Racing: Owner fumes as penalty stays

A 'no news' report was the news an owner of top mare Viennetta said he was half-expecting this week.

The controversial relegation of Viennetta from first to third in a group one race this month was discussed at the top level in Wellington on Wednesday but afterwards there was little to report.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) chief executive Paul Bittar said he had nothing new to tell the owners of Viennetta following the meeting with the Judicial Control Authority (JCA), which administers racing's judicial system.

"Really it will just be a reiteration of what we have said to them previously," Bittar said.

"The JCA made the decision on the day. Even if we wanted to overturn it, we are not in a position where we necessarily could."

Kevin Taylor, who owns Viennetta in partnership with his wife Julie, said he was not surprised by NZTR's response.

"We pretty well knew they wouldn't change their position, because they haven't got enough balls to do it for a start," Taylor said.

Asked what happens next, Taylor said: "The plot thickens, as they say.

"I haven't heard from our legal team today. I have to see what they say first before I can make a statement."

It has been suggested the Taylors were planning to sue NZTR for $2 million over the relegation, but Taylor would not confirm that.

All he would say yesterday was that he was taking legal advice.

"I've been told not to talk to the press by my legal advisers," said Taylor, who is from Dannevirke.

Viennetta was relegated in the $120,000 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) for fillies and mares at Te Aroha on April 8.

In the home straight she caused interference to Salsa, who was third across the line. Viennetta was subsequently relegated behind Salsa.

Many thought this was an instance where the judicial committee should have exercised its right not to change placings because it was a bigger injustice to relegate Viennetta than not to promote Salsa from third to second.

The day after the relegation, NZTR chairman Guy Sargent described the relegation rule as one that had not "ever fitted comfortably with me".

The same day JCA chairman John Grant said the relegation rule was "a challenging rule to work with".

But yesterday Bittar said that NZTR and the JCA were both "quite comfortable" with it, though it needed to made conveyed more clearly to the racing industry.

"I think at the moment the JCA have a very clear view of how that discretion applies but it's probably fair to say most in the industry don't," he said.

"I think people within the racing industry are confused and perhaps don't understand and that's something we have asked the JCA to probably communicate more clearly.

"I think it's fair to say we will come up with clearer guidelines for the industry."

- NZPA