I would like to say a few words about the race at Caulfield on Saturday.
Nobody has mentioned the fact that two jockeys fell off their mounts at the start of the race, plus another horse swung around and faced the opposite direction.
This was caused by a decision made by racing officials that the barriers could not be used for the Arabian horses. It was then decided to use a rubber sling shot which when released hit the ground in front of these three horses bouncing up & nearly hitting one of them in the head.
The horses affected were –
Mcdonald Park Focus, owned by Peter Cooper – lost his jockey,
Warraawee Naaziq owned by Kim Noble – lost his jockey.
Conderosa Silver owned by Con Bouzianis – spun around with fright & faced the opposite way.
Have to give credit to the jockeys – as they remounted and at least finished the race – some 600m behind the other horses that had not been affected by this fiasco!!!!
So lets hope the powers that be allow barrier to be used in the future, so all horses have a safe and equal start.
Peter Cooper
