Opinion: Lane On Target In And About Protests

THE protest by Damian Lane in the Orr Stakes was lucky to get Jacquinot promoted to first place and afterwards the jockey made some salient points regarding how protests are heard in Australia.

Lane suggested that there wasn’t really a lot of point for jockeys to be in the stewards room to make their case in a protest hearing.

Lane speaking on The Wrap on Racing.Com on Sunday morning described jockeys speaking in the protest hearing as “a bit of theatre” and something which just added to “the suspense”.

“Realistically we could cut the time of it down and the stewards could make the decision,” Lane said.

For that matter what is the point of trainers and owners pleading their case.

Like other jurisdictions throughout the world why can’t we just have the stewards make the decision without all the accompanying fanfare.

While on the subject of the Orr Stakes, Jacquinot is putting his hand up to be one of the stars of his three-year-old year.

He has now won two Group 1 races and as his trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior pointed out he wasn’t suited at all by the muddling tempo of the Orr Stakes, nor going down the hill at Sandown and also being blocked in, yet he still managed to do what he did.

It appears a great move by the stable to target the Australian Guineas against his own age group over 1600 metres at Flemington especially when Aft Cabin and possibly Golden Mile will be in Sydney on the same day in the Randwick Guineas in preference to the Futurity Stakes.

Wouldn’t it have been a great race if the aforementioned trio were all in the one race on the same day but that’s just another example of the dysfunctional Australian racing calendar.

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