Jockey gives stewards’ his phone after a luckless passage

Clinton Payne - Sunday August 13

Jockey Tim Clark handed over his phone to stewards for inspection during an inquiry into his tactics aboard the luckless Washington Heights in the Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL Club Spring Preview (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

Advertisement
Washington Heights (red cap) finishes behind Kingsguard at Rosehill on Saturday with Tom Melbourne hard up against the rail. Photo: Steve Hart

Clark was hauled into the stewards' room after he spent almost all of the straight up in the irons on his mount.

From the top of the straight, Clark elected to "ride for luck" along the inside rail but never secured clear air, going to the line mostly untested aboard the $2.60 favourite.

"A number of stewards (three) that watched the race addressed concerns," chief steward Marc Van Gestel told Clark.

Stewards told the rider they felt he should have angled his mount around the eventual winner Kingsguard at the top of the straight to give himself a better chance of securing a clear run to the line.

Clark admitted the opportunity was there to go to the outside of the improving Kingsguard.

"The options are Lunar Rise (outside Kingsguard) which was first-up and about to have a heart attack with a mile and a half horse outside him (Etymology) or Tom Melbourne (inside). I was happy to be getting onto the back of him seeing he's been trialling so strongly.

"I think I've ridden around the right horses, nothing went my way."

After Clark gave his evidence Van Gestel asked the rider if he'd discussed with anyone how he'd planned to ride the horse in the lead-up to the race. Clark told stewards he'd had a text message exchange with his manager John Walter on the morning of the race.

Clark agreed to hand over his phone and the stewards' chief investigator Nathan Hayward read out the text messages to the inquiry.

Message from Walter to Clark read, "Hope they go hard in Washington's race".

Clark responded with, "Washington will be in front of three or four".

Gerald Ryan told the inquiry he gave no firm instructions to Clark and also agreed to provide stewards with an email he sent to the horse's owners indicating he thought Washington Heights would be hard to beat in the race.

"I just thought he rode for luck and didn't get any," Ryan said.

Stewards' adjourned the matter to inspect betting records, Ryan's email to Washington Heights' owners and review other factors of the race.

Washington Heights finished fourth and wasn't the only runner to return to scale with a hard luck story.

Tom Melbourne, which joined the Chris Waller stable this preparation was backed from $4.40 into $3.40 and he too failed to obtain clear running for much of the straight before getting out over the latter stages to finish second.

"Clearly the horse should have won," Tom Melbourne's jockey Blake Shinn told stewards.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Road to the Caulfield Cup Starts Here
An exciting field is beginning to take shape for Caulfield’s biggest day, with nominations now closed for the 149th edition of the $5 million Sportsbet Caulfield Cup. The countdown is officially on for 146 hopefuls and their connections chasing Cup glory.  
Aussie Globetrotting Mare Now Calls Woodside Home
Woodside Park have released a list of their quality mares set to visit new recruit Celestial Legend this spring and one of them is Aussie bred Group II winner Nafaayes, who produced a promising 2YO winner overnight in the UK.
First foal Arrives for Mo’Unga
The Kelly family of Newhaven Park have taken an educated gamble on champion New Zealand sire Savabeel and have already struck paydirt with exciting young sire Cool Aza Beel siring Group I winning 2YO Cool Archie and now it’s time for Mo’Unga to make his mark.
Zoustar's Breeders Cup Winner Starlust Arrives at Riverstone
Zoustar’s Breeders Cup winner Starlust has arrived at his new home, Riverstone Lodge in the Hunter Valley with the stud posting video of his arrival.
Olentia Sells for $2.6million to top MM August Virtual
Group II winning Zoustar mare Olentia was always seen as the likely sale-topper of the Magic Millions August Virtual Sale and she duly sparked interest with Olly Tait of Twin Hills Stud securing the mare on behalf of his international client Wathnan Racing for $2.6million.
Elite Broodmare Band Booked to Celestial Legend
Woodside Park Stud is proud to announce they are sending an outstanding group of broodmares to visit their exciting young sire Celestial Legend. 
Breednet Distance Sire Tables Highlight Some Home Truths
The end of season is a great time to look back and assess what has happened in terms of sire results and what may happen in the future and more importantly what all of that might mean for Australian racing.
Sires With Winners - Tuesday August 5
Here is the full list of 24 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Zoustar 7YO on Comeback Trail
Joliestar is not the only good Zoustar carrying the colours of Cambridge Stud as Lance Noble has his eye on a major early season prize with one of the few older members of his stable.
G2 Winning Mare chasing G1 Success
Classy mare Val Di Zoldo will have the opportunity to test her talents at the highest level this term after resuming with a tidy trial at Taupo on Monday.