bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

The talking point since the Christmas break has been the race-meeting stewards' decision to note the explanations given regarding the running and riding of Sunny Graham at Sha Tin on New Year's Day.

 Sunny Graham, trained by Andy Leung Ting-wah and ridden by Victor C. F. Chan, jumped at 88.5-1 and ran home strongly to just fail to catch Markgraf.

 Originally the race-meeting stewards, led by chief stipendiary steward Clinton P. Pitts Jnr, adjourned the running and riding inquiry and this was concluded on Sunday with Leung and Chan's explanations noted.

 To begin with, it is contended that noting an explanation is an unsatisfactory state of affairs and that explanations should either be accepted or rejected, or the benefit of the doubt given.

 Quite what 'noted' means is anyone's guess.

 What is even more unsatisfactory is that the race-meeting stewards seem to have based a fair part of their decision on the fact that the vets found that Sunny Graham bled internally and that he was lame in his off fore the morning after the race.

 It is indeed true that Sunny Graham has had tendon problems and has been an extremely difficult horse to train. But the fact he was lame the next morning is surely irrelevant in the context of the race.

 The inquiry was into the running and riding of the horse - ie the role played by the trainer and the jockey - not into the horse's subsequent veterinary well being the next day.

 The horse was passed fit to race before the event and should be ridden accordingly. If not, the trainer should not be running him or the vets allowing him to participate. In fact, Sunny Graham had been a complete and utter trackwork star going into the race.

 He didn't go to the line like a horse who was at all inconvenienced by either lameness or an internal bleeding attack. Rather, he charged to the line like a lion.

 What's more, maybe the bleeding took place after the race and it is a matter of fact that many horses bleed internally during a race.

 It is a well-documented inherent flaw in Thoroughbreds.

 It is surprising that the stipes recognised this as mitigating evidence for the way Sunny Graham performed, nor was the degree of bleeding documented in the stipes' report.

 Ultimately, though, as with all running and riding inquiries, it is the public who are the real judges via the price they send horses off at their next run.



Stipes fail to rule in a case worth 'noting'