Horsemen weigh options in fallout to shocking cup start - everyone baying for Lamb’s blood

Concerned horsemen are considering their next move after yet another unfair start cast a long shadow over Tuesday’s New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington.

But sorting out what has become a blight on not only harness racing’s marquee event but the entire racing industry will not be easy with reported friction between the Canterbury starter and drivers, differing opinions on ‘moving’ standing starts and inconsistent policing of unspecified rules.

Most of the talk that followed Tuesday’s big day centred not on the finish of the great race but the start where horses on the outside of the front line gained a huge advantage over those on the inner, several, including winner Self Assured, allowed to pace away at speed while their rivals, including race favourite Copy That, were at a standstill.

No one was more frustrated watching the farcical start than Ken Barron, chair of the Greater Canterbury Branch of the NZ Harness Racing Trainers and Drivers’ Association, who just four weeks earlier took the pro-active step of calling a meeting with officials to try to prevent exactly what transpired.

“I was sickened watching it because we worked so hard to get the right procedures in place before the showcase races.

“It was very disappointing and so unfair on the connections of a number of horses.”

Now, as the inevitable post mortems are held, and punters who bet more than $1.5 million on the race cry foul, Barron and his fellow horsemen are weighing up their options on what to do next.

“Everyone is baying for blood. I just want it to not happen again. I’m reluctant to blame the starter entirely but no one can believe the horses were called out of line the first time when a nearby starter’s assistant could have sorted it.”

Starter Peter Lamb abandoned the start after hearing a call from driver Jim Curtin that Tango Tara, on the extreme outside had been contacted by Ashley Locaz.

Video replays show the inside wheel of Tango Tara’s cart lift slightly off the ground just as one of the favourites Self Assured rushed up alongside the pair, only to have to come to a halt when the start was not declared.

Even before Lamb can be heard telling the field that the runners on the outside were too close, Mark Purdon had turned Self Assured away.

“I spoke to half a dozen of the drivers and the starter’s assistants and they all agreed someone should have cleared the two horses. No start is easy but the minority shouldn’t rule the majority, it was two horses out of 15.”

Barron said what happened next was entirely predictable.

“I know that whenever that happens the next time is always a run-in because the starter is frustrated and the drivers know that the next time it’s up and go.”

But Barron said it was obvious the start wasn’t fair and that the starter made a blue by allowing it. Whether or not his viewing position, more head-on, then side-on, was a factor was immaterial. The stewards made a mistake by only talking to the starter afterwards and not penalising him.

“Everyone makes mistakes but if someone does something wrong they should get a penalty. Drivers get dumped for whip use and interference so why not the officials?

“If a ref makes a poor call in a rugby game he gets stood down.”

Barron said there was a need for not only a short term fix but also a long term solution.

“The fallout from this is huge and something has to change. It will be discussed at the national council meeting on the 23rd.”

Friction between starter and drivers

Sources say there is also friction between Lamb and many of the drivers in the wake of the Operation Inca inquiry.

Lamb not only acts as the sole starter in the Canterbury area but he is employed by the Racing Integrity Unit as an investigator and was involved in the long running and so far essentially fruitless cases against a number of drivers, a conflict that many argue should not be allowed to continue.

While there is no suggestion that Lamb had it in for Copy That’s driver Blair Orange, who was one of the main Operation Inca targets, they argue that perception shouldn’t even be allowed to exist.

Barron said issues over Lamb apparently trying to police individuals on the track had been brought up at a national level at horsemen’s meetings but had been ruled a regional problem.

“The stewards, not the starter, are the ones who should be pinging the drivers trying to cheat the system.”

Ken Barron … sickened by what he saw.Barron said he left the pre-cup meeting feeling very positive about the future even though a suggestion that some meetings be started by his assistant Ricky Donnelly, in case Lamb was out of action, was rejected.

“We thought we needed two starters with so much racing in Canterbury. What would happen if Lamb fell off this tower and was hurt? Ricky Donnelly hasn’t started a race for three months.”

Opinion divided

Barron said opinion was divided on the merits of making horses stand versus allowing them to walk-in.

“There’s an element of people who like the old school starts, others want walk-ins and then there are young guys who want 100% mobiles. And then there are some in the middle.

“It’s hard to make stands work and to get all the horses to stand together. I don’t care either way, I just want to see as many horses as possible get away fairly.

“But I don’t even know what the rule is.”

Barron said while it was claimed punters didn’t like betting on standing starts, attempts to analyse betting trends between stands and mobiles had been frustrated by too many variables.

* Attempts to reach Lamb for comment have so far been unsuccessful.