Ruby Walsh: Making sense of twin threat to horse racing from Brexit and Covid

Robert Watt has been appointed interim secretary general of the Department of Health. If, as all expect, he gets the job, it will be on a salary of about €292,000, meaning he gets a pay hike of €81,000. Picture: Gareth Chaney, Collins

Brexit and the coronavirus: One a threat to life, the other a threat to a way of life.

It has been difficult to figure out what was going to happen with either, the unpredictability of how one keeps changing and mutating and the lack of clarity about what exactly the other means.

Lockdowns, shutdowns, and the closure of life as we know it has probably insulated a lot of us from the impact of the other. Covid continues to affect us all. Sadly, it has affected some worse than others, but the fallout of Brexit will only become apparent as the other starts to abate and a vaccinated population begins to reemerge.

This week point-to-pointing fell to a Covid lockdown ban after it failed to be included in the sports deemed as elite or professional. The beauty of the hunt-run events is that they are most certainly not elite, but the professional argument could be debated.

The core essence of what point-to-pointing is was built on an amateur ethos but, like most sports the world over, it has evolved over time and a division of those now involved in the point-to-point scene are most certainly professional.

There are a cluster of traders who use the point-to-point fields to show off the stock they have purchased as younger horses in an attempt to turn a profit on the investments they have made.

It has become a big, if risky, business for those traders and this week’s news of the season’s suspension comes as a hammer blow to an industry that lost months of its core season last spring. Add in the ban on amateur jockeys being allowed to ride at English racetracks for the foreseeable future and the spring of 2021 looks even bleaker for some of Ireland’s finest horsemen such as Derek O’Connor, Jamie Codd and maybe even Patrick Mullins, were this ban to run beyond Cheltenham in March.

The ban was put in place by the BHA to ensure they were fully compliant with the UK’s government guidelines in that the continuation of elite sports links to the earning of income from participation in that competition. Travelling horses was always going to be a new adventure post Brexit, with more paperwork and veterinary checks, but the VAT implications could have been a game changer.

As it initially stood, Irish connections with horses going to the UK had to pay 19% of their horse’s value in withholding VAT, to be returned to them within three months of said horse’s return to Ireland. A deposit of sorts, but deposited at a 0% interest rate for three months which could have added up to millions by the time a full load from Ballydoyle arrived in Ascot for day one of the Royal meeting.

Thankfully, what could have been a massive issue has been sorted by someone, and BDO Ireland clarified the issue yesterday afternoon releasing a statement that said something along these simplified lines but meaning ‘horses from Ireland can travel to the UK to race without incurring VAT costs by following the temporary admissions procedure’.

Lucky for those travelling to race, but what lies in store for all those going to be sold at public auction or those coming here to be covered and thus returning to the UK with a greater value are just another two of the thousands of unanswered Brexit questions.

The racing on the home front is cracking stuff again this weekend with the highlight definitely being at 12.50pm on Sunday when Envoi Allen trots out onto the Punchestown turf. But he will do so with 11lbs more on his back than all of his rivals — and one or two of those are not back numbers.

He is undoubtedly the most exciting novice in training, but Asterion Forlonge is a pretty decent beast in his own right and going right-handed is a massive plus for him. It will be fascinating to watch and should Envoi manage to give the weight away his stock will only rise further.

Two of the smaller yards dip their toe into the graded waters at 1.20pm tomorrow for the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle.

Ronan McNally’s prolific handicap scorer Dreal Deal and Pat Corkery’s Master McShee take on some novices from all the big yards.

Willie Mullins runs three and Paul Townend rides Ganapathi, but I am going to stick to with Master McShee, who really impressed me at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.

Frere Tuck is my idea of a good bet tomorrow. He caught plenty of eyes on his Navan debut for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, and that pair can get the weekend off to a flyer with Youmdor, who runs in today’s first race in Fairyhouse.

I think this lad has improved plenty since his Gowran Park debut victory in November and could be one to follow through the spring.

Today’s featured Dan Moore Handicap Chase is a really competitive heat and Chatham Street Lad will bid to follow up his Cheltenham victory under Simon Torrens, whom Mike Winters has put in the plate today to avail of his 5lb claim.

There is no shortage of rivals here and The Shunter, who is another Cheltenham scorer, albeit in November and over hurdles, looks the obvious danger. Even with Simon’s weight allowance, Chatham Street Lad has to give 12lbs to The Shunter and that could prove too big an ask.