River reels in front-runner after ragged start

Winding River chased down I Don't Get It up the hill at Downpatrick to land the opening Red Mills Auction Maiden Hurdle.

I Don't Get It got a flier after a messy start and soon opened up a healthy advantage in the extended two-mile-two contest. The stewards held an enquiry subsequently but the result stood.

The front-runner was still clear running down the hill but started to come back to Winding River going to the final flight.

The Oliver McKiernan-trained winner pegged back his rival inside the final furlong and went on to post a three length winning margin, under Barry Browne.

8/11 favourite Vinnie Is Busy was a faller three from home when in third position.

The 9/1 winner had been third to Pinkerton in a similar contest at Thurles in January.

McKiernan said: "The leader ran the other day against a horse of ours in Down Royal so we felt we would sit in behind him and see how we go.

"It was a king of a raggedy start I thought and anyway it worked out for us in the end. I suppose the other horse tired.

"He did (relish the better ground) and Barry gave him a very timed ride. He looked to have a lot to do but I thought the leader was going very quick after running during the week. He felt he would reel him in but you have to go and do it.

"He will probably head to Punchestown (for the final). I think he is improving a bit and the ground helped him.

"He has a real good page this lad. He was a little bit hard to handle early on and if you saw him three months ago, you'd say there was no handling him. He's come a long way"

The following is the stewards report into the start of the race:-

The Stewards enquired into the start of this race in accordance with Rules 208, 209 and the powers of the Acting Stewards under Rule 10. Evidence was heard from Mr D. Cullen, IHRB Starter, R. Deegan, rider of Gonfalonier (Fr). Mr B.G. Crawford, rider of The Flier Begley P.T. Enright, rider of Vinnie Is Busy, B. Browne, rider of Winding River, G.P. Brouder, rider of I Don't Get It, D. Meyler, rider of The Miracle Man P.J. Carberry, rider of Sekifi and L.P. Dempsey, rider of Superdermo In his evidence, Mr D. Cullen stated that the speaker system at the start did not work for this race. He explained that the riders had been instructed to take two turns, were made aware when there were twenty seconds to go while at the same time Winding River was being led in and I Don't Get It, the mount of G.P. Brouder, was instructed by him to take his time when approaching the tape. Evidence was heard from all riders. Their comments confirmed that there was no speaker system in use at the start which made it difficult to hear the starter because of the strong wind. Some heard the call to take a turn and the amount of time to the start time. G.P. Brouder who led the horses into the start confirmed that he steadied his mount as instructed by the starter. The riders explained that they had watched both the starter's flag and the advance flag man's flag. Having considered all the evidence, the Stewards were satisfied that a fair start had been affected and allowed the result to stand.

(Quotes by Michael Graham)