Racing: Changing to apprentice upsets fans

Disappointed punters are furious over Buddy Lammas being allowed to ride Devonport Lad to win the last race at Ellerslie on Saturday.

Lammas, currently hot property, claimed 2kg off the carded weight of Devonport Lad, who was meant to be ridden by comeback senior jockey Kane Bradley.

Bradley could not make Devonport Lad's book weight and Pukekohe trainer Linda Hamilton was allowed to replace him with Lammas.

That would not have been permitted in Australia where like must be replaced with like - once officially declared, a senior jockey cannot be replaced by an apprentice. Nor can a senior rider replace an apprentice.

The rule is there for good reason and Saturday's Ellerslie result explains why.

With the 2kg claim, Devonport Lad beat Melanie by a short head. Had Devonport Lad been ridden by Kane Bradley, even at the book weight, he could not possibly have beaten Melanie.

In the heavy conditions that prevailed late in the day at Ellerslie, 2kg equates to at least two and a half lengths, probably more.

They go even further in Australia. If at all avoidable, a journeyman senior jockey cannot be replaced by a premiership-leading jockey.

A replacement has to be as close to the original declaration as is available.

New Zealand had the same rule introduced by the old New Zealand Racing Conference more than 10 years ago.

It lasted exactly four weeks before it was withdrawn when a number of prominent trainers declared they were not prepared to be dictated to over who rode their horses.

Australia has more respect for its racing public.

Punters left unaware of the change have reason to feel aggrieved.

Mercifully, the $200,000 Pick6 was run on the Taranaki meeting on Saturday, not Ellerslie. Although losing $1 on a terrible principle is bad enough, it would have been murderous to miss out on a winning Pick6 ticket on a result that clearly would have swung the other way without the change.