Fair start or farce?
A race in Toowoomba on Saturday night has left punters confused after a runner, Drums of War, looked to clearly break through the barriers early in race 5.
But to the bemusement of some, Stewards didn’t declare the gelding a non-starter.
To make the situation even murkier, Drums of War won the race by less than a length, almost a similar margin [.84 of a length according to Stewards] to what he gained by breaking early.
According to Stewards, the gelding’s gates only opened ‘’marginally’ earlier and claims the advantage gained was only a head.
‘’Correct weight was delayed to allow Stewards to review the start of the race,’’ the report said.
‘’After viewing the official footage, Stewards found that just prior to the start being effected, DRUMS OF WAR lunged forward, contacting its front gates, which opened marginally earlier prior to the gates of other runners.
‘’After consideration of AR204(2), which deals with a horse obtaining an unfair advantage, Stewards were of the view that any advantage obtained was only a head margin when the gates of other runners commenced to open and it was not unfair.
‘’Therefore, DRUMS OF WAR was declared starter and correct weight given.’’
As punter Leigh Jones said on X, the situation is ‘’absolute embarrassing for the industry.’’
Can anyone tell me how this race has not been declared a no race. The horse that breaks through the barriers, gets the perfect sit and then wins a race over 870 metres
Surely it’s changed the race .
Absolute embarrassing for the industry pic.twitter.com/93vgcyBSCH
— Leigh Jones (@leighjones0212) April 25, 2026
