New iniative at Cheltenham.

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Colin Phillips

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From the RP site:

FRIDAY'S meeting at Cheltenham marks the start of an experiment aimed at making the decision-making process involved in stewards' inquiries more transparent for the racing public.


Within minutes of adjudicating on any controversial incident during a race, an explanation of the stewarding panel's reasoning in dealing with the case will be posted on the BHA Xtra section of the website.


Using a system called Ipadio that allows the use of a mobile phone to record audio and then upload it, the regulatory body will be conducting a series of live trials in the coming weeks with a view to launching a full service in January.

BHA spokesman Paul Struthers, who will be at Presbury Park, said: "If anything happens on the course that might be remotely contentious, like interference or any stewards inquiries potentially, we have got the ability to speak to the stewards immediately afterwards and get them to put their take on the situation, and get that onto our website so people can hear about it."
 
It will be interesting to see how many horses they think are worth looking into as being non-triers or schoolers. Obviously there won't be many at Cheltenham, but when the roll-out happens it could get interesting. Maybe this bit will be excluded?
 
Alan Lee on the subject on the TimesOnline site:

Just how public should stewards' inquiries be? The debate has raged for years, opinions ranging from adopting the live transmissions favoured in Australia to preserving the old-school closed doors of the headmaster's study traditional in Britain. Now, at last, there is official acknowledgement that the decision-making must be more transparent.

Adopting the Australian way, with cameras and audio equipment broadcasting inquiries to racegoers and even TV audiences, is one of the items on the agenda of the Racing For Change committee, due to report with firm recommendations next month. Meanwhile, a halfway house solution is already under way.

Paul Struthers, communications officer of the British Horseracing Association (BHA), will be at Cheltenham's Open meeting from tomorrow to launch an experiment, in which the stipendiary steward explains the machinations of each inquiry on an audio clip, which will be posted on the BHA website.

“It is about getting more immediacy, so that people do not have to wait so long for explanations,” Struthers explains. “We are trialling it at high-profile meetings over the coming weeks before any firm decisions are made.”
 
If they want more immediacy, how about having someone working on a Saturday and Sunday in the office so that the results of Fri and Sat enquiries don't have to wait until mid-morning on Monday to be uploaded.
 
Well the Clerks are in and out of the office through race meetings at all the racecourses, generally with at least one admin type around, so I don't see any problem with them doing that now, but it would be the stewards' secretary to prepare such notes and ensure they get published earlier. And I can't see why he or she wouldn't or couldn't do that!
 
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