One of the biggest flat races of the season took place over the weekend, and while the race was a good one, it was the result and what happened in the aftermath of the race that will stick in my mind for years to come.

We saw the new whip rules come into play, with the winner disqualified, just the third time it has happened since the new rules were introduced.

There are punishments for jockeys who break rules, and rightfully so, but the timing of these punishments and their impact on the race itself has to be looked at, given what we saw at the weekend.

Rather than this happening on the day, we had to wait three days for the outcome, and the only people that it hurts is the punters.

No Payout On the New Official Winner

On Tuesday, it was announced that the winner on the day Alphonse Le Grande had been disqualified after initially being called the winner, with second-placed runner Manxman promoted to first place.

Everyone else below would move up one place to account for the new standings.

The horse now has the win on his record, the trainer, jockey, and owner are now classed as winners and get their prize, but there’s one group of people who do not get anything, and that is the punters that backed Manxman for success.

Bookmakers pay out on the official result on the day, which means they paid out on the original winner, Alphonse Le Grande.

For those on course, one winner would be paid out regardless, so in this situation, there would be winners and losers, though more would have won than lost.

This is my bet slip from saturday… if the decision was made Saturday this slip is worth £65k. It’s now worth £7k because of this process.. pic.twitter.com/XMgb0FGkm1

— Chris Watson (@ChrisWatson86) October 15, 2024

However, it is, off course, where punters get a bad deal. With almost all of the major firms paying out on the double result of first past the post plus the official winner, had the race been decided on the day, then in the online market, there would have only been winners.

Some people who bet with bookmakers that don’t pay out on the double result would have been left without a win. However, there is the option to do that, and it’s small consolations like this one that punters should always look out for.

However, with the rules as they currently stand, the result on the day was not altered, riders weighed in, and only bets on Alphonse Le Grande were deemed to be winning bets.

The Image of Racing Suffers Once Again

This is a process I don’t agree with, but to me, the biggest problem racing has right now is the image of racing and how others outside of the sport see it. And for any casual onlooker on Saturday, it certainly wasn’t a good look.

Imagine you are a casual sports fan, put the racing on TV on Saturday because the football international break meant a limited sporting choice for you. Before racing, you have a bet that includes Manxman.

He finishes second, but then in the aftermath of the race, the full ITV Racing crew, presenters, commentators and analysts all spend their time dissecting the race and showing that the winning horse had broken the rules and was going to be disqualified.

But instead of being disqualified on the day and allowing you to be paid out as a winner, the horse would be disqualified three days later due to the rules of racing, so you wouldn’t get paid out as a winner.

With the kind of technology available to sports today, we know the stewards have the best equipment, camera angles, and everything else they need to make the right decision.

It may have caused a slight delay to racing while the enquiry took place, but ultimately, it would have been much quicker than the three day wait we’ve seen since.

If something new comes to light three days later and causes a disqualification, then I totally get it. But when evidence is being shown on live TV, just moments after the race, almost to the fact where you could feel your hard luck was being rubbed in your face, then I think it’s clear to say this is not the way to deal with things.

Add into this the fact we saw connections picking up prizes and trophies for winning a race, while at the same time, those pictures were being shown, commentators were talking about it being short-lived as they would lose the race on Tuesday, it just lacks professionalism.

It’s happened before, let’s not forget that, but those two instances were tucked away without the eyes of the sporting world on horse racing. Now we’ve had it happen in clear sight of everyone, with ITV giving us all a full explanation along the way as to what was happening, maybe it’s time to make a change.

If not for punters, then surely, for the image of the sport, this needs to be the last time we see a horse win and know it’s going to be disqualified, but then have to wait three days for that to happen.