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Racecourse judge Dave Smith made a fool of himself when trying to be clever by announcing the result of the 4pm race at Windsor in typically super fast time.
He seems to relish his reputation as an eagle-eyed judge who doesn’t need to call on the evidence of the camera before calling tight finishes.
This time, he made a right mess of it. The race had clearly been won by 9-2 favourite Discoteca, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Jimmy Fortune. But "Smudge the Judge", as he likes to call himself, made a complete disaster of it. Seconds after passing the post, he could be heard calling the clear runner-up, 15-2 chance Vimiero, as the winner.
Well done to At The Races presenter Alex Hammond, who instantly spotted the mistake and questioned it. "Smudge the Judge" could then be heard announcing that the judge (ie himself) wanted a photo finish print — vindicating the delightful Alex, who had been proved right.
Smith then compounded his felony by announcing the real winner by the wrong number, although he did at least get the name right on the second occasion. What a mess-up, all because Smith once again thought he was being clever by pre-empting everyone’s guesses about what was actually not even that close a finish in the end. He has to try to be clever but this time it backfired on him.
Matt Chapman has previously criticised Smith for trying to be clever and spoiling the atmosphere for on-course punters by announcing the result so quickly and taking away any drama from tight finishes.
Perhaps "Smudge the Judge" thinks he has to be extra quick as a judge after suffering the humiliation of being dropped as a racecourse commentator at the end of last year, along with Graham Goode. Smith’s commentaries were apparently unpopular.
Alex Hammond proved the eagle-eyed one on this occasion. She was so modest and charming about it all that it seemed a shame that Tony Ennis was apologising for any confusion to At The Races viewers when it was purely Dave Smith’s fault.
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