THIS week’s nail-biting finish to the Kerry National (see page 14) brought back some memories of tight finishes and tight spots for Andrew McKeever, who has almost 30 years’ experience as a judge for the Turf Club and IHRB.

“There was one incident at a point-to-point where I was on the trailer with the judge, who was a local hunt member, and his assistant. There was a close finish, so the judge and I turned to one another and we agreed the order was 3-4-5-6. But the assistant piped up and said, ‘no, it was 4-3-5-6.’ We were certain number three had got up by a head, so we overruled him but he insisted we were wrong. The argument continued until the assistant stamped his foot and shouted: ‘MY BROTHER-IN-LAW’S HORSE WON!’”

Another day many years ago at Bellewstown, Percy Banahan was calling the results and a youthful Andrew was on other Turf Club duties. “In this particular race, the favourite was chinned on the line though the close circuit pictures made it look like he had held on. There was a raucous objection when the result was called and the stewards suggested that the print should be put on display outside the weigh room.

“In my naivety, I volunteered to hang the picture and a crowd gathered around. A northern voice roared ‘that’s the effin’ judge who is trying to rob us of our money!’ and there was a bit of a scuffle. The guards had to accompany me off the racecourse for my own safety. The problem was that this was my local track and for the next 18 months whenever the local guard would see me, he’d say, ‘are you alright there, Andrew, or will you be needing a detail to see you home?’”

Back in those days, the photo-finish negative had to be developed in a tub of foul-smelling chemicals, often in a wooden hut that wouldn’t meet today’s ‘ealth and safety standards. “If a drop of the stuff got on your clothes it would ruin your jacket or trousers,” Andrew recalled. “One day at Dundalk, where the tower was in the middle of the track, the camera operator decided to pour the chemicals out the window after racing. Unfortunately there was a poor chap relieving himself below and he was covered in the ghastly stuff.”

Sounds like Andrew should write a book, perhaps - Don’t Judge Me!