Matt's Charges Dismissed

The Informant reports:

More than two months after being charged over his ride on Mime at Ellerslie in early January, Matthew Cameron has been found not guilty of any impropriety in his handling of the filly.

In a Judicial Control Authority finding released today, a charge under Racing Rule 636 (1) (b) was dismissed by the JCA panel comprising Professor Geoff Hall and Noel McCutcheon.

The Rule states:  â€œA person being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the Race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the Race or to obtain the best possible finishing place.”

Cameron was charged several days after the ride in a 1200-metre race, when Mime finished second after coming from the rear of the field with a late run along the inside rail. After being questioned by stewards on the day, it was stated that further investigations would be taking place around betting patterns for the race. Any such concerns were later put aside, however Cameron was charged under Rule 636.

Delays in the availability of Cameron's counsel Alan Galbraith meant the charge was not heard until March 7, and today's release 10 days later finally brings an end to the matter.

In his finding, Professor Hall made the following points:

We are led to the conclusion that he is not in breach of r 636(1)(b) due to the following circumstances that arose during the race:

• interference at the start;

• the fact that the horses in front of Mime on the bend were racing in restricted quarters and the horse in front of Mime came back on to Mime, and she was clearly hanging when he shifted wider on the track;

• when the gap presented itself to the inside of Adrenaline Rush, Mime was the horse racing wider on the track and Persuasive, ridden by Mr Coleman, which was to the inside of Mime, beat Mr Cameron to it;

• the gap that was presented to the outside of Adrenaline Rush closed quite quickly due to Mr Coleman forcing a gap to the inside of Adrenaline Rush and a run to the outside of either Adrenaline Rush or Buffalo Lass would have required him to take hold and pull his horse outwards (to the left) when MIME had a tendency to hang out and had reacted quite badly when similarly so asked a little earlier in the race;

• taking a run outside Buffalo Lass would have resulted in a run wide on the track and Mr Cameron, when questioned by the Stewards, consistently expressed concern that he might have been forced wider by Buffalo Lass, especially as that horse was being ridden by an apprentice;

• when the gap presented itself to the respondent on the rail he was pushing his horse forwards at all times, although we accept without his customary vigour for 2 or 3 strides, and that this was due to his concern that Tania or Rich Billie Marsh might roll to the fence; and, in particular, that

• Mime was hanging out for the duration of the race and was giving the respondent a far from easy ride.

Mime has won her last two starts, the Gr. 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic and the Gr. 3 Sunline vase, when ridden by Michael Coleman. Ironically Cameron will be back in the saddle for the first time since the January 9 race when Mime lines up as one of the favourites in Saturday's Gr. 1 New Zealand Oaks, Coleman having been suspended for careless riding in the New Zealand Derby on March 5.