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It is a farce that should obviously not of happened, be that the need for 2 winning posts or double checking, but as Gingertipster says at least the weighed in announcement had not been given.
Maybe the official responsible had a neck full of gin…
It’s an interesting point because punters have for years insisted that the stewards were senile ex-colonels from the Empire, soaked in port and stuffed full of stilton. Now social media is telling me the new generation are all ‘YTS trainees’ and ‘too young to do the job’. The exact age band and level of sobriety required to be a steward therefore still appears to be a mystery.
Interviewing yesterday’s stipe Will Hudson (who appeared to be close to a breakdown earlier on ITV), Lydia Hislop was trying to make the point that using their own eyes would surely have told them that this was the wrong result. I have some sympathy for the stewards here. They will no doubt be under orders to check and double-check the print, but how many stewards at any track would really question the validity of the actual photo itself? I wouldn’t.
As others in this thread have pointed out, the problem is having two winning posts a few yards apart. I’ve tried to comprehend why this is deemed necessary and have singularly failed to do so. The touted reason is that the hurdles and chase courses funnel to the run-in from different angles. Well, the Sandown executive should have a day out at Ludlow.
This all smacks of “well, we’ve always done it this way” to me. Anyway, what price we have one winning post come Bet365 Gold Cup day?
Mike
Anyone know what is generally the average wait time for the “weighed in, weighed in” to be given after a race?
My guess is that its too late to be practical for bookmakers and punters, both on and off course, to be waiting for payouts, considering the next market is never too far away. Probably takes even longer at big meetings where post race winner enclosure duties for the jockey take longer.
In all probability an honest mistake, the anger is understandable though. And fair play to the steward for at least facing the cameras.
Shouldn’t happen again.
Longchamps has three Nathan if you include the 5f track in the middle of the course! The difference with Longchamps is the fact they are about a furlong apart. I guess one way to be sure the correct photo is used is to turn off the camera at the redundant winning post however that would rely on someone activating the correct one in the first place which is probably more problematic than the current way of doing things.
Trainer John Berry tweeted that the difficulty lies in racing’s rules, which state that a winning post must be placed at 90degrees to the ‘racing line’. He did not mention how they measure that line but I guess it must be from the last fence. The posts are so close together that any difference must be minute, and in these times of daily yardage changes, it surely would make no odds if just one post was used.
The cheapest, simplest and most practical suggestion I’ve seen was in The Guardian comments section – ‘Can’t they just stick a big bag over the one not being used?’
‘Can’t they just stick a big bag over the one not being used?’
Yes, I wondered that. It’s only a disc on a stick. Not exactly high tech. If they HAVE to have 2 winning posts, it can’t be beyond the wit of man to come up with a simple solution to prevent this sort of error. Just cover it up, turn it round or take it down when it’s not in use.
Does that mean that the photo finish camera used for the chase winning post (the first one) activate every time a hurdles race (which uses the second winning post) is run?
Maybe the Sandown Stewards Room should have RTV or ITV Racing on in the background as a final double check
To make matters worse it seems they may have used the wrong winning post in the first race !!
Good job it wasn’t a close result or we could have had the same farce in the 1.20 !!
Apparently there are 2 cameras that concentrate on the finish line. For the 1:50 yesterday 1 of those cameras was not moved.
Winning post must be at 90 degrees to the racing line? Pardon the pun but how does that square with fontwells chase track, particularly when they move the rails for better ground the finish line is almost on a bend?
Or in Ireland the finish line at kilbeggan is actually on a bend
A little less stilton and a plastic bag seems the end result ! But plastic is not in vogue and looks unsightly so there is no easy solution.
Possibly but possibly not, I think it would best be of wooden rectangular contruction and weatherproofed – a slip over. I have no idea but presume the diameter of a round winning post would be around 35-40 cms. Can that be confirmed ? Is circular sign plasic or wood ?
They look similar to the rails so I’d guess plastic for health and safety reasons
The trouble with covering the camera is if they cover the wrong one by mistake
I once did a job in which my customer told me to hop over the neighbours fence to get to her garden. She told me it was the house to the left. I got the wrong house and ended up face to face with a boxer dog not looking very happy. The trouble was her left was when looking out from the house and my left was looking at the house.
Another thing I do at work is get told to deliver to a ward and by the time I leave the workplace the name has escaped me.
This could happen with the camera and the wrong one get covered upGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Interesting, but yes plastic is the preferred covering material as you say – the same as the rail and for safety’s sake. Plane pilots build varying procedures into their schedules to avoid the boredom of repetitive tasks and consequently reduce the likelihood of human error. Stewards see horses running around courses time and time again, round and round and round again. No real wonder they make the odd mistake.
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