'I couldn't see how we wouldn't get it' - Duffield celebrates York reversal

Ann Duffield is celebrating a belated winner at the Ebor Festival, cheered home remotely rather than on the Knavesmire.

She was convinced that Master Richard ought to have been awarded the £100,000 mile handicap on the third day of last month's prestigious meeting, after the three-year-old went down by the narrowest of margins when bumped by the first-past-the-post Point Lynas.

The trainer appealed against the stewards' decision on the day not to reverse the placings and the BHA disciplinary panel found in her favour on Wednesday.

"You're never confident when the appeal is happening as you can't quite know which way things are going, but I couldn't see how we wouldn't get it," Duffield said. "The rules are that if the interference is close to the line and the winning margin is a very narrow one then the places should be altered.

"The BHA claimed there was a like-for-like bump scenario, saying we'd bumped him twice and he'd only bumped us once. However, we touched him two furlongs out and it made no appreciable difference – when he bumped us three times in the final half-furlong, the last one was extremely significant because it was a stride and a half from the line and the jockey dropped his reins, so his horse was hanging and pushing us into the centre of the track. He only won by a pixel."

Duffield, the wife of former top jockey George, had been determined to fight the original decision after seeing the replay on course.

"I was surprised we didn't get it on the day," she said. "While we all waited for the outcome, they kept showing the race and as you stand and watch you see a lot more.

"When they announced Point Lynas had kept the race, I told George we'd be appealing because we should have got it. It was a valuable race and it was important that we appealed."

Duffield's North Yorkshire yard has had 11 winners this season, its best total since 2018, and earned more money than in any campaign since 2016.

"It's been a very good season for a small team," she said. "We've only got 18 Flat horses. We used to buy 25 or 30 yearlings on spec and when you stop buying stock things are going to be tricky for a bit, but we're very happy with how things are going."

Watch the controversial race at York in full

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