Pied Piper appeal against controversial Aintree stewards' decision dismissed

An appeal by the owners of Pied Piper against his controversial demotion in the 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree last month has been dismissed.

A disciplinary panel listened to arguments about the closely fought finish for two hours on Thursday afternoon, but they decided, after a further 30 minutes of deliberation, there was insufficient evidence to disturb the conclusion of stewards that Knight Salute was the rightful winner, the two horses having passed the post together.

After a dead-heat was called, the Aintree stewards demoted Pied Piper for causing interference at the final flight, where he jumped across his rival even though Paddy Brennan, rider of Knight Salute, said it had not materially affected him. Brennan maintained that line during Thursday's hearing, at which evidence was heard from both he and Davy Russell, currently in Nashville where he is preparing to ride at Percy Warner Park on Saturday.

Watch the replay of the controversial finish

"The jockeys appeared to us to be very fair and candid in their evidence," said Philip Curl, the panel chairman. "These are recognised as being very difficult decisions and this is a very finely balanced decision of its type.

"At the end of the day, we've decided that the appeal should be dismissed and the stewards' findings upheld. We will give detailed reasons for this in our written reasons and I won't go into it now. But it was certainly very arguable and well argued. The deposit will be returned."

The solicitor Rory Mac Neice had argued, on behalf of Andrew and Gemma Brown, that their Pied Piper had gained no unfair advantage. "The reality of what happened at the last is that it was one and a quarter furlongs from the line and it made no difference," he said.

Most unusually, he had the support of both jockeys involved in the finish. Brennan, rider of Knight Salute, told the panel: "I felt I had a fair crack at it." While he acknowledged Pied Piper had pushed his mount sideways, he added: "I might have went that line anyway."

Louis Weston, arguing on behalf of the BHA that the stewards had reached the correct conclusion, was almost forced to treat Brennan as a hostile witness, taking the rider through the incident moment by moment to see if there was anything they could agree upon.

At one point, Weston was reduced to asking Brennan if he agreed that the quickest way between two points was a straight line. "Yeah, you could argue that," the jockey replied. "But you could also say that getting the rail is helpful."

Central to Brennan's view of the matter was his own tactical preference not to make too early a challenge. He felt Pied Piper was idling in front but might rally once Knight Salute came alongside.

Russell saw things the same way. "One rider has given their horse a fantastic ride and another rider has given their horse a very, very poor ride," said Pied Piper's jockey, from the US.

"Paddy Brennan has excelled. I have not been shown in my greatest light. If Paddy had joined me earlier, I've no doubt I would have beaten him quite well. I was riding a very talented horse that idles quite a bit when he's left alone. Mr Brennan had given his horse such a good tactical ride that he made it very difficult for me to beat him."

Davy Russell: 'If Paddy had joined me earlier, I've no doubt I would have beaten him quite well'Credit: Getty Images

Nevertheless, Russell believed Knight Salute had edged ahead in the final strides of the race and that Pied Piper had rallied to join him on the line. That was seized upon by Mac Neice.

The solicitor told the panel: "If you accept Mr Russell's evidence, then the appeal ought to be allowed because whatever happened at the last did not prevent Knight Salute getting in front of Pied Piper. And what caused the dead-heat was Pied Piper reacting to that challenge, not what happened at the last.

"It's not enough to say, this was a dead-heat and therefore what happened at the last must have made a difference. The key question is whether Knight Salute would have finished in front given an uninterrupted run to the line."

Weston, by contrast, argued: "All you need to find is that Knight Salute has gone one blade of grass further [because of the interference], he's been checked for a millisecond ... that's all you need. As it happens, the decision is much clearer. He had to travel a much further distance."

Read more on this story:

'Not how I like to play sport' - drama as Knight Salute wins in stewards' room

'I don't think it affected my finishing position' - how the inquiry played out

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