Racing: Losers want fair crack of the whip

Zipping (blue and white colours) noses Sirmione (outer) out of the Australian Cup on Saturday. Photo / Getty Images

The owners of Australian Cup runner-up Sirmione are threatening legal action if stewards refuse to consider stripping winner Zipping of the race held at Flemington on Saturday.

Zipping's jockey Nick Hall disregarded the whip rules to get the 8-year-old gelding home by a nose in the group one event.

Les Smith told the Herald-Sun in Melbourne the owners were furious that stewards did not alert them to the potential for a protest.

Smith said stewards, aware of Hall's indiscretion, "should have tapped us on the shoulder and informed us that we would have favourable grounds for a protest immediately after the race, or done their job and protested themselves".

"It wasn't until this morning [Sunday] that we learned that Hall had been fined $1000 and said in his defence that had he not whipped Zipping 10 times before the 100m that he wouldn't have won the race," Smith said on Sunday.

"When owners and our trainer Bart Cummings are caught up in the moment, it is up to the stewards to inform us that a protest should be considered. If we didn't protest, why didn't they?

"They knew Hall had broken the rules and, if a protest were lodged, it had every chance of being upheld.

"Yet they said nothing, did nothing, and let the placings stand before they then hauled Hall over the coals for his whip wrongdoing."

Smith pointed the finger at chief steward Terry Bailey. "Bailey told the media that the owners/trainer would have had every right to protest," Smith said.

"Why didn't he tap us on the shoulder and suggest it, or do it himself?

"As far as we are concerned, it is no different to a positive swab, information that comes to light after correct weight has been declared.

"We will speak with Bart and consider our position. I am not one for litigation. I know that Lloyd Williams has put multi-millions of dollars into racing, but so have I.

"What is more important is that a jockey has broken the rules, has admitted it and has been fined a pittance.

"If this is not sorted out, the whip rules will become a joke."

Bailey said on Sunday there was unrestricted use of the whip in the final 100m and he would have thought that Luke Nolen (Sirmione) had his chance to win.

"We penalised Nick Hall for use of the whip prior to the final 100m, but Sirmione had his chance in that last 100m," Bailey said.