Magnificent Storm was declared the winner Friday night after a heated 30-minute hearing with the stewards.

by Adam Hamilton

Australian harness racing was bitterly divided after last Friday night’s (Nov. 10) $450,000 Group 1 Western Australian Pacing Cup became one of Down Under’s most controversial major races in recent memory.

Star pacer Magnificent Storm smashed through $1 million in career earnings with a 12.7m win, but only after almost 30 minutes of drama, anger and controversy after an incident involving he and runner-up Jumpingjackmac on the first turn.

Connections of Jumpingjackmac charged to the stewards’ room to lodge a protest against the winner and his driver, Aiden De Campo.

After a lengthy and very heated hearing, where trainers Ray Williams (Magnificent Storm) and Gary Hall, Sr (Jumpingjackmac) exchanged barbs and Hall, Sr. even threatened to walk out, the protest was dismissed.

During the hearing, Hall, Sr. claimed De Campo deliberately took Jumpingjackmac’s legs, while Williams said Hall, Sr. was “talking sh*t.”

Stewards deemed they could not be sure the interference was enough to have changed the result, but subsequently suspended De Campo for six weeks causing interference on the first bend.

Fans and punters were engaged throughout, with the entire protest hearing and then the verdict being broadcast live by TrotsWA on social media.

It was riveting viewing.

The biggest talking point was whether Magnificent Storm should have been relegated.

Australia’s national rules allow for it, but relegation was never mentioned during the protest hearing, chaired by Brad Lewis.

Hall, Sr, insisted: “The interference took away our rightful advantage of leading. Magnificent Storm could not have faced the breeze [outside leader] and beaten us, Jumpingjackmac has won when leading.

“I’ve been in the game for 55 years. I’ve won plenty of pacing cups. Nobody wants me to win another one. I know that, but he knocked us down deliberately and that’s the worst interference I’ve ever seen in a race like this.”

De Campo, who won WA’s biggest and most historic race for the first time, conceded he made an “error” and the victory was “bittersweet.”

“I’m a bit disappointed in myself for getting so tight on Stewie [McDonald, driving Jumpingjackmac] into the first corner, I was just hoping he grabbed out of it. There was just a little bit of movement and that happened, but there was not much beating our bloke tonight. They all had their chance,” he told Trots WA.

“[The win] was a little bittersweet the way it kind of happened when I made a little bit of an error into the first corner which has probably taken a little bit of gloss off for me. Hopefully, as we go forward, I can make amends for that when I get back [from suspension].”

But De Campo still savoured the win.

“To win a [WA] Pacing Cup tonight was really special, something I’ve always dreamed of as a kid. My family has been three generations now and always been competitive around the country circuit, Dad won a Fremantle Cup and Granddad trained that horse,” he said.

He added he was always confident the protest would be dismissed.

“Our horse was super tonight, he just felt ‘on’ as soon as I got onto the track he was charging. He felt good, he looked good. He won so easily tonight, I don’t think it would’ve mattered if I’d just sat up outside of them, I think he still would’ve won from the breeze,” he said.

The win was a dream come true for the 77-year-old Williams after a string of bad draws, injury niggles and bad luck with Magnificent Storm in major races.

“I wish I could swear but I can’t. It’s good for me and the horse, but the owners are absolutely fantastic. They’re like family to us,” he said.

But Williams did admit some concerns in the stewards’ room.

“You just don’t know, do you? Luckily, the margin was good enough to see they couldn’t turn it,” he said.

“This horse has been unlucky as you know, in a few big races. He really deserved it.”

Social media erupted during the protest and after it was dismissed with many calling for a relegation rule.

Queensland-based Darren McCall, who spent time training in the U.S., was stunned Magnificent Storm kept the race.

“He should have been relegated. It’s time Australia is brought into line with the rest of the world, it makes for a better spectacle,” he said.

Prominent harness media identity Gareth Hall was incensed.

“You can’t just cut someone off and have no regard for the rules. I love Magnificent Storm and Ray Williams, who has done a mighty job and deserves this Cup, but this is where the relegation rule needs to be implemented,” Hall said on his SENTrack radio show.

“The winner would’ve been relegated anywhere else in the world. In this day and age of animal welfare, the stewards had a chance to make a real statement and they didn’t.

Former senior Victorian harness racing administrator, Shane Gloury, added in a tweet: “It’s time that stewards in Australia used the rule. Use of the rule would reduce interference, accidents, injuries and overall lead to cleaner racing. It’s time that Australia moved on from the 1800s and joined the rest of the world in using the relegation rule.”

It was a WA Pacing Cup that will certainly go down in history.