Brent Stanley to launch legal challenge over whip rule
THE precedence for the controversial whip rule was set early in Queensland when a protest was upheld at the Sunshine Coast in May last year, but the rules simply don’t apply anymore.
Jockeys are routinely fined for overuse of the whip, but when a jockey gets fined and stewards don’t tell connections that they could lodge a protest, that’s where the trouble begins and it happened at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Victorian trainer Brent Stanley was looking forward to getting a black type win with Violate in the Gunsynd Classic, but he had to settle for second after Dreams Aplenty, ridden by Tiffani Brooker, was too tough at the end of the race.
But, that’s not where the story ends. Brooker was found to have hit her horse 17 times more than allowed before the 100m and was subsequently in breach of the whip rule. Based on previous inquiries, Stanley had every right to protest the result, if only he had known.
Stanley wasn’t informed by stewards that Brooker was in breach of the rules, in what would have been a overturned decision based on the winning margin.
Stanley was in disbelief at how a steward wasn’t monitoring the whip rule strikes and how he wasn’t notified before correct weights.
“This whip rule is a rule of racing but this case shows that stewards have absolutely no control over it,” Stanley said.
“At the end of the day, stewards have made a mistake by not notifying our jockey Larry Cassidy or connections about the whip rule breach and by declaring correct weight.
“In the southern states, it is somebody’s job to sit there and count the whip strikes. That obviously doesn’t happen in Queensland.”
Stanley will be seeking legal advice in the hopes to get the result overturned.
“Violate is a very well bred colt who could have been worth much more had he won this group three race. We didn’t even know that the winner had broken the rules of racing,” Stanley said.
“I have taken legal advice and I’ll be lodging a complaint to get the result of this race overturned.”
It’s tough to enforce something as controversial as the whip rule when stewards don’t do their jobs. Brent Stanley is within his right to protest the result, but we’re not sure he’ll get the outcome he wants.
It’s pure speculation as to whether Violate would have won the race had Brooker adhered to the rules and taking the race off the connections would be a big price for the young jockey to pay.
Stewards need to get better at enforcing the rule, which is so much more than simply fining and suspending jockeys over the course of the meeting. If results are being determined by a class of cheating, it’s going to conjure up a storm of controversy in the coming months.