Weighing in irregularities at Slušovice
In each of the last two races at on August 15th, there were irregularities leading to the disqualification of one of the horses in each race. The Jockey Club asked its Law & Order Committee (Pořádková komise) to investigate the affair, in response to allegations of serious misdeeds.
In the 7th race, Bauyrzhan Murzabayev weighed in with 6 kg less than he had weighed out with. He weighed out with 14 kg in his lead pads, as he was riding at the unusually high weight of 68 kg. He then, it is said, put the saddle and the lead pads on the ground and left them for trainer Jan Demele to put on the horse. The trainer left a lead pad near the scales, and Murzabayev rode the race and was first past the post, carrying 6 kg too little. The owner and trainer of the second horse suspected that something was wrong, and forced Murzabayev to go straight to weigh in. The stewards at Slušovice found that trainer Jan Demele was at fault, and fined him CzK 2000. The Law&Order committee found that this punishment was too mild, and has now imposed a CzK 15000 fine on Jan Demele and has disqualified from training, suspended for one year. Murzabayev admitted that the saddle had seemed lighter than he had expected, but denied that the trainer had wanted him to attempt to pick up a lead pad from the floor of the weighing room on the way to the scales. The Law&Order committee decided that there was not enough evidence to support an accusation that the jockey had attempted to commit a serious offence, but decided to fine him CzK 5000 for failing to weigh in correctly (by a large margin).
In the 8th race, jockey Jaromír Šafář is said to have weighed out and then put the saddle with the lead pads on the floor beside another saddle of his, and had then taken the wrong saddle to ride in. He finished 3rd. He then weighed in 3 kg too light. The Slušovice stewards disqualified the horse, and imposed a fine of CzK 2000 on the jockey. They decided that the trainer, Zdeněk Mimra, was not involved in the incident. The Law&Order committee agreed with the stewards that the whole incident was the result of the jockey’s negligence, and found no evidence of foul play. The Law&Order committee decided to add a two-week suspension to the fine of CzK 2000 on jockey Jaromír Šafář.