RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
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Safety

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Again on Saturday, a man was put at great risk when the starter let the field go with a man in front of the gates.This s the 2nd time this has happened at Riccarton and after the first time I was of the belief that the starter had to be positioned in front of the gates, so he had a view of any person that was still in front before releasing the button.Every time a meeting is abandoned the RIU state it was done for rider and horse safety, well if that is the case, why hasn't the recommendation/rule being followed, does the RIU going to wait until someone is killed or badly hurt? 

Another recommendation i believe must be implemented is for the Clerk of the Course to be positioned in front of the stalls , the benefit would be if a horse breaks through, he/she is the right position to recapture a horse, they are no hope standing behind the barrier, just my thoughts. 

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Don't want to be pedantic about this health & safety thing but I noticed a kid aged about 10 riding in the mobile at Addington on Friday. The starter appeared to have safety vest on but the kid had neither vest nor helmet. Should a person of such age even be allowed to ride in the mobile at the start of a legitimate race? I can imagine workouts may be different but this was a Premier meeting.

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The starters assistant was very lucky on this occasion. even the commentator made mention of it.

 

Not so lucky was BP in his charity boxing match last night at Cambridge. 2nd was his lot but lets hope he recovers to go to Opie's do on the harbour today

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7 hours ago, Midget said:

Again on Saturday, a man was put at great risk when the starter let the field go with a man in front of the gates.This s the 2nd time this has happened at Riccarton and after the first time I was of the belief that the starter had to be positioned in front of the gates, so he had a view of any person that was still in front before releasing the button.Every time a meeting is abandoned the RIU state it was done for rider and horse safety, well if that is the case, why hasn't the recommendation/rule being followed, does the RIU going to wait until someone is killed or badly hurt? 

Another recommendation i believe must be implemented is for the Clerk of the Course to be positioned in front of the stalls , the benefit would be if a horse breaks through, he/she is the right position to recapture a horse, they are no hope standing behind the barrier, just my thoughts. 

I thought so too [ wrt starter's position ]  but,  if for some reason he couldn't be,  surely someone should be posted with the ability to see and signal all clear ?

It doesn't seem to be rocket science to make sure all is well both in front of,  and behind,  the barriers?

I'm told Reece Jones called out twice to warn of the man still present.    Very poor form indeed.

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5 hours ago, Blue said:

Don't want to be pedantic about this health & safety thing but I noticed a kid aged about 10 riding in the mobile at Addington on Friday. The starter appeared to have safety vest on but the kid had neither vest nor helmet. Should a person of such age even be allowed to ride in the mobile at the start of a legitimate race? I can imagine workouts may be different but this was a Premier meeting.

I noticed Michelle Pickles riding with the mobile starter on Friday too Blue...how that helps with presenters is a mystery....:rolleyes:

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It's a wonder this hasn't happened more often ..I believe the starter should be in a position where he can see all his assistants..maybe they should watch the people in the V8 car racing ..as soon as they have completed their task they raise one hand in the air showing they are ready and away from the vehicle...Sam Spratt mention this morning that the starter at Riccarton doesn't even give the riders any warning the gates are going to open ...surely there should be a nation wide starters procedure warning the riders ..something like we have the all clear ....ready.... go ...

then every body knows what is going on no matter what track they on 

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Should be easy to fix and the same as the UK. A person about 150m up the track with a very big white flag. He's in comms with the starter. He holds his flag up until all is clear. Puts it down when all is clear. Starter pushes the button. If a false start, then flag goes up again so jockeys can see there's a false start. Quite simple process but down here we're not looking at the best of World practise so we look stupid.

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