The outcome of the third race at the Waikato Racing Club meeting at Te Rapa on Wednesday provided something out of the ordinary.
It was all about Captain Tom.
The Richard Collett trained three-year-old, who reportedly was named after British World War 11 veteran Captain Tom Moore, who later became Sir Tom Moore when knighted by the Queen for his unbelievable effort in helping to raise the equivalent of $57 million for the British National Health Service, looked to have shed his Maiden ticket when first past the post in the 1200m contest.
But it was not to be … with Captain Tom being relegated to third place behind Tina Again and Darci Diva after being found to have caused interference when laying out over the closing stages.
TAB New Zealand, however, brought a bit of Sir Tom Moore’s own type of goodwill and compassion to the situation when deciding to pay out all win bets placed on Captain Tom digitally as bonus bets.
It was a gesture that would have left the beneficiaries applauding … as the presence of the great man’s name, and the fact that his passing the day before was so fresh in everybody’s mind, arguably played a part in the happy outcome.
