Caulfield Cup race fall: Stewards finalise inquiry into tragic incident

Stewards have concluded their inquiry into the riders of Saturday’s Group 1 Caulfield Cup following a tragic race fall.

The race was marred by an incident near the 300m where Half Yours fell and brought down Ohope Wins, who was later euthanised.

Evidence was taken from Ethan Brown (riding Zahrann), Rachel King (Green Spaces) and apprentice Jabez Johnstone (Kings Valley), who was assisted by Victorian Jockeys’ Association chief executive Matthew Hyland.

The inquiry was adjourned due to Mark Zahra (Half Yours) and Jye McNeil (Ohope Wins) being attended by medics in hospital.

All riders and Hyland were present at Tuesday’s hearing with stewards establishing that Kings Valley had shifted out and Green Spaces in, creating contact.

Due to the contact, Green Spaces became unbalanced and was turned inwards, making further contact with Kings Valley, who also became unbalanced and turned into the running of Half Yours.

Half Yours was tightened for room between Kings Valley and Zahrann, who raced nearest the inside of the group. A short distance later, Half Yours subsequently fell.

Ohope Wins, trailing Half Yours, had nowhere to go and ran immediately over the fallen Half Yours.

Following a thorough review of the evidence of the riders and Hyland using several camera angles, stewards could not attribute the incident to the careless actions of any one particular rider.

“The Stewards are of the view that the marginal shifts from both Green Spaces, when under pressure, and Kings Valley resulted in both those runners becoming unbalanced and shifting in ultimately resulting in Half Yours being tightened and falling,” Racing Victoria’s statement read.

“Further, Stewards were satisfied Zahrann and Half Yours had both established a clear run prior to Half Yours meeting with interference. Stewards found that Rachel King and Jabez Johnstone had both taken the necessary corrective measures to straighten and relieve any pressure caused by their mounts to Half Yours.

“Furthermore, Ethan Brown, rider of Zahrann, had not contributed to Half Yours being tightened for room. As is routine practice, prior to resuming racing, Stewards conducted an inspection of the track where the incident occurred and found no safety issues with the racing surface. Race 10 was subsequently conducted without incident. The inquiry is now closed, and no further action will be taken against any rider.”

McNeil has subsequently been cleared of any injury and is expected to resume race riding at the Geelong Cup meeting on Wednesday, while Zahra is meeting with his doctors again on Tuesday but is booked to ride Middle Earth in the Cox Plate this weekend.