Les “Bubba” Tilley isn’t scared to question a photo finish, and on the brink of 800 wins, he asked the question successfully at Toowoomba on Saturday night.
The Toowoomba-based jockey went to the races confident of bringing up career win 800, and it came, but not without a share of drama.
Tilly started the night on 799, and when Purezza burst clear in the fifth race of the night, he thought he had the milestone crossing the line in the McGregor Gourlay Agricultural Services Class 3.
But The Louvre had emerged late along the fence, and they split the line together, with the judge giving the verdict against Tilley.
“I just felt I had hung on,” Tilley said. “We went up to have a look, and the image was a bit blurry.
“They kept moving the red line. And there wasn’t a margin, and we all agreed.”
The result was changed to a dead heat, leaving Tilley still short of the 800.
“I came out in the next race and got it [on Chasing Jackley], which was a bit of a relief, because I thought I had done it earlier,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time Tilley had been right when he challenged a photo.
“I’m a believer in having a look at close photos,” Tilley said. “I have done it about 25 times in my career, and 20 of them, you know, you’re wrong straight away.”
“I did it once and got the win after being put second, but I just felt I had won [on Saturday night].”
“It added a bit extra to getting the 800 up.”
Racing Queensland chief steward Josh Adams said he will review the photo himself on Monday morning, but was happy with the way the photo was handled.
“They followed our rules and processes with photo finishes, and we got the right result, I’m told,” Adams said. “I will have a look at it on Monday in the office, but everyone who was at Toowoomba was happy we got the right result.”
