, said: "I'm very annoyed and very frustrated. "There were flags all over the place and no-one knew what they were doing. "I saw a yellow flag but then a bit further on I saw a hazard flag so we carried on as the hurdle was not dolled out. "I only caught a glimpse of the yellow flag. "He (Ward) should have been further out so we could all see what was happening clearly." McCoy and the other guilty jockeys refused to comment. |
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I have some sympathy with the riders but not much.
Look at it from the stewards point of view. 1. The injured horse was blocking the space round the side of the hurdle so that option was not available. 2. Any fallers at the flight could have careered into the people tending the horse. Therefore stopping the race was a logical call. Can you imagine the fuss if a Formula 1 driver ignored warning flags? They are travelling at 120 mph or more not 30 so if they can spot flags so should jockeys. |
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Why not doll off that fence? Why didn't yellow flag man stand more in the middle of the course? They did not deserve 10 days for that
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surely they will appeal? the groundsman decides to stop the race,you couldn't make it up,he may be the best grower of grass in the country (although as it's wetherby i doubt it) but who's to say he knows the first thing about horse racing? it's clear there was no need to stop the race but the jocks get 10 days,unbelevable imo and it saved me a few quid as well.
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you could bet any farce in racng that fiona needham would be involved.
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seamship, re your point about flagman, possibly he did not want an early death.[;)]
Ribero the flag must have been officially sanctioned surely? |
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i guess so wee eck but they do admit they were trying to contact him before he raised it.
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ribero, He has permission to make the call he has supposedly the right amount of experience,
however you look at it the jockeys especially the experienced ones were at fault for carrying on. |
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In partial defence of the jocks there was also a guy waving a chequered flag only a further 100 yards down the course than the yellow flag waver.
Maybe they need more than one yellow flag[;)]. |
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do jockeys actually know what a yellow flag means.
to me clearly [ before yesterday ] they don't |
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people who mow the grass should not be able to void races where 100s of thousands are being traded.
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That is not correct. Officials are placed at several points round the course who have the authority to wave a yellow flag if they think it is dangerous for the race to carry on. Under the circumstances, the guy made a good call but because of the position that the incident took place, I can understand the riders being unprepared as they came off the bend. Better guidance could be given to officials but as the stricken horse and more importantly the people behind the green screen were blocking the path round the obstacle and also part of the obstacle, I can see why the call was made. If the riders had been unable to avoid jumping the flight but had then pulled up, they would have a case but they carried on regardless. The fact that no accident happened is not the point. People do dangerous things on the roads every day without causing accidents but that doesn't mean we should abolish the laws.
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sageform, spot on, the position in a nutshell.
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