STEWARDS REPORT
TOWNSVILLE TURF CLUB
SATURDAY 22ND JULY 2000

Weather: Fine Track: Fast Rail: True Position.
Stewards: D Griffiths (Chairman), W Bethel, C Bird, M Braunberger, H Warren (Asst) D Chappel (Club)

RACE 1 MAIDEN HANDICAP 1200 METRES 8 STARTERS
SEARCHLIGHT and LOVE ABOVE (NZ) collided at the start. DR. NEMESIS and FUTURE ROAD were also slow to begin. GRAND FLOWER was steadied off the heels of SEARCHLIGHT at the 500 metre mark. PADDY'S PAL shifted in momentarily hampering LOVE ABOVE (NZ) at the 50 metres GRAND FLOWER returned to scale with lacerations to the off fore leg.

RACE 2 CLASS 4 HANDICAP 1200 METRES 10 STARTERS
A warning was issued to the connections of HEELS OF FORTUNE which was difficult to load. REGAL BARD was tightened for room at the start between SHAWNO and ROYAL BARON which shifted in.

RACE 3 CLASS 5 HANDICAP 1960 METRES 9 STARTERS
F Edwards replaced C Symons as the rider of RABBLE SPIRIT when Jockey C Symons was unable to make the allocated weight. After receiving an explanation from Jockey Symons, the Stewards accepted same, and took no further action.
At the 1600 metre mark, and 1400 metre mark DANCE THE HEIGHTS got its head in the air and lost ground when the pace steadied. CHELLE'S PRIDE hung out from the 1000 metres. App D Crossland was questioned regarding the disappointing performance of HICKEY PARK. App Crossland advised that HICKEY PARK had over raced in the early and middle stages and that when he asked the horse for an effort in the middle stages, HICKEY PARK was unable to respond under the big weight. A Veterinary examination revealed no abnormalities and HICKEY PARK was sent to be swabbed. EARL'S MEMORY bled from both nostrils and was declared ineligible to race for a period of 3 months. (AR 53A).

RACE 4 CLASS 2 HANDICAP 1000 METRES 13 STARTERS
OL' WINEMAKER which reared over in the barriers was declared a late scratching at 2:39 p.m. acting on veterinary advice. Bookmakers were ordered to draw a line on their ledgers and deductions of 5c in $ Win and .5c in $ Place were imposed. Trainer R Moller was advised that OL' WINEMAKER would be required to pass a satisfactory barrier test before being permitted to race again. GENERAL YEATS jumped out at the start taking SIN TWIN and WHO'S THE CHIEF out onto WOULD BE FAMOUS. At the 800 metres GENERAL YEATS brushed SIN TWIN which shifted out hampering WHO'S THE CHIEF. Passing the 700 metre mark, WOULD BE FAMOUS was steadied off the heels of GENERAL YEATS. RESENT, which was retired from the event was inspected by the Club's Veterinary Surgeon, who reported the gelding to be suffering from muscle soreness in the near side hind quarters. Trainer S Welby was advised that a veterinary certificate of fitness will be required before RESENT will again be permitted to race. An Inquiry was held into the reason for VELOCIDAD (J Cairns) being severely checked approaching the 200 metre mark. After taking evidence from Jockey's Cairns, R Ryan, (GENERAL YEATS) and I Toward (METAL ACTION), it was established that METAL ACTION had shifted in marginally which resulted in VELOCIDAD being taken in onto the hind quarters of GENERAL YEATS resulting in VELOCIDAD and GENERAL YEATS becoming severely unbalanced as a result of the incident. The stewards also considered that a minor shift out by GENERAL YEATS prior to the incident had also been a contributing factor. After taking into account all the evidence , the Stewards could not determine that any rider error was involved and no further action was taken other than to note the circumstances surrounding the incident.

RACE 5 CLASS 6 HANDICAP 1000 METRES 13 STARTERS
App Ms C Murphy (ROMBERG) was charged and found guilty of contravening AR 137a for allowing ROMBERG to shift in at 700 metre mark when not clear of BRONZE RAIDER forcing BRONZE RAIDER to be checked and strike the running rail. JINJA which was trailing BRONZE RAIDER was also checked in this incident. The Apprentice Jockey's Licence of Ms C Murphy was suspended from riding in races to commence midnight 23/7/00 up to and including 11/8/00 (4 meetings).



RACE 6 OPEN HANDICAP 1200 METRES 16 STARTERS
MISS BONNIE CAN jumped awkwardly and shifted out hampering CINNAMON COVE and APPROVE. Passing the 600 metre mark, YALLAH STINGER which was held up for clear running had to be steadied off the heels of CINNAMON COVE. A short distance later APPROVE was also crowded for room by SETO ROYAL which shifted in momentarily. GOLD TOOTH MALOUF was held up for a short distance on rounding the home turn. Approaching the 200 metre mark, CINNAMON COVE shifted out around the heels of SAINTLY SPY, resulting in APPROVE being taken out onto MISS BONNIE CAN which was checked. At an Inquiry, Jockey J Cairns (CINNAMON COVE) was charged and found guilty of riding in a careless manner (AR137a) and was suspended from riding in raced to commence from midnight 23/7/00 up to and including 5/8/00 (3 meetings). A veterinary examination of MISS BONNIE CAN revealed the horse to have lacerations to both hind heels. At the 200 metres, ICON PRINCE which was tiring, shifted out taking SETO ROYAL across the heels of AVION WAY.
RACE 7 OPEN HANDICAP 1630 METRES 12 STARTERS
SMOKEY TOUCH jumped into MR. THOMAS at the start. Passing the 1500 metres STARWOOD had to be momentarily eased as a result of a general tightening. Making the home turn LE FLAMBEUR attempted to savage PRECIOUS HENRY on 2 occasions. Trainer E Covell was advised that a warning had been issued concerning this matter.

RACE 8 CLASS 1 HANDICAP 1400 METRES 13 STARTERS
Approaching the 1100 metres KIALOA which was racing untractably shifted out abruptly hampering GOLDEN FLEUR. Making the home turn ABBOTT HOUSE shifted out to improve taking CANADIAN JAZZ wider on the track. MR. EVERCLEAR which was compounding had to be steadied off the heels of CANADIAN JAZZ as a consequence.

GENERAL:
Trainer L Harrison was fined $200 for permitting an unregistered person to ride PROSPECTOR CHIEF track work at Townsville on Thursday 20/7/00.(LR 43).
Jockey J Stopps was questioned as to the reason he failed to fulfil his engagements after accepting 2 rides at the Cairns Jockey Club's meeting on Saturday 22nd July. After taking evidence from Jockey Stopps, he was fined $100 for failing to fulfil those commitments LR 51 (1)

ALL WINNERS, EARLS MEMORY AND HICKEY PARK WERE SENT TO BE SWABBED.