A review by the NHRA’s Western Cape Stipendiary Board has been conducted and concluded with regards to the riding of all horses in the fifth race at Durbanville on Tuesday 20 October 2020.
A number of riders were interviewed post-race after Fort Agopian had led and won easily.
Fort Agopian wins easily under Joshwin Solomons (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The Stippendiary Board set out to assess whether riders had unreasonably allowed Fort Agopian (*J Solomons) to gain an advantage and ought to have ridden their mounts forward during the race to counter the lead.
When interviewed Apprentice Joshwin Solomons, the rider of Fort Agopian, explained that his instructions were to ride positively from the front. Between the 1000m and the 600m he said that his mount had pulled very hard and approaching the 600m he felt that this gelding had raced far more quickly than he had intended.
In assessing this race, the Board, without the benefit of sectional timing, did a timing analysis from the video footage.
Races 3,4 and 5, all run over 1800m, were assessed, taking into consideration that the third was a Maiden Plate, the fourth was an MR72 Handicap and Race 5 was a MR86 Handicap.
Fort Agopian was 6 seconds faster than the leader of Race 3, and 4 seconds faster than the leader of Race 4 to the 600m. Note that 1 second is the equivalent of 6 lengths over 1800m.
RACING ASSOCIATION MR 86 HANDICAP
(Open) Left-Hand Turn Class C
| No | Horse | ACS | SH | Trainer | Jockey | Wgt | MR | Dr | OB | SP | FP | Len | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | FORT AGOPIAN | 4bG | A | HWJ Crawford/M Rix | * J Solomons -2.5 kg | 53.5 | 75 | 4 | 14-1 | 63-20 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | JAILHOUSE ROCK | 6bG | A | Justin Snaith | S Mbhele | 60 | 86 | 8 | 14-1 | 16-1 | 2 | 4.50 | |
| 2 | SUDDEN STAR | 4bC | A | Michael Robinson | G van Niekerk | 59.5 | 87 | 1 | 5-2 | 22-10 | 3 | 6.00 | |
| 4 | HOLY WARRIOR | 4bG | AB | Candice Bass-Robinson | A Domeyer | 58 | 84 | 2 | 7-2 | 10-1 | 4 | 6.20 | |
| 8 | STANLEY | 4chG | A | Brett Crawford | G Cheyne | 55.5 | 79 | 6 | 12-1 | 15-2 | 5 | 7.45 | |
| 6 | TROOP THE COLOUR | 6chG | AB | Peter D Wrensch | O Noach | 57.5 | 81 | 7 | 16-1 | 20-1 | 6 | 8.70 | |
| 7 | BLACK BELT | 6bG | A | Eric Sands | K de Melo | 56.5 | 79 | 3 | 7-2 | 9-2 | 7 | 9.45 | |
| 3 | PEACEFUL DAY | 4bG | A | Justin Snaith | R Fourie | 58.5 | 85 | 5 | 7-1 | 13-2 | 8 | 9.55 |
Black Belt was also assessed and showed that he too was quicker than the leaders of Races 3 and 4.
He was 1,2 seconds behind Fort Agopian at the 600m but was 2,8 seconds quicker than the leading horse in Race 4 and 4, 8 seconds quicker than Race 3. This was despite the rider reporting that he was concerned with the action of Black Belt (see subsequent veterinary report) and was racing at his limit.
No ground was made up by any horse until after the 200m and Fort Agopian won by 4,5 lengths in a fast time of 109.36 seconds. The class average is 111,77.
The Board concluded that it was not reasonable to expect the riders of the horses involved to chase Fort Agopian to their detriment, and therefore no further action will be taken.
