Paddy Power horse racing ambassador Ruby Walsh has called for Worcester to remove the half-furlong pole after Elizabeth Gale became the latest jockey to appear to mistake the marker for the winning line.
Gale partnered Catuaba in the two-mile seven-furlong handicap hurdle at the track on Wednesday, but mistook the pole for the winning line and eased off, subsequently copping a 28-day ban.
It’s not the first time an incident like that has happened at Worcester and there have been bans as a result. Despite the issue, racecourse chiefs have insisted they will retain the problematic pole for the rest of the season.
Speaking on the latest episode of our From The Horse’s Mouth podcast, Ruby explained why he thinks the marker needs to be chucked in the bin.
Ruby Walsh:
“I saw what Elizabeth Gale did the other day and it’s very unfortunate, but that’s the fourth rider this year that has twigged the half-furlong pole and eased off.
“When you’re riding flat out and you look up for the winning post and then you’re riding again, it catches the corner of your eye, it takes your concentration. Whether it looks different or not, it’s a marker pole.
“I cannot understand for the life of me how convention is not better than the cure. It’s the same as jockeys failing to weigh in. It should be impossible to forget to weigh in. The onus shouldn’t be on somebody else.
“The same way with this – take that half-furlong pole away!
“In Ireland, they used to have 150, 100 and 50 markers but then there’d be no winning post sitting on the railing… just yellow disks!
“If you looked up and you’re galloping and you see the rest of the markers, it happened to me, you get to the last one and assume it’s the winning post. What they were there for, I have no idea.
“You go by the half-furlong pole, it’s in the corner of your eye, you think it’s the winning post. You can say you’re supposed to know but when things are happening at speed, people make mistakes.
“Just take it away!
“I jumped the water jump at Stratford one day when I was supposed to go round the b***** thing!”
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