Tragedy marred the second weekend of The Championships at Randwick when the G1 Schweppes Sydney Cup had to be abandoned mid-race following a fatal injury to Almoonqith (Dynaformer) just after the post on the first circuit.
The Sheikh Hamdan-owned 7-year-old appeared to break a hindleg in running, pitching jockey James Doyle to the turf and bringing down Who Shot Thebarman (NZ) (Yamanin Vital {NZ}) and his rider Blake Shinn in the process. With Almoonqith immobile on the rail, Who Shot Thebarman galloping loose with the field and both jockeys still on the track, Racing NSW stewards decided to sound the void-race claxon as the rest of the runners were into the backstretch. Most of the jockeys reacted to the warning and pulled up their mounts, but four remained unaware that the race had been stopped and kept racing to the line.
Corey Brown, who was first past the post on Godolphin's Polarisation (GB) (Echo Of Light {GB}), voiced his frustration at the turn of events which stripped him of victory in the $2-million contest.
“The pony rider I thought was yelling out there was a riderless horse but I already knew that as I heard Darren Flindell's call when he said one had broken down,” he told racing.com. “I kept looking up to see if there was something coming head on towards us because that is a different story but nothing like that has happened. Then I come back and they said it is a no race–how does that work?”
He added, “We could have gone around them. By the time I got to the incident we were 150m past the winning post, I'd pulled up to a trot by that stage.”
Addressing the media after the race, chief steward Marc Van Gestel said, “The stewards were concerned as the field approached the 1600-metre mark in respect to the safety of the two riders: Blake Shinn on Who Shot Thebarman, and James Doyle on Almoonqith.”
“Having regard to the condition of Almoonqith, the stewards discussed with the official starter who was positioned near the 800m in respect to the running of the Sydney Cup, as to whether or not the race would continue,” said Van Gestel. “The stewards became concerned that, particularly with Almoonqith remaining motionless on the track, with the potential to get up and run back towards the field, and in also assessing both James Doyle and Blake Shinn, who were still at that point situated on the track.”
He concluded, “There was a message sent from about the 800m where unfortunately several of those riders failed to hear the call to abandon and stop the race. But we are satisfied in the circumstances that given the decision we made at the 1600m to call the race a no-race, that that is in fact the decision of the stewards.”
Van Gestel added that a decision will be made as to whether the Sydney Cup can be re-run at a later date.
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