Phumelela have reacted positively to the occurrences, which understandably left the connections of the horses and more than a few punters unhappy.

Same Jurisdiction was declared a non-runner after the running of the Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes, as the starting stall incident had clearly affected her performance, although jockey Piere Strydom admitted that he did not believe she could have beaten the mighty Mike de Kock-trained Majmu.

Same Jurisdiction’s head went down just before the off. The handler then pulled her head up and as he was doing so the gates opened. The handler was still holding on to her and was adjudged by the stipendiary stewards to have impeded her. Furthermore, as the filly jumped, the gate to her left swung back and slammed her in the face. It was later found that a suction cup on the gate had failed to perform its function. The suction cups are supposed to stick the adjoining gates together after they have opened and thereby prevent them from swinging back. The same problem had occurred in an earlier race, despite the starting stall bank not having been the same one that was later used in the Empress Club Stakes. In the first incident in race 3 on the card, Trip Tease had also been struck in the face by the gate swinging back.

The stipendiary stewards believed that the second incident had cost Same Jurisdiction two or three lengths. Furthermore, jockey Strydom apparently reported after the race that the filly had not acted in the running due to the incident.

Strydom was also the rider aboard Trip Tease and said yesterday (Monday), “This is not looking good as it is happening too often and is costing the operator money, so it is great to hear that they will be looking into budgeting for new starting stalls, which will benefit all of us. Same Jurisdiction took quite a knock. The gate hit her full in the face. It doesn’t look severe on the replays, losing just a bit of ground, but at the same time I hesitated as I was not sure what to expect. Was it a false start and was she injured? It all happens in two or three seconds, but in that time you have already gone 20 metres or so. It became an issue trying to get her back into the race, while still thinking about how she had taken the knock. She made up some ground, but was never in a position where it felt comfortable that she would do well. It was my duty to persevere until something obvious was wrong. I had said in my column before the race that the only way in my opinion that we could have beaten Majmu was in the case where she was not fit and we were super fit, but I think she could have run second.” As it happened she ran unplaced, which allowed the stipendiary stewards to declare her a non-runner.

On the other hand one of Same Jurisdictions owners, Larry Vermaak, was angered by the turn of events and felt the stalls should have been checked more thoroughly before the prestigious Gr 1 race. Vermaak did not wish to detract from Majmu’s superb performance, but added that in the event that Same Jurisdiction had beaten her, it would have added R5 million to her paddock value and she had now missed the opportunity to do so. Furthermore, he believed that the incident could possibly have an effect on her future behaviour at the stalls.

Same Jurisdiction

Strydom said that Trip Tease had not been as badly affected by the gate as Same Jurisdiction had been. He pointed out that Trip Tease had been handicapped to win comfortably and felt he could have won by another length or two. He also spoke of the effect a bad memory at the start could have on a horse’s future behaviour, especially in the light of Trip Tease having stumbled at the start of his previous race on the Vaal sand, which led to the bottom of his hoof being cut.

However, Phumelela’s General Manager of Racing Operations Stan Diesel confirmed that the starting stalls are checked both regularly and meticulously. He also pointed out that a horse hitting the gate a millisecond before the off could affect its motion and therefore the ability of the suction cups to hold it. Trip Tease certainly appeared to pe-empt the start and hit the gate before the off, while Same Jurisdiction might have nudged it when her head was being brought back up.

Diesel confirmed that the gates are checked meticulously every Friday in the presence of the company’s mechanic and any suction cups that are even suspected of not being up to scratch are replaced. Furthermore, the gates are tested before each and every race and a report is written.

A few suction cups had actually been replaced in the three weeks before Turffontein’s big meeting on Saturday. However, Phumelela will not be taking any chances after the two unfortunate occurrences and are in the process of replacing every single one of the suction cups.

The current starting stalls at Turffontein have been in use since 1996. They are driven by a hydraulic system and this model generally has a good record around the world. However, Diesel said that Phumelela would be looking into budgeting for new starting stalls, although he added that this decision could not be taken lightly as they cost millions of rands.

Pictures by Nkosi Hlophe