RARELY does a day pass when there isn’t some kind of drama in the racing industry and at Spreyton on Sunday there was plenty of theatre being played out following the running of the Stridemaster at Tasracing Handicap for class two gallopers over 1350 metres.
Kool Kash and Lake Fergus hit the line in sync and the judge was unable to separate the pair so a dead-heat was declared.
But the rider of Kool Kash, Kyle Maskiell and the horse’s owner and co-trainer Graeme McCulloch, were of the opinion that a bump prior to the line had cost Kool Kash the race, so a protest was lodged.
Video footage showed the horses brushed slightly close to the line so the objection was deemed justified as the head-on footage showed Lake Fergus had laid in slightly close to the line.
McCulloch said the bump occurred about 10 metres from the line so the grounds for a protest were justified but Adam Trinder, the trainer of Lake Fergus, Adam Trinder, believed it was his horse that suffered the greater disadvantage from the incident.
“I thought Lake Fergus (Mehmet Ulucinar) was in front at the time and it (bump) impeded my horse more than it did Kool Kash,” Trinder said.
Stewards agreed by ruling the brush inconsequential to the outcome as it “did not stop the momentum of either runner”.
All win bets were paid less 50% of face value of tickets with Kool Kash returning $1.70 on the UBET tote while Lake Fergus paid $2.40.
By Peter Staples