Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Judges made the right call - part one of two

David Thiselton
This year’s running of the Vodacom Durban July will mark the 10th anniversary of one of the most controversial results of the big race when El Picha was called the winner from Young Rake after what seemed an interminable wait by connections and punters. Three factors probably sparked the outcry, the first being the unusually long seven minutes it took to post the result, secondly a television freeze frame that seemed to indicate that it was a dead-heat and thirdly some false information relayed by a television presenter.
Bev McMurray was in the photo-finish room on the day. She captured the photograph on her computer and then, with judges Warren Eisele, Colin Buckham and Lionel Bush, watching on their monitor downstairs she placed the lines on the horses noses. “I could see immediately that El Picha had won,” she recalled. “At the time I couldn’t understand why they were taking so long to declare the result. We always get a very good picture at the time of the July as the grandstand shadow is all the way across the track and the light is uniform. “But looking back it was the first July we had used this new system where the photo is viewed on a computer. Previously we had used a dark room and a print. The judges had to make absolutely sure they were right.”
Eisele recalled: “It was nerve-wracking. The controversy really happened because it took so long to decide. With today’s equipment there would have been no doubt whatsoever.” Rule 65.5 is very clear: “The judge shall base his decision exclusively on the horse’s nose and if there is a discernible difference, he shall not give a dead-heat.” Eisele continued: “I personally think it is criminal that two horses can race for 2 200m and then be separated when they are so close. But I was duty bound. The first picture showed clearly that there was daylight between the two horses. But to make absolutely sure we asked it to be blown up. When this was done the image, unlike with today’s equipment, lost its definition and it looked like it could have been a dead-heat. This was why it took so long. But the clearest picture was the original sized photograph which left no doubt.”
Continues with Part 2 of 2 - Judges made the right call

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