racingpost.com
BY LEE MOTTERSHEAD 7:02PM 25 JUL 2015
SCENES of almost unprecedented chaos and confusion followed the biggest betting race of the day on Saturday, when it took more than 90 minutes for clarity to emerge over whether clear favourite Speculative Bid had been judged to be a runner in the Gigaset International Handicap on King George day at Ascot, the problems in part coming from the weighed-in announcement being made prematurely.
Coral spokesman Simon Clare claimed the woeful episode had “achieved new levels of farce”, with Speculative Bid, who left the stalls without his rider, at one point declared a non-runner long after the weighed-in announcement was made.
That caused fury among bookmakers, who had paid out winnings without making what they thought should have been a 20p in the pound Rule 4 deduction.
Then, at 4.55pm, following an earlier clarification public address statement that ultimately served only to make matters more mystifying, a further announcement was made that, for betting purposes, the 4-1 market leader should be regarded as having taken part with no deductions warranted.
That, however, flew in the face of a previous comment by BHA director of raceday operations and regulation Jamie Stier, who said: “The punters get refunded and successful bets are subject to Rule 4 because that horse has taken no part in the race.”
Clare said: “This has achieved new levels of farce. Mistakes happen but it has cost the industry a lot of money.
“More importantly it has caused confusion in our shops, online and in the betting ring. All of that will impact on the King George betting – with the farcical race coming just 35 minutes earlier – on a big day.
“We are still trying to work through the mess now, but by deciding to pay out on Speculative Bid and pay everyone in full on the race we have avoided a lot of the mess, even though it has cost us £100,000.
“We are still trying to work through what the hell has gone on at Ascot today on one of the sport’s biggest days. It’s a total shambles.”
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