THE chairman of the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) Linton Walters is vigorously defending the stewards of the regulatory body following last Saturday’s disqualification of the winner of the third race and 1-5 favourite Campesino.

In explaining his solidarity with the stewards, Walters made it very clear that he was not supporting the decision to disqualify or not to disqualify Campesino, but he was backing their right and duty to make decisions on a race day as the stewards are empowered to do as per the rules and regulations of racing.

“I want to make it very, very clear that I am supporting my stewards. They made a decision to disqualify Campesino. It was a very unpopular decision, but I am sure there was no malice or preferential treatment on the part of the stewards,” the JRC chairman said.

Walters, who is an attorney-at-law, further stated that racing was one of the few sports in the country where there is a process of appeal and evidence including video can be presented before the Commission and an impartial decision taken. He opined that in many other sporting endeavours the ruling of the on-field official, whether liked or not, always stands, oftentimes without appeal.

“The process of appeal is a long-standing one in racing, and certainly the commissioners which I lead have always been transparent and independent in their decision-making, and we have even come under severe criticisms for upholding appeals against the stewards. Case in point, our recent decision to rule in favour of jockey Dane Nelson in the case involving Hogan’s Hero. We look at the evidence and make informed decisions. The JRC is not constrained by loyalty to any one group or individual. The rules of racing are well known and must be appreciated, and one of those rules is the right of the stewards to make race day decisions, regardless of which horse, jockey, trainer or owner is involved,” Walters said.

The chairman was cautious in responding to the criticism that the race day stewards were incompetent to fulfil their appointed tasks because they have scant working knowledge of riding in competition, but he advised that that the matter was under consideration.

“Yes, I have heard this particular complaint and I believe it is an unfair criticism. However, in the interest of openness and in an effort to widen the scope of our services, I have directed that competent persons in racing join our stewards as race day stewards alongside our regular JRC stewards. This initiative was taken before the incident with Campesino. Our stewards have been informed and a formal announcement will be made soon,” Walters said.