Poor show by senior steward Richmond-Watson

[bluechariot]

Have to agree with Alastair Down in todays post.
Owner of Look Here refused to reveal the nature of her recent problem.She arrived full of running and found nothing.
In these days of openness and dissemination of information which is encouraged by the BHA this attidude by the Senior Steward and his Trainer sends the wrong message to the public. After all this was a classic winner sent off a well backed second favourite in another classic.

[Venusian]

Yes, the behaviour of Beckett and Richmond-Watson is not really acceptable these days.

The inference I’d draw from it is that the filly is a bleeder.

I can’t think of any other reason why they’d try to hush up a "setback".

[% MAN]

A difficult one I would say.

I agree from a punters perspective it is good to have as much information as possible.

However at the end of the day it is the owner who pays the bills and the horse is his investment – therefore it is up to him what information is divulged to the public. There is nothing in the rules of racing which compel the owner to provide the information, so why should he be criticised for not doing so?

I have to confess if I owned a horse letting the general public know the ins and outs of the horses wellbeing would not be my main priority – especially if I was planning a wager on the horse.

Therefore I think it would be somewhat hypocritical if I were to criticise in this instance.

[bluechariot]

I agree that he has not broken any rules but as an employee of the Jockey Club and enforcer of the rules of racing I would expect more.

[moehat]

is this the setback that prevented her from running in the Lancashire Oaks or another, more recent one? As there was always a slight doubt about her running in the St Leger, it isn’t as if connections were not keeping people informed. Not as if they put the stable jockey on one horse and then won it with another, is it?

[rory]

I agree in principle that the lack of openness is disconcerting but the public were never deliberately misled and I don’t accept that she ran like a horse with a problem at Doncaster. It does rather make a mockery of the HRA’s attempts to make trainers accountable in terms of inside information.

[graysonscolumn]

I agree with Rory here – I saw the interview with Richmond-Watson and found it a tad evasive, all things considered; but I don’t think a slightly onepaced third place finish in a strongly-run G1 event (the third fastest of the day pro rata, and that over a distance more than double that of either of the two faster races), with the remainder comfortably beaten, quite adds up to a performance of a horse still carrying an ailment of some sort.

gc

Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.

[Aragorn]

I have a feeling that whatever the problem was it was something slightly embarassing for the trainer which is why it wasn’t disclosed. Perhaps an accident or drugs incorrectly administered? Not sure but if it was a normal physical problem I think he would have let people know.

When your handling an oaks winner you don’t want to look stupid, especially when you are a young up and coming trainer trying to make your mark.

[alan1]

I think the bleeder theory is the best one.

The horse will be worth a fortune as a broodmare and something like that will severly devalue her.

However by not disclosing anything people will now assume the worst, so the damage may well have been done anyway.

[seabird]

If it was because that she was a bleeder, would they have run her again, surely she is more likely to bleed in a race such as the Leger than she would at home on the gallops?

Colin

[rory]

I’d be amazed if she bled, given the certainty from connections that it would not be an issue on Saturday. It should be pointed out that Richmond-Watson will be breeding from her himself and he will certainly race her filly foals which make the track in his own name.

[% MAN]

Richmond-Watson will be breeding from her himself.

Is that legal?

[Author]

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