A number of readers have written in to ask what would have happened if the protest in race 1 at Menangle last night had been upheld.
The background is that 2 horses dead-heated for first, and the driver of the 3rd horse protested against one of them.
The question is were the protest successful, would the 3rd horse have been promoted to equal dead heat winner, or would they have been promoted to 2nd place?
Here is the rule at the top.
It is clear that the dead-heat winner who loses the protest to the 3rd horse is placed immediately after the 3rd horse.
Which is as clear as mud.
The winner goes back to 3rd.
The 3rd horse moves up a rank.
But there is still a horse above it, the other dead heat winner.
It doesn’t go anywhere but where it finished, which is first.
It’s co dead heater goes back to 3rd.
But the rule doesn’t say the protest winner TAKES THE POSITION of the horse that interfered with it.
It says that the horse successfully protested against TAKES THE POSTION BEHIND IT.
My interpretation of the rule is that the 3rd horse finishes 2nd.
There is no mention of what happens in a dead heat, so opinion is all we have.
What do you reckon?