'Not one person said we would lose this' - Teal shocked as Goldie wins appeal

Roger Teal has criticised the independent disciplinary panel's decision to reverse the placings of last month's Portland Handicap at Doncaster, with his sprinter Chipstead demoted to second after a successful appeal against the stewards' decision by Jim Goldie on Thursday.

The Goldie-trained Call Me Ginger was promoted to first in the 5½f handicap – with a winner's prize of £51,540 – after the panel decided the interference between the two horses at the half-furlong pole was "substantial".

Frederick Larson, the rider of Chipstead, was cautioned for careless riding by raceday stewards, who felt the apprentice failed to take sufficient and timely steps to correct his mount from drifting left, causing Call Me Ginger, the mount of Amie Waugh, to be switched right to continue his run approaching the final half furlong.

The raceday stewards felt no further action was required and Goldie, who represented himself in the appeal, at the start of this month admitted to the Racing Post he "didn't think he would win".

The verdict, however, went his way – a reversal that shocked those connected with Chipstead, who won the Catterick Dash on Saturday.

Teal said: "I can't see how they have changed the result. If it was a real tight finish or significant interference you could understand it, but Call Me Ginger never lost momentum and his stride was never broken.

"I'm very disappointed with the verdict and the panel have opened a can of worms with this as other people will be appealing such instances now.

"Chipstead drifted across the path but it wasn't substantial interference. Everyone is in shock. Not one person – jockeys or press – has said we would lose this and I feel the panel were weak in their decision.

"If we have situations like this in the future, I'll be appealing. I think you can get a soft result now."

Call Me Ginger (left): promoted to first in Portland after a successful appeal by Jim GoldieCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

For Larson, it was a blow to lose the biggest winner of his burgeoning career but he expressed sympathy with Chipstead's owners and surprise at the verdict.

Larson said: "The best stewards in Britain were at the St Leger meeting, did their job on the day and you're now telling them you can't trust their decision. I don't know how they have won the appeal.

"I'm not worried about me but it's very annoying for Roger and the owners. The best horse won the Portland on the day."

In giving evidence, Larson said Chipstead "wanted something to race with so lugged left", but felt his mount extended again with company, while Waugh felt the result could have been different without the interference.

Waugh said: "There was a gap there, I put his head in the gap but Chipstead continuously came across from the stands' side. When travelling at speed like that, losing even a little momentum is not effective. I believe it could have made a difference to the result if I hadn't been interfered with."

Jim Goldie: trainer was successful in his appeal against the Doncaster stewards' decisionCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The appeal began with Goldie hoping to call on an insurance and investigation professional, who for the last 15 years has worked on cases around road traffic accidents and has been involved in insurance claims relating to the sport, to assess the impact of the interference, but the panel felt such evidence would be inadmissible. Goldie described the refusal as "losing my trump card".

In delivering the verdict, James O'Mahony, chairman of the panel, said: "The most important evidence before us is the video footage. The incident took place around half a furlong out – a significant part of the race – and both horses were hard ridden.

"The sectional times for the final furlong indicate Call Me Ginger was travelling faster than Chipstead and the video footage is vital, in particular the rear view, that leads us to conclude there was substantial interference.

"Miss Waugh had to stop moving left to the gap that had closed as a result of the significant drift left by Chipstead. She then had to steady and move around to the right, and we accept this involved three seconds of the race.

"The winning margin was a closing short half-length and the distance is not significantly great to outweigh the ground lost by substantial interference."

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