HAWKESBURY Race Club rolled out the first electronic scales used in NSW racing last Thursday, prompting star jockey Tommy Berry to say racing was ‘‘moving up in the world’’.
The old Toledo scales were not as accurate and occasionally were laced with controversy, most notably when rising colt Wouldn’t It Be Nice was disqualified from a race at Rosehill on July 2013.
On that day jockey Glyn Schofield received a stern rebuke from chief steward Ray Murrihy, who grilled the seasoned jockey for reasons why he weighed back in at 58.3 kilograms, 700 grams under the weight he should have carried when factoring in his mandatory vest.
Schofield couldn’t find an explanation except that the scales must be faulty: ‘‘Everything I went out with is in that saddle,’’ Schofield said pointing to the saddle beside him. ‘‘No more, no less. I have no explanation.’’
Schofield was weighed-out by two clerks that day who declared correct weight, but the scales told a different story when he weighed back in.
‘‘The things are 200-years-old. It doesn’t help, does it? With the digital ones there’s no excuse. I was confident I weighed-out correctly and the clerk of the scales was confident,’’ Schofield said when questioned about the Toledo scales.
But there was no confusion at Hawkesbury last week and steward Marc Van Gestel welcomed the highly accurate digital scales.
‘‘What these ones do is give us an exact reading and it’s also good because we can see what weight they’ve gone out in and come back in,’’ Van Gestel said.
‘‘We can see if a rider has put on a few hundred grams during a race due to debris or wet weather, so it allows people to make an informed decision about the weight.
‘‘The fields are downloaded from the RISA website so it avoids any duplication or human error in adding allowances or claims.’’
The new computer system calculates an apprentice’s allowance, prevents riders from weighing-out at the wrong weight and all the software is pre-loaded to the point stewards are describing as ‘‘faultless’’.
The new system will be rolled-out statewide at all TAB meetings, and some non-TAB race days, much to the delight of punters and connections.
‘‘It gives us a lot of confidence and it also gives punters confidence,’’ Van Gestel said.
‘‘The days of horses being disqualified for a jockey weighing incorrectly are over because this ensures they’ve been right at the scales and that they weigh-out at their correct weight.’’
Top hoop Tom Berry said the new technology was essential.
‘‘They [Toledo scales] hadn’t been serviced in 15 years, those ones [at Hawkesbury], so that’s a fair while for a set of scales. They probably varied a little bit,’’ Berry said.
‘‘There have been a few cases here at Hawkesbury. Peter Wells came in light once and you don’t often see that, so it’s good and we’re moving up in the world.’’
