Sport
22 July, 2025
Hughenden Cup a 'farce' after bungled false start
It took the stewards an hour to draw the same conclusion most knew within seconds.
Blind Freddy could see that it was a false start and should have been called a no-race.
But it took the stewards about an hour to draw the same conclusion following this year’s failed Hughenden Cup in what turned out to be farcical scenes.
Firstly, let’s go back to the beginning.
Four races were run and done without a hitch, albeit the second was delayed due to a course-wide power outage that was eventually fixed by a sparkie.
However, the Cup was a complete shambles.
There’s no way to know what exactly happened at the start, as the camera angle wasn’t clear enough from a distance, but it was clear as day that the horses drawn on the outside jumped before those on the inside due to either a barrier malfunction or a fractious horse pushing the gates open.
It was so obvious that it was a false start that within two seconds of the horses leaving the barriers that caller Andrew Watts informed patrons to “hold all tickets, I reckon the barriers have ... it’ll be a false start”.
His call was completely correct and you could hear a steward relay that information through on the walkie talkie at the same time he said it.
Unfortunately for the jockeys, they are obligated to race if they haven’t been given direct confirmation that it was a false start and they were way too far from the PA system to hear.
The Steven Royes-trained Go Getaboy was the first to pass the post, despite being one of the most disadvantaged runners, having drawn barrier two.
However, two horses virtually took no part in the race.
The Bevan Johnson-trained Deep Breath was restrained after just a few hundred metres, while the Jay Morris-trained Le Force didn’t break into a gallop after his barrier seemingly opened later than all of his rivals.
So why did it take an hour to eventually declare it a no-race, even though it was obvious after just a couple of seconds?
That’s a question for QRIC – the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission – which is in charge of racing stewards in the state.
Amazingly, a cadet steward was in charge of the Hughenden Cup meeting.
North West Weekly in no way puts the blame on cadet Sam Nosworthy, who was joined on course by the more senior but part-timer Peter Warren.
However, the blame for the delay in the decision can be put down to their superior in Ross Neale, who was not on track but was weighing in on the decision.
North West Weekly can reveal that the Hughenden stewards sent vision of the start to Neale, where he passed on his judgement.
Remarkably, the race was going to stand, with perhaps a couple of late scratchings to horses deemed to have been denied a fair start.
However, when news came through that the race was going to stand, connections of the third-placed Burdekin, trained by Brett Cavanough, decided to put in a protest against the winner for interference in the home straight.
This threw a spanner in the works because Shae Nielson, who rode Go Getaboy, stood her ground and informed stewards that any ground Burdekin lost due to interference would have to be offset by the fact her horse started two lengths behind it due to the barrier malfunction.
At that point, it became far too hard for the stewards, who eventually called it a no-race.
“The right decision was made but it took them f--ing ages. I can’t believe they were even considering calling it a race,” said one North West participant, who asked not to be named.
“The whole thing was a farce.
“Everyone in the crowd knew it was a no-race the second they jumped.”
To make matters worse, none of the post-race debacle appears in the stewards report.
Instead, it reads: “Following the running of Race 5, the declaration of correct weight was delayed to allow stewards to review the start via the patrol footage and to interview starter Mr (Cody) Rogers, in order to determine whether all runners were afforded a fair start. Mr Rogers reported that upon activating the starting mechanism, the barriers failed to open in unison. Specifically, Burdekin and Badge gained an immediate advantage as their barriers opened first, while LeForce’s barrier was significantly slow to respond.
“Additionally, the barriers of Jetski, Hang Five, Go Getaboy, Deep Breath, and Metal Bar were also observed to open in a delayed sequence.
“After considering all available evidence, including the patrol footage and the starter’s report, stewards were satisfied that the majority of runners engaged were not afforded a fair start and therefore, acting under the provisions of AR 205, stewards declared the event a No Race.”
Adding further salt to the wounds of the trainers – all of whom travelled long distances to race at Hughenden – is that the bulk of the $16,000 purse will be swallowed up by the industry.
One trainer told North West Weekly that each starter would receive just $400 in compensation from Racing Queensland.
“That doesn’t even cover the cost of fuel to get to Hughenden and back. It should be at least $1000 each,” they said.