The great rake debacle in Townsville last night wasn’t an accident, it was negligence on the part of the paid QRIC officials who were in charge of the meeting.
What happened next when the Stewards swept the gross error under the carpet and declared the rake a race was something worse.
There are so many questions surrounding this incident, and so few answers.
How the rake got left on the boxes in the first place is easy.
That was just human error.
How no-one noticed it before turning the green light on is not to easy to explain.
There were two race day officials at the start, the starter himself, who is on the far side of the boxes; and the QRIC Steward in the grey coloured long sleeved shirt, strides and tie.
The starter appears to be looking directly at the rake in the picture above.
How he missed it is an absolute mystery.
How the Steward did is too, because the damn thing was sticking up at least half a foot of the boxes, and he is standing only metres away.
It is a gross error on both their behalves.
What happened next though defies belief.
The rake, which was rested against the one box, clearly interfered with the dog wearing the red rug that was drawn in that box. It can be seen clearly baulking him in the shot above.
You can also see in that shot that the red began on terms with the dog next to it in the stripes, perhaps a short half head slower at worst.
Then in the picture below you can see the rake catch on the red runner and hold him back.
In the still frame underneath you can see that the rake issue costs him a length, which in effect costs him all chance of winning the event.
It’s clear to Blind Brenda that the 1 dog – the $2.90 second favourite in the race, Sensational – was denied a fair start.
In fact it is inarguable.
But the Stewards declared it a starter, and the rake a race.
How?
The Steward and the starter had to walk in front of the boxes to go back to the enclosure.
They must have seen the rake, they couldn’t miss it.
So why wasn’t correct weight delayed immediately and the video viewed?
Were the Stewards simply trying to sweep their whole stuff up under the carpet, in the hope that nobody would notice?
If so, they failed.
The national hold on this race was up around the $100 000 mark.
It was the final leg of the double, treble and Quaddie.
Many of the bets made were on the 1 dog, which as a result of what happened simply couldn’t win.
The connections of the greyhound have been denied a place in next week’s rich Easter Sprint Final.
Everyone has been robbed, when they shouldn’t have been because there were QRIC guards on duty whose job was to keep them safe.
Acting QRIC Commissioner Mark Ainsworth has had an easy run so far, but here’s is first test.
Tens of thousands of dollars have been lost by punters who trust your people to keep racing on the straight and level Mr Ainsworth.
Your people failed them, and now their and our confidence in the integrity of the sport has been severely damaged.
Over to you Sir.
What are you going to do?