Courtza’s trainer waiting on appeal

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 49

Courtza’s trainer waiting on appeal

NZPA-AAP Sydney Melbourne trainer Ross McDonald will wait on the outcome of Shane Dye’s appeal against a fivemeeting suspension before deciding on a replacement jockey, if needed, for star filly Courtza in the sAust2sl,ooo Ascot Vale Stakes (1200 m at Flemington on Saturday. Dye and fellow expatriate Jim Cassidy, also sus-

pended for five city meetings at Randwick last Saturday, lodged appeals with the A.J.C. yesterday and their hearings have been set down for Thursday. Cassidy was found guilty of careless riding on Chelmsford Stakes winner High Regard, while Dye was also outed on a careless riding charge aboard Reverse

Pass in the Furious Stakes.

McDonald said he had already discussed the possibility of a substitute jockey for Courtza with the filly’s owner, Nick Columb, but would wait until Dye’s appeal before making a decision. “There is no panic at this stage,” McDonald said yesterday. Dye, who won last

season’s Golden Slipper on Courtza, has been booked for the three-year-old’s spring engagements and partnered the filly when she resumed in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley last month.

“She is being set for the Cox Plate and possibly the V.R.C. Derby-Oaks double, so Shane will obviously be back in plenty of time.”