Commentator Sheldon Peters had all a-twitter before the first at Scottsville yesterday, broadcasting that hot favourite Sigismund had been kicked behind the pens.
So adamant was Peters that he asked his television producer to re-wind and show the incident.
In his defence, one of the runners did lash out at Sigismund and from the camera angle it did appear to make contact.
Callan Murray
However, rider Callan Murray was unperturbed or unaware of his mount being kicked and continued to circle with the balance of the runners.
The incident was relayed to the stipendiary stewards who in turn contacted the starter via two-way radio. Starter Paul Hepworth and course vet Roehaan Sutherland were both adamant on the radio that, “no horse has been kicked at the start.”
To compound matters, Sigismund did not feature in the finish leaving the public with the perception that the favourite had been kicked and that it had affected his chances.
Peters added even more fuel to the fire later reporting that Sigismund had pulled up lame behind.
Alistair Gordon, who missed saddling his horse as he had mixed up his starting times and was late on course, later reported to Chairman of the Stipendiary Board, Shaun Parker, that Sigismund had a troublesome testicle and that was the probable cause of the lameness which was on the opposite side to where the horse was allegedly kicked.
There was a double each for Shane Humby and Garth Puller on the day and Hashtag Strat led her field a merry dance in the Pinnace Stakes for Louise Goosen and apprentice Khanya Sakayi.
Wrogemann on the mend
After two weeks in an induced coma, Gunter Wrogemann was finally brought around on Friday. A fortnight back, Wrogemann had taken a horrific fall and had been kicked in the face.
His wife Sam posted yesterday that for two days he “wasn’t calm and completetley incoherent but by yesterday morning he was fully coherent”. He had no idea what had happened and that he had been in a coma for two weeks but was hopefully on the mend.
She thanked all for their terrific support.
By Andrew Harrison
