Bag Limit in final on conditional basis

Press, 9 March 1987, Page 28

Bag Limit in final on conditional basis

By

G. K. YULE

The Victorian pacer, Bag Limit, unbeaten in his first two heats at the Inter-Dominion Championship carnival at Addington Raceway, will have to undergo a searching veterinary examination before he is allowed to take his place in the field for the $350,000 Grand Final next Saturday. In spite of being scratched because of soreness from his heat on Saturday, Bag Limit was unchallenged for a position in the final 13. His 28 points resulting from his two victories placed him ninth-equal on the points table. The inclusion of Bag Limit in the field for the Grand Final was considered at a meeting of the grand council of the Inter-Dominion Trotting Council convened after the running of the final pacing heat at Addington on Saturday. An application from the Metropolitan Trotting Club to start 13 horses in the Grand Final was considered and approved, with three horses named as emergencies. The meeting then considered an independent veterinary report concerning Bag Limit and decided that he be included in the field conditional upon a veterinary certificate of soundness being lodged before 9.30 a.m. next Friday. The report from the club’s veterinary officer, Mr R. C. J. Mackay, said that, in company with his associate, Mr C. G. Murfitt, he had examined Bag Limit on Saturday morning. The horse was found to have a slight and palpable splint on his off foreleg and some pain could be found on the forceful palpation of the off fore fetlock and suspensory area. The horse had shown a slight degree of lameness, which was exacerbated by the forced flexing of the joint.

On the advice of Mr Murfitt, who had inspected the horse after he had raced on March 4, and the written certificate of Mr W. Bishop, the attending veterinary surgeon, Mr Mackay accepted that the horse was so acutely lame that his withdrawal from Saturday’s race was mandatory. &

The horse had been extensively Xrayed, and their examination supported the view that the lameless was caused by a sudden trauma, which was responding well to treatment. That view may have been reinforced by the appearance of one of Bag Limit’s shin boots, which was significantly damaged. The fact that the horse had had Phenyl Butazolidin administered may well have masked a degree of pain during the examination. The report suggested that the horse be examined before the right of re-entry expires at noon next Friday, and that the horse be excused from parading in the birdcage before the race so that he can be examined again while doing his preliminary. While there could be no criticism of the scratching of Bag Limit because of sorenss, some were far from happy that he had been included in the field for the Grand Final. It is felt that Bag Limit, while suffereing from soreness, had been allowed a big advantage over those horses which had had hard races in the third round of heats on Saturday. The grand council had a precedent for its decision. In 1964 the South Australian horse, Minuteman, was allowed to scratch from the final round of heats because of soreness. He came out a week later and raced away with the Grand Final. Some of the trainers with horses in the Grand Final, while unhappy with the decision, agreed that, had their horses been in the same position as Bag Limit, they would have wanted similar treatment accorded them.

In the event of Bag Limit’s scratching from the Grand Final being ordered before the time for the right of re-entry expires at mid-day next Friday, horses drawing outside him will come in one place. However, if he has to be scratched on the day of the race, the 12 starters remaining would start from the positions they have drawn, with a gap being left where Bag Limit would have up.