The objection in Race 4 at the Vaal today and the subsequent overruling caught more than a few seasoned racing fans off guard.

The circumstances of the event were that Jockey Lyle Hewitson was holding onto his mount, Against The Grain, in the closing stages of the event, waiting to take a gap and with what seemed to be double handful whilst Gavin Lerena on the second favourite San Fermin was running on strongly on the outside of the track. To complicate matters Apprentice Luke Ferraris was aboard the second Azzie runner, Whitehaven, on the inside and Against The Grain was the meat in the proverbial sandwich between the two stablemates.

In the images in this article one can clearly see daylight between the two Azzie horses, San Fermin on the right in the Drakenstein blue and Whitehaven in the orange on the left. Hewitson saw his two horse width gap close initially by Ferraris on Whitehaven who turned in towards him and then by Lerena on San Fermin who veered right. Tarry's Against The Grain looked full of running and ready to take the gap. Hewitson objected on the grounds of interferance and severe intimidation. In the end he was beaten a length after almost stopping when he was checked. The jockey of Against The Grain is lucky to have completed the race and deserves credit for staying on.

In a similar case but with far less interferance, Golden Lion's objection was overturned by the stewards in Gauteng when beating Hartleyfour on November 8th last year. He was beaten a head on that occassion but the interferance was minimal by comparison. The consistency seems to be questionable and a full explanation needs to be provided in order to provide clarity.

For the racing fans who like a scrum, it was a three way go by some of the countries best young rides in Lerena, Hewitson and Ferraris. All gusty in their endeavours to win and the punters can't be unhappy with any for trying their level best for their mounts and the fans.