Racing NSW stewards will rule on a dispute between Nick Hall and the owners of To The World after the jockey’s sacking from the high-profile Queen Elizabeth Stakes candidate.
Nick Hall
Hall has been replaced on To The World by Hong Kong-based Zac Purton for the signature race of The Championships at Randwick on Saturday.
The Victorian jockey claims he had a firm engagement for the $4 million race after linking with To The World when the horse was runner-up in the BMW at Rosehill last month.
Hall wants compensation for his sacking, claiming he is entitled to his percentage of any prize money if To The World wins on Saturday.
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner will earn $2.4 million and the successful jockey will get $120,000 from a mandatory five per cent cut of the purse.
Hall’s manager Reece Murphy said the jockey was “shattered” by his sacking and he immediately contacted Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy.
“Nick spoke to Mr Murrihy this morning and told him the situation,” Murphy said.
“Obviously now Mr Murrihy has to speak to the connections and then the stewards will make a ruling.”
A decision is expected to be made on Wednesday.
To The World is rated the best of Japan’s four horses in Sydney for The Championships and expert mounting yard judges were convinced the four-year-old was above himself in condition for the BMW.
Hall was forced to make a long run on To The World and it was evident his fitness gave out at the 200m, allowing Hartnell to draw clear for a decisive win.
To The World is vying for Queen Elizabeth favouritism with Hartnell’s stablemate Contributer.
Unbeaten in three runs since resuming, Contributer kept his place at the top of Queen Elizabeth market at $3.40 from To The World at $4 after they both drew wide gates for Saturday’s weight-for-age finale.
To The World’s stablemate Tosen Stardom is an $8 chance after his only Australian appearance resulted in an eye-catching second to Contributer in the Ranvet Stakes.
Red Cadeaux was a surprise acceptor for the Queen Elizabeth and the English stayer could head to the 2000m race instead of the Sydney Cup if the Randwick track stays rain-affected.
“We watched the racing at Randwick on Monday and it looked to us it inconvenienced quite a lot of the horses,” Red Cadeaux’s handler Robin Trevor-Jones said.
“We know our fella is effective on the soft ground and the Queen Elizabeth has got a big pot (of money).”
Trevor-Jones said if Red Cadeaux ran in the Queen Elizabeth a different jockey would have to be engaged with the horse’s Sydney Cup rider Hugh Bowman committed to Lucia Valentina.
