£25 Fine At Gore Compulsory

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 February 1947, Page 5

£25 Fine At Gore Compulsory

The fining of an owner £25 at the Gore meeting on Saturday after his horse had fallen in a race and had to be destroyed may appear to have been rather harsh. It was, however, discovered that the horse had been raced in shoes, and under Rule 287 the imposition of the fine was compulsory. The rule specifically states that “no horse shall run in shoes heavier than racing plates without the permission of the stewards, applied for and granted before the time fixed for weighing out.” With reference to penalties for breaches of this particular section of the rule, the stewards had no option, as not only is disqualification of the horse provided for, but a fine of not less than £25 must be imposed on the person in charge of the horse at the meeting. Running a horse in shoes on a soft track considerably reduces that horse’s chances, says Sentinel in the Otago Daily Times, and permission to use them in such conditions should not be granted. In fact, the giving of power to stewards to do so is a blot on the Rules of Racing.