Enquiry opened

Bob Brogan wrote: Back to the dead heat and Chase fine.

What would happen if Thumbs Up tested positive?

How would his appeal go?

mr hawaii wrote:

Bob Brogan wrote: Back to the dead heat and Chase fine.

What would happen if Thumbs Up tested positive?

How would his appeal go?

Would not change a thing - The inquiry focused on his stick use and vigor- Remember Khumalo on Supertube was not near winning and Marcus when he put his hands down- It's his riding in question not the performance of the other horse in question. It's like saying a car thief cannot be found guilty of stealing an ALREADY stolen car.

mr hawaii wrote: RACE 1

Trainer J Janse van Vuuren signed an Admission of Guilt and was fined R23 000-00 for a contravention of Rule 73.2.4, in that he was the Trainer responsible for the horse THUMBS UP from which a specimen was taken after it dead-heated for 1st place at the Turffontein Racecourse on the 26 September 2020, disclosed the presence of Flumethasone (Class 4) which is a prohibited substance. Furthermore, THUMBS UP has been disqualified as the dead-heat winner of the above race in terms of 72.3.2 and the provisions of Rule 67.7.8 shall apply.


The argument here is that the winner is now no longer the winner so Chase actually won the race - That will never hold water - The Stipes role is to see if Maujean rode on Merit and in a professional manner - If he had run last but they deemed him to have prevented his horse from gaining the best possible position he would still be fined. It does not really matter where you finish in a race but rather if you gave your horse a professional ride and rode the horse with as much vigor as you would normally use. I sit on the fence regarding the ride as I am not always a fan of the stick - I have seen certain horses really blossom when the stick is hardly used but I have also seen other horses that work with the persuader. Perhaps they should look at the run on debut of Harry's Secret and decide if the jockey was less vigorous in the disputed race. Again I say why not ask for sealed riding instructions BEFORE every race then at least you have a base to move from. Also knowing Thumbs Up had an anti-inflammatory in his system on face value strengthens the case for the stipes that he was the horse the stable wanted to win on(debatable though )

Muhtiman wrote: .....heard that Andrew came off 2nd best.....