For the first time in the known history of horse racing at Caymanas Park, which has been operating since 1959, a horse was disqualified by the race day stewards because the winning jockey was deemed to have weighed in with less weight than when he weighed out, even with the allowance provided for by the Rules of Racing.

The race in question was Saturday’s 11th, when Leekout, ridden by Prince Holder and trained by Michael Marlowe, won handily but during the weigh-in process, Holder recorded 54.0 kgs compared to his weigh-out allotment of 55.0 kgs — noticeably, one kilogramme less.

Rule 217 (2) of the Rules of Racing reads as follows: “If a jockey be more than 0.5 kilogramme less than the weight at which he weighed out or if a jockey is guilty of any fraudulent practice with respect to weight or weighing, his horse shall be disqualified and the matter shall be reported to the Stewards who may fine or suspend the person responsible or report the matter to the Commission.”

This rule is pretty clear, leaving the Stewards on Saturday with no other choice but to disqualify Leekout.

While the Stewards acted in accordance with the Rules of Racing, many punters were thrown off course as it took ages for the announcement of an inquiry to be made public.

Armed with the benefit of this experience, the Stewards are expected to react promptly in the interest of the many affected, should this issue occur again.

One suspects that underneath the noses of officials this practice of subverting allotted weights has been going on for a long, long while. The stewards, by the disqualification on Saturday, are issuing a strong and definitive message that despite being a common and embedded practice for so long, tampering with allotted weights is not going to be tolerated anymore.

Tampering with weights, whether in or out, gives an unfair advantage to a particular horse, and is grossly unfair to the many punters who support the sport of racing with their cash and who oftentimes make their betting decisions on official weights.

Yes, it has taken much too long for decisive action to be taken, but it has now happened and hopefully the vigilance of the Stewards will be even more robust in the future.

To aid the Stewards in dealing with this vile and unwanted practice which is an obvious blight on the sport, I am strongly appealing to the promoting company, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), to initiate purposeful dialogue with the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC).

The Supreme Racing Guide offers the following suggestions to both the JRC and SVREL in dealing with the situation.

1) Immediately change the present analogue scales being used at Caymanas Park to digital scales. This will immediately have the effect of removing most if not all of the disputes that may arise with the reading of weights when the jockeys hit the scales.

2) Place cameras in the weigh-in and weigh-out areas to immediately show the weight of a jockey when on the scales and, if possible, if technology allows, have the weights directly transmitted to the race day stewards.

In making these suggestions, the Supreme Racing Guide fully understands and acknowledges that no system is foolproof, but the strong belief is that by modernising the system it will go a long way in reducing the shameful pursuit of an illegal victory by those bent on corrupting the system for personal gains.

More anon!