The big betting race of the day at Ascot on Saturday was mired in confusion and farce after Speculative Bid, the 4-1 favourite, left the stalls without his jockey and was subsequently declared both a non-runner and a runner by the stewards. The Gigaset International Stakes was won by the 7-1 chance Heaven’s Guest, with the riderless Speculative Bid completing the course well behind the main body of runners. The “weighed in” announcement was then made on the racecourse PA to confirm that the race had been concluded for betting purposes, and bookmakers started to pay out on the result.
Shortly afterwards, however, there was a second announcement that a stewards’ inquiry was in progress, and a few minutes later Speculative Bid was officially declared a non-runner. As a result, punters who had backed the favourite could reclaim their stakes, but bets on the winner were subject to a “Rule 4” deduction of 20p in the pound.
Both on the course and around the country, however, bookmakers had already started to pay out on Heaven’s Guest without any deduction. Some off-course bookmakers also announced that they would waive Rule 4 deductions on the winner while still refunding bets on Speculative Bid.
More than an hour after the race, a further statement from the Ascot stewards’ room said that Speculative Bid should be considered a runner for betting purposes. This appeared to contradict an earlier statement by Jamie Stier, the British Horseracing Authority’s director of raceday operations and regulation, that “the horse has taken no part in the race”.
On its website, the BHA said that the stewards had held an inquiry “to ascertain why Speculative Bid, ridden by Jamie Spencer, failed to start and eventually left the stalls riderless. They heard evidence from the rider and the starters. Spencer stated that the gelding was loaded late as he was known to be difficult in the stalls and just prior to the stalls being released, Speculative Bid got his head over the adjacent stall 23.
“He added that when the stalls were released he was off the horse. Having heard their evidence and viewed video recordings of the start, they found that Speculative Bid was deemed not to have started and, under Rule (B)10.5, ordered the gelding to be withdrawn.”
The statement added that the stewards “further enquired into why the Weighed In signal was given before the enquiry into the start of the race had been concluded. They heard evidence from the stipendiary steward, the clerk of the scales and the racecourse announcer. Having heard their evidence they forwarded the matter to the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.”
Simon Clare, PR director for the bookmaker Coral, described the episode as “a farce” and “a total shambles”. He added: “Mistakes happen, but it has cost the industry a lot of money.”
Stier later told Racing UK: “The circumstances aren’t good and we are looking into it. We need to establish what has happened.”
