Final plea for mighty sprinter to stay racing

HORSE RACING CHAMPION sprinter Chautauqua’s race career is as good as over after Racing NSW stewards announced they will no longer accept any nominations for the horse to trial or race.

But at a specially convened meeting later today, Chautauqua’s owners get a final opportunity to convince stewards why the “grey flash” should continue racing before the ban is confirmed.

Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel said his preliminary decision is to bar Chautauqua from trials and races after the gelding missed the start badly in a barrier trial between races at Rosehill last Saturday.

Chautauqua has refused to leave the barriers in six previous trials this year and the Rosehill trial was going to be make or break for the horse – if he missed the start again stewards had announced they would refuse his entry for trials and races.

Although Chautauqua eventually came out of the barriers several lengths behind the field last Saturday, before giving chase and finishing a close second in the trial, stewards still ruled that the gelding “failed to jump from the barriers to their satisfaction”.

But Van Gestel said before the ban is enforced, stewards will hear final pleas from Chautauqua’s owners to extend the sprinter’s race career.

“In order to provide the connections with due process, the stewards have invited the connections to make any appropriate submissions as to why the stewards’ preliminary decision should not be confirmed,’’ Van Gestel said.

Chautauqua, now an eightyear-old, has won 13 of his 32 starts, amassing $8.8 million in prizemoney.