THE long running More Joyous saga is yet to be finalised after the Racing NSW's Appeals Board elected to reserve their judgement until a date to be fixed.

BRENT ZERAFA reports for TVN that five months after the All Aged Stakes, Waterhouse and Racing NSW stewards were at it again for more than five hours at Racing NSW headquarters, rehashing evidence as both sides pushed their case.

Waterhouse is appealing against two seperate charges, which included a $5,000 fine for failing to report the condition of More Joyous prior to the All Aged Stakes and then another $2,000 for the same offence, this time relating to the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.

Stewards allege More Joyous had a pain in her neck prior to the All Aged Stakes and was suffering from the effects of a foot abcess in the lead up to the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.

Murrihy outlined 10 indicators that he believes should have prompted Waterhouse to report an alleged condition of More Joyous leading in to the Group 1 race at Royal Randwick on April 27.

"It is undeniable the horse had a pain in her neck in the days leading in to the race, the condition should have been reported, it may have affected performance," he said.

"There were no less than 10 indicators, all red flags, all warnings.

"For all those that wagered on More Joyous who were unfortunately left with an unpalatable taste in their mouth, we say this should and could have been avoided if Gai Waterhouse complied with the rules under 140 (a)."

Murrihy argued that the charges did not concern the condition of More Joyous may have affected her performance, rather that the condition should have simply been reported to allow public disclosure.

Murrihy also suggested in his submission that Waterhouse had 'coloured' her evidence to tailor her argument, an assertion that was not well received by her legal team.

"Mr Murrihy made a suggestion that Mrs Waterhouse was colouring her evidence to suit her case, this is a serious submission to make and it is not justified," said Barrister Stephen Free.

Free, who spoke on Waterhouse's behalf throughout the appeal, initially argued the interpretation of rule 140 (a) before suggesting that his client was not guilty as More Joyous wasn't carrying a condition leading in to the All Aged Stakes.

"The post race examination of Dr Craig Suann was wholly consistent with the advice Mrs Waterhouse received that morning, she had accepted the advice that the mare was fit to run and there was no condition affecting its performance, we submit that there was no obligation to report (More Joyous' condition) under the rules of racing," he said.

In relation to the Queen Of The Turf Stakes, where Murrihy argued that More Joyous was lame five out of the eight days prior to the Group 1 race, Free said the condition of a horse prior to acceptance time was irrelevant.

"A sensible interpretation of the rule does not oblige a trainer to inform stewards of any problem with the horse until after final acceptances," he said.

"If you took a dogmatic approach to the rule, then it would be an onerous obligation on trainers to advise stewards of every condition. The stewards would be swamped if that was the case, we say the rule is more subtle than that."

STORY SOURCE: TVN & THE RACING NETWORK