The verdict with Courier-Mail racing editor Nathan Exelby: Extra whipping has Rosella relegated

TRAINER Troy Hall claims stewards have “opened a can of worms” after upholding a protest on the grounds of a whip rule breach at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Cheif Steward Allan Reardon walking on the track - an ambulance had mechanical problems, delaying race 4, Sono Restaurant Open Handicap at Doomben Racecourse. Pic Mark Cranitch.

DISAPPOINTED trainer Troy Hall claims stewards have “opened a can of worms” in upholding a protest on the grounds of a whip rule breach in the wake of his horse Rosella being relegated at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Rosella dead-heated with Stonecast, who was made the outright winner after stewards deemed the fact Taylor Williams had struck her mount an extra three times more than permitted before the 100m made the difference to the result.

It was the first time a protest has been upheld on the grounds of whip overuse since the new rules came in.

“By all means penalise the jockey for doing the wrong thing, but don’t penalise the trainer, owners and punters who backed the horse as well,” Hall said.

Racing Queensland’s chief steward Allan Reardon said from the Gold Coast that it was probably only a matter of time before one of these types of objections was upheld.

“We’ve had a few in the past and dismissed them, but with this one being a dead-heat, they have obviously ruled the breach of the rules changed the result of the race,’’ Reardon said.

THE DEBATE: Protest decisions at the Sunshine Coast and Flemington invoked lengthy discussion for entirely different reasons on Saturday. Opinion on the Australian Cup upheld protest seemed to be divided. Many were comfortable that the interference was enough to reverse the result, others felt Preferment had the entire straight to run the winner down and couldn’t. Having been in Awesome Rock’s corner, I am firmly of that belief! Jokes aside, winning on the track counts for little in Melbourne, as evidenced by Palentino’s relegation three weeks ago. At the Sunshine Coast, stewards made a little bit of history in upholding a protest on the grounds of a whip rule breach. Again, opinions are divided on the merits of invoking such a decision. Premier jockey Jim Byrne has been lobbying for some time for stewards to take a harder stance on whip breaches. Connections of demoted Rosella obviously felt very differently. In this case, the dead-heat margin gave the stewards the necessary fire power to uphold the objection.

Hugh Bowman and Chris Waller were all smiles after Preferment claimed the Australian Cup on protest at Flemington on Saturday.

YOUNG GUNS: John Zielke sparked a nice little debate when he declared Luke Dittman “clearly” the best apprentice in Queensland after winning on Spot The Diff. The comments came just 35 minutes after Jimmy Orman had pulled his older rivals’ pants down in the opener. Orman has the edge by sheer weight of winners, but Dittman boasts one of the best strike rates of any rider in the state. No wonder trainers are keen to use the pair’s claims.

PLEASE EXPLAIN: Jimmy Orman aside, punters weren’t impressed with the efforts of the beaten riders in the opener at the Gold Coast. Orman took the ascendancy midrace after they had gone at “snail pace” and was able to zip home in 33.92. It’s becoming a habit in the weekly middle distance plugfest, where the best ride wins.

DIAMOND MOMENTS: Steve O’Dea was still sporting a smile from Sir Moments’ brilliant first up performance when Tan Tat Diamond stormed away from a handy field in the last. O’Dea has only had Tan Tat Diamond for two runs and looks like extracting more wins. But it didn’t outweigh the satisfaction he had in seeing stable star Sir Moments make a successful return.

CRAMPED UP: Glen Colless had a mixed day at the Coast, ending early after he pulled up distressed after winning on Walhaan. Colless was suffering cramps and dehydration after getting down to 54kg for the ride, in which he made his winning run down the centre of the track. Earlier, Colless ran into a dead end on unlucky filly Subsolar and blamed inexperience for the defeat of Double Superlative in the rich QTIS race. “He just got a bit lost when I went for him,” Colless said. “He is going to make it, but is probably a preparation away.”

THE QUOTE: “HE’S the toughest horse in my stable. He keeps improving after every run.” Trainer DARRYL HANSEN is toying with a central and north Queensland trip for Urban Knight, but not before he chases more metropolitan prizemoney in the southeast after winning at the Gold Coast on Saturday. “When the barriers came out, I put the blinkers on him to sharpen him up. He’s very quick.” Those back in the field never got into the race, with the winner carving out a slick 1:08.96 for the 1200m. “I was struggling at the 700m,” Jim Byrne said of favourite Notonyourlife.

Originally published as The verdict with Courier-Mail racing editor Nathan Exelby: Extra whipping has Rosella relegated