Rising Romance. File photo / Natalie Slade
Please, please stop taking the focus off our current outstanding races with ridiculous judicial decisions.
The Sakhee's Soldier/Rising Romance decision in Saturday's NZ Stakes at Ellerslie was not up to standard.
It was disgraceful. Just like the no-change Matamata Breeders Stakes result of two weeks ago.
And, who is doing anything about it?
Where is the leadership?
Rising Romance should have been awarded Saturday's group one feature.
No argument and the absolute critical point is the nose decision - the same slender margin in the Matamata feature.
If you know anything at all about race reading there is only one question to ask yourself - how much interference do you have to lump on a rival horse to make the difference of a nose decision? And this was the smallest nose you'll see short of a deadheat.
The answer is almost nothing.
On the home bend, Sakhee's Soldier came out and pushed Rising Romance out at least 1 horse widths, forcing her to change stride.
If that's not the difference of a nose right there we may as well give up horse racing and take up synchronised swimming.
One point here - the side-on vision does not highlight the interference anywhere near like the head-on version does, which is not unusual.
In the head-on version, Rising Romance, who had been virtually alongside Sakhee's Soldier a couple of strides earlier, disappears by half her body width and length behind the other horse as the interference occurs.
To experienced race analysts a change of placing looked almost a given, but things changed when Judicial Control chairman Adrian Dooley asked chief stipendiary steward John Oatham for an opinion.
Oatham, in effect, said the interference had been minor and Rising Romance had received plenty of time and distance to head Sakhee's Soldier.
I cannot agree with that. If you take half a length off a horse on the home bend - regardless of how much time remains - the checked horse still has to again make up that half a length before a challenge can be re-issued.
Last Wednesday, the JCA, headed again by Adrian Dooley, made a stunning decision to switch around the fourth and fifth placings in a race, alleging Gin Swing had cost Consensus fourth place. Gin Swing did not make the home bend well, edged wide and pushed a pair of horses out, indirectly taking Consensus wider.
If, by their contention on Saturday, that Rising Romance had time to recover and pick up Sakhee's Soldier, did Consensus not have the same degree of time to do the same? The interference happened on the same part of the track.
To be fair to the stipendiary stewards, they opposed change in both races - in one they were listened to, in the other ignored.
Australian racing does not change interference results as often as we do. Donna and the late Dean Logan traditionally housed their horses with Queensland trainer Dwayne Schmidt when campaigning in the sunshine state and Schmidt, over for Dean Logan's funeral today, watched the Ellerslie race when he arrived.
"Even in Australia that would have been upheld in an instant. The mare [Rising Romance] was dictated to and lost momentum. It was a no-brainer, they should have been awarded the race straight away."
Donna Logan is incensed. "You know, my owners wanted to do our lead-up racing [to the rich Sydney carnival] in Australia and I talked them into doing it here instead because I said let the New Zealand racing public get a look at a high-class mare before we go.
"I look like a right Joe now. What these people don't seem to realise is what each of these group one wins means to a mare in particular. Yes, the stakemoney is good, but the residuals in breeding mean much, much more than that.
"Decisions like yesterday's can cost you a fortune," she said yesterday.
They cost everyone. Had Rising Romance won fair and square we'd all be saying she's right on the verge of her brilliant best and on her way to winning a million or two in Sydney and if Sakhee's Soldier had won the same way we'd be saying he is a remarkable horse who has come a long way in a very short time.
Instead you are left to mop up poor decision making.
It also took some level of gloss off the magnificent effort of the Murray Baker/Andrew Forsman team in picking up last week's $750,000 TV3 Derby and both group ones on Saturday, with Dal Cielo winning the $200,000 Haunui Diamond Stakes. It seemed like they won half the carnival.