By Patrick Bartley
For the first time in decades, Racing Victoria stewards will conduct a retrospective inquiry into the riding tactics of a jockey, when they examine Craig Robertson's ride on Bolshoi Bandit in a race at Echuca.
Rarely do stewards conduct such hearings but after consideration by Racing Victoria investigators, the case was reopened and will be heard on Thursday.
Chief steward Terry Bailey.
Racing Victoria's chief steward Terry Bailey said that the riding tactics of Robertson were investigated on April 10, the day of the race, but stewards wished to make further investigations into the handling of the horse
"On April 13, Craig Robertson was advised that stewards were continuing to investigate the matter and believed a further review of the tactics from the April 10 race needed looking into. And that's why we have reopened the matter on Thursday," Bailey said.
"And no, it's been a pretty rare move from stewards to open up a case after it had closed ... But we felt further questions needed to be answered."
Kym Hann, the licensed trainer of Bolshoi Bandit, was notified on the same day as Robertson.
Bailey added that after Robertson had been questioned by stewards on the day of the race they also ordered that a veterinary examination be carried out on Bolshoi Bandit.
The horse finished last in his Echuca race after starting at $4.40 second favourite.
"It's a long, long time since I've heard of a retrospective inquiry being staged, but in this case we still have some more questions to be asked on Thursday.
"It was a matter of gathering betting information and other details surrounding the race before we could move forward," Bailey said.
One of the most long-running and colourful retrospective cases in horse racing was the Ararat Cup inquiry in the early 1980s which included jockeys, owners and bookmakers as well as other racing figures.