Smith left to rue freak incident
June 27, 2012 09:52:04 UK
'How many ways can you get beat in the racing game?' was the question left in trainer Mick Smith's mind after a freak incident cost him a win at Canterbury.
It's going in my book as one of 100 ways not to get to the races.
Mick Smith
Smith brought Money Never Sleeps up from Queanbeyan near Canberra confident his horse could win.
Ridden by Nathan Berry, Money Never Sleeps was declared a non-runner in the State Of Origin Live At Rosehill Gardens Handicap (1550m) after the field jumped without Berry and his horse.
"It's going in my book as one of 100 ways not to get to the races," said Smith. "I was supremely confident today. It's quite bizarre. That doesn't happen very often.
"We'd been cracking since four o'clock this morning waiting for this."
Berry stood out of the saddle as the barrier blanket was adjusted on the well-backed Money Never Sleeps. The horse began getting upset in the gates and as Berry was about to sit back on, the starter Bill Dale let the field go.
It was the first time in his almost four decades in racing that Dale can recall such an incident
"I don't think I've ever started them without someone on the horse," Dale said.
Sydney's leading jockey Hugh Bowman missed the meeting due to illness, while Kerrin McEvoy was stood down during the afternoon when he succumbed to flu.
McEvoy missed the winning ride on the Peter Snowden-trained Pectin in the Australian Turf Club Handicap (1250m).
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