CHRISTCHURCH - Stars And Stripes deserved to win a third Derby - but his connections know they are lucky winners of Saturday night's $100,000 New Zealand Derby at Addington.
Stewards initiated a protest for alleged interference by Stars And Stripes to Hunka Hickling with 50 metres to run after the winner, when still clear of the field, had taken the line of the runner-up when ducking down to the passing lane.
The stress of the race, in which hot favourite Stars And Stripes held Hunka Hickling by a nose, was minuscule compared to the tense atmosphere in the inquiry room.
During the 30-minute hearing, Ken Barron, the driver of Stars And Stripes, showed Perry Mason-like qualities to save the Derby for his side towards the end of the inquiry.
Barron, with steel pointer in hand as video footage was replayed, endorsed and accentuated a vital point made by his employer, Ashburton trainer John Lischner, that Stars And Stripes was still at least two lengths clear when he made his last movement to the passing lane.
"The passing lane [under the rules] is available to everyone if they are sufficiently clear of the others," Barron said.
"I was over two lengths clear when Stars And Stripes ducked down to the passing lane and took Hunka Hickling's line, but there was always room for Hunka Hickling to improve on his outside."
Barron asked that the video be stopped at the point where Stars And Stripes went down to the passing lane. He then asked them to note the distance between his horse and Hunka Hickling.
"He was so far out on his own that he thought the race was over. Horses race horses, but nothing was keeping up with him," he said.
Earlier Hunka Hickling's driver Maurice McKendry estimated to the judicial panel that the incident cost his horse half a length when having to change his line.
"I had not asked my horse to go at that stage. It definitely cost me," he said.
Barron admitted later, outside the inquiry room, that the decision was so close that he would not have wanted to be on the judicial panel.
Stars And Stripes, the hot favourite at $2.20, had cruised into contention on the home turn when his problems began. After Barron asked him to sprint at the 200m, he burst clear, then "got lost."
The New York Motoring gelding was almost a victim of his extreme ability, according to Lischner.
"He sprints so quickly that he gets to the front easily, then wanders," Lischner said.
Stars And Stripes wandered in five cart widths to the inside of the track, and both Lischner and Barron are now aware it is a fault in the horse that might never be fixed.
For good measure, Lischner picked up third place in the Derby with Handoverbid, who led at the 1700m, then trailed another stablemate Written In The Stars, from the 1100m.
"This is the New Zealand Cup for 3-year-olds and a great honour to win it," Lischner said.
Stars And Stripes will now try and emulate the four-win Derby haul of Holmes D G two years ago when he returns to Australia for the New South Wales Derby at Harold Park on May 26.
- NZPA
Racing: Inquiry confirms third Derby win
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