Serena Miss almost does
A LARGE Matamata crowd was treated to racing’s theatre at its very best when the drama inside the inquiry room after the $100,000 Breeders’ Stakes was relayed on the large infield television screen.
Moments after a thrilling finish when Serena Miss, Nahema and Strata Lady raced across the line in the club’s annual feature, racegoers saw even more action as a protest by the connections of runner-up Nahema was heard.
And the cut and thrust of the hearing, once confined to racing’s inner sanctum, held everyone spellbound as first protesting trainer Stephen Marsh and then defending trainer Graeme Rogerson argued whether interference 50 metres from home should see the placings changed.
The crowd might have come to cheer on Strata Lady, hoping for a fairytale win for the O’Sullivan family just days after their matriarch, Marie, died after a battle with cancer but this was the next best thing.
Marsh won over a large section of the crowd when he told Judicial Control Authority committee members Adrian Dooley and Richard Seabrook that, judging by the tractor marks on the grass, Serena Miss had clearly moved in on Nahema.
Marsh contended Serena Miss’s jockey Leith Innes made no attempt to stop riding his filly, leaving Nahema’s rider Michael McNab without the room to ride out his horse and denying him his rightful running.
‘‘The other horse has clearly cost us more than a nose and we’re clearly in front half a stride past the post.’’
McNab said his horse was knocked completely off balance and he had such little room it was almost impossible for him to strike her behind the saddle.
An animated Rogerson argued Strata Lady had moved out from the fence as much as Serena Miss had moved in, also the testimony of Innes.
‘‘But there was no interference. What are we here for?’’ he said. ‘‘Both horses had their chance. ‘‘The best horse won the race. Run the race a hundred times again and it [Nahema] wouldn’t have beaten her.’’
When asked his opinion, stipendiary steward John Oatham said his reading of the incident was Serena Miss had moved in under a hard ride and made contact with Nahema who was placed in restricted room.
‘‘The steward’s view is the horse on the inside [Strata Lady] doesn’t shift to any degree over that period.
‘‘Mr McNab’s mount does appear to have responded and has made ground over the final stages.’’
When the connections left the room to let the committee mull over the testimony, many outside, who’d seen the evidence, were tipping a change of placings.
And the debate hotted up as the committee took longer and longer to decide, not reconvening for the decision until more than 45 minutes after the race.
Chairman Dooley wasted no time, however, putting connections out of their misery.
‘‘The protest is dismissed,’’ he said summarily.
‘‘It did have merit but when we broke it down, Nahema shifted in from five wide at the 300 and ended up two and three off.
‘‘We can see there was minimal interference at the 50 metres for eight strides but Innes did stop riding his horse.
‘‘While McNab was buffeted he still got his stick to the back end of his horse and, unfortunately for you Mr Marsh, we are not fully satisfied Nahema would have won.’’ TONY KAYE is training just three horses but one is a Group I winner.
Kaye owns and trains Iamishwara who beat the flash harrys in the Group I Haunui Classic (1600m) at Otaki yesterday.
Iamishwara has forged a reputation as a tough handicapper but proved the best at weight-for-age yesterday.
As usual, he was largely ignored by punters and was the rank outsider in the nine-horse field.
‘‘He’s always been underrated,’’ Kaye said. ‘‘But they can’t say he’s not good horse now.’’ Iamishwara was not the biggest stake earner in the field but he had won more races than any of his rivals.
The hardy five-year-old has now had 11 wins and 16 placings from 55 starts and taken his earnings to $346,000.
He has been a vital source of income for Kaye and his wife, Nicky who race the Keeninsky gelding together. ‘‘This has come at a good time, because I’m looking to buy a bit more land,’’ Kaye said. Kaye, whose late father Allan was a successful trainer, is working only three horses – ‘‘and two of those are our own.
‘‘People don’t give us horses but perhaps they will now.’’ Iamishwara thrives on racing and was backing up after finishing second to Kawi in the Group III Taranaki Cup (1800m) at New Plymouth the previous weekend.
‘‘He loves racing and is usually best when he backs up,’’ Kaye said. ‘‘He pulled up after last Saturday as if he hadn’t had a race.’’ Iamishwara’s biggest win before yesterday had been the $65,000 listed Opunake Cup (1400m) at New Plymouth in July.
He had won six open handicaps, at 1400m and 1600m, but had generally struggled in top company. He had been unplaced in three previous attempts at Group I and was recording his first weight-for-age placing, at his sixth attempt.
He settled in the third line for rider Robbie Hannam yesterday, cut the corner on the inner and fought strongly to shade the pacemaking Natuzzi by a short head.
Hannam’s previous Group I win had also come at Otaki, on Distill in the 2011 Levin Classic.
‘‘There often isn’t a lot between the horses at this level, and though the inside was off, cutting the corner probably made a difference,’’ Hannam said. ‘‘He [Iamishwara] was hard fit and coming back from 1800m probably helped him.’’