Lessons To Be Learned From Tornado Failure

THE benefit of hindsight can do wonderful things.

Back on January 19, a field of five lined up in the Summer Distance Plate Final after Poco Dorado, Soda Flash, Zipping Potter, Kanzan and Eleanor Rascal were all reported to be injured after contesting heats of the $40,000 to-the-winner series seven days earlier.

Robert Britton's Barcali started the $2.50 in the decider and, after being under an injury cloud (a torn pad sustained when a game second to Poco Dorando in a fast 41.95 heat), finished a below par last to Double Gee.

Barcali had four weeks off following his failure. That's on the record. Britton understandably none to happy about the condition of the track. Nor were others.

And that brings us to the disappointing events of Easter Saturday and superstar stayer Tornado Tears.

Tornado Tears' stunning, record breaking 41.38 heat win had the greyhound world agog and early betting had him a $1.30 chance to add to his already imposing 23 wins from just 34 starts.

But there was a significant stumbling block. As was the case with the aforementioned quintet in January, Tornado Tears had torn a pad on his near hind foot and Britton was in a desperate race to have the son of Fernando Bale fit for his tilt at further Group 1 glory.

A decision on whether the champion stayer would take his place in the $75,000 to-the-winner feature was left until late last Thursday.

“As it stands now he'll be starting, I'm really happy with its progress,” Britton told the Recorder.

Those in the know at Wentworth Park on Saturday night spoke of how surprised they were with the acceleration of the healing also, his start in the staying feature rubber-stamped by two independent vets, and, more importantly, Britton himself, his experience and judgment without peer.

Punters, however, weren't as confident. The betting said it all.

Tornado Tears was $1.30 all the way out to $2.15 by starting time. The drift was alarming, and in the end spot on. He finished last, running more than a full second (or 15 lengths) slower than his record heat romp.

Post race, the veterinary report asserted a flare up to the injury, leading all and sundry to question Britton's decision to start the dog – and for the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission's two trackside vets to clear him to run.

The stewards' report from Saturday night cited three nearside hind pad injuries. In a story with the Recorder in the lead up to last Saturday's final, Britton made the admission that four of his past six Wentworth Park starters had returned home with the same injury.

The champion trainer was adamant that was no coincidence. Fair point.

When it comes to his skills as a trainer, Britton's expertise is well renowned worldwide.

He declared Tornado Tears fit to line-up in the final, cognizant that the knives would be out if the dog failed.

Fail he did – betting suggesting few were surprised.

Tornado Tears' injury woes only gained real traction later in the week, when outside a few media outlets, GWIC released a media statement declaring they were monitoring the situation.

Britton notified stewards first thing Monday morning of his concern – completely transparent with officials and more importantly punters.

Ultimately the result dictated the outcry. Had he won, the discussion would be void.

Some will blame Robert Britton but the oversight – and protection of punters – falls to GWIC.

In this instance, the system broke down badly. In fact, it can be argued that the collective performances of stewards and vets was significantly worse than that of Tornado Tears.

He had an excuse, stood down for 14 days with the recurrence of the injury.

Lessons will be learned out of Saturday's debacle, most importantly the processes around transparency to the public. It's the most valuable thing of all.