Piere Strydom wins on Lady Of The House
The objection lodged by jockey Anthony Delpech, rider of second placed Gimme Six, against the winner Lady Of The House in the Gr1 Woolavington 2000 run at Greyville on 3 June 2017 has given rise to some debate.
The Sporting Post raised the concerns of poster Hylton who posted on an editorial ‘Jockeys Know’.
An excerpt from Hylton’s post:
Can anyone out there tell us what the interference and intimidation was about?
Was Gimme Six intimidated by Lady Of The House, or Was Gimme Six intimidated by Pierre Strydom striking his whip in front of Gimme Six face?
Intimidation does not require contact.
If someone attempts to strike you in face while you are accelerating, your natural instinct would be to decellerate.
Horses have a brain and they react instinctively.
Piere Strydom – top class ride
In any event Strydom was not riding within the rules – his horse was hanging to the inside, but instead of showing his mount the whip to straighten his mount, he carries on striking his mount’s backside at least 5 or 6 times in the last 100m.’
I’m pretty sure this can be termed whip abuse as well. I think the limit is 3 strikes, if I’m not mistaken.
Furthermore his round arm action seemed unnatural whip use. From the head-on view one can clearly see the whip go across Gimme Six.
I don’t think Delpech is a sore loser.
We need some more details from the stewards.
Can the editor find out for the public about the elaboration on intimidation?
These vague 1 line remarks is not what the public expects from the governing body of horseracing and it does not help those who lost their money.
We took the matter up with NHA Racing Control Manager Arnold Hyde.
Shaun Parker, the Chief Stipendiary Steward (KZN) provided confirmation of the Board’s interpretation of the incident. He replied as follows:
With regards the Objection in the abovementioned race, the Objection Board stands by its report documented in the Stipendiary Stewards Report :-
GIMME SIX (A Delpech) shifted out approaching the 100 metre mark. Thereafter this filly was corrected and shifted in away from the crop. GIMME SIX (A Delpech) and LADY OF THE HOUSE (P Strydom) then both shifted in independently over the final 50 metres.
Anthony Delpech – felt he was an unlucky loser
I can attest to, having been present during the Objection arguments, that no mention was made by the connections of GIMME SIX regarding Jockey Strydom’s use of the crop.
In fact at no stage during argument was the use of the crop raised in evidence. Having viewed the patrol videos of this incident, there is no clear evidence that there is any contact made with GIMME SIX from LADY OF THE HOUSE or by Jockey Strydom’s crop.
One cannot see any visible reaction from GIMME SIX at any stage.
One only has to look at Jockey Strydom’s ride when winning the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup (Race 6) on the same day to see his crop use in the concluding stages was very similar to his riding during the Woolavington 2000, when used on both occasions only in the backhand.
