Ruby Walsh: IHRB clearly got it right with their Covid-19 protocols

It is hardly the crime of the century but, as a licence holder with the IHRB, Jessica Harrington either had to go directly from home or stay within the designated bubble to go racing at the time

When I read about the sanctions handed out by the Referrals Committee of the IHRB to Jessica Harrington last Monday for her breaches of Covid protocols, which the IRHB set in line with the then government guidelines surrounding foreign travel, I thought ‘fair enough’.

Every other person who had travelled to either Cheltenham or Aintree had to follow the green bubble regulations. It was required to ensure such a large travelling party could enter the UK and come back to Ireland whilst using the quarantine protocols set for elite sportspeople. None of it straightforward when put into practice but a necessary obligation during a national level five Covid lockdown.

Jessica never entered the bubble, conducted some other business whilst in the UK and stayed with friends on the one night she was there. She then attended Aintree races for the Grand National and returned home straight after racing on Saturday night.

It is hardly the crime of the century but, as a licence holder with the IHRB, she either had to go directly from home or stay within the designated bubble to go racing at the time. They were the rules in April, and in line with the rigid approach the horse racing authorities have taken since June, Jessica received a similar sanction to the others who have transgressed the Covid protocols.

These sanctions the IHRB have been handing out bring me to my point. Emmet Mullins was the first to break them and had the kitchen sink fired at him, banned from racecourses for three months and fined €5,000. He had clearance to race the day before, and the day after but not on the day he walked into Leopardstown.

Aidan and Donnacha O’Brien were next to break the rules by entering the Curragh racecourse through the wrong gate, which meant they didn’t have their temperature taken. But, at least they had the correct clearance.

Their ban was more in line with the offence committed, but, on reflection, is it still severe? They were each fined €2,500 and banned from racecourses for 14 days.

Willie Mullins and two staff members were fined and suspended for not following quarantine guidelines in November. Both of his staff had been in Haydock a week before attending Punchestown races and therefore they had not followed the then 14-day quarantine period.

Willie, being the boss, was fined €2,500 and prevented from going racing for 14 days, and his employees were fined €400 and €200 respectively and prohibited from attending race meetings for three months.

There were others, too. Kevin Brouder and a senior member of stable staff both received fines and bans for various breaches of the guidelines.

That’s before you get anywhere near the hundreds of people who forgot to do their race-day clearance by 11pm the night before they were due to attend a meeting.

It is a simple mistake, but a costly one for jockeys in particular. And there was no way around this. No matter how many days in a sequence you had attended a race meeting, a new Covid clearance ticket was required every day — and still is.

It has happened to me on three mornings since last June, waking to the realisation that I had forgotten to open the IHRB app and tick the boxes. You then have to make that apologetic phone call to your boss to explain why you would not be at work today. But they are rules horse racing created to get going and ones that have kept it going.

No fortune or favour, and nobody above the law, but when you look around at what some other sports have done and what guidelines they have in place, it makes you wonder if horse racing has been over the top.

The GAA banned Dublin manager Dessie Farrell for three months following their early-morning training session on March 31. We all know how many GAA and State guidelines were ignored, but I still can’t figure out why the nine adults who were at that training session have walked away scot-free.

Willie Mullins took the blame for the oversight in his office and apologised, but he and his staff were still sanctioned. The DPP cleared the Dublin footballers of any wrongdoing but is it not up to the Dublin County Board?

I am sure they regret their actions and I know they have apologised, but what about the example set to everyone else? Is it a case of ‘train away, just don’t get caught’? Or try the Dundalk FC approach and head north of the border for a team-building excursion. It will only cost you the price of a Covid test and an apology to carry on as if nothing has happened.

It doesn’t matter that most people in the country couldn’t do the same, but once the players, who have been able to play all through lockdown, get to know each other better, then it’s okay. Dundalk FC didn’t sanction that plan. The players decided, so why haven’t the club penalised the players? Or why haven’t the League of Ireland stepped in like the GAA should have with the Dublin players? They are, after all, adults.

I know the end looks near for all of the Covid protocols, but who can guess what might be coming next? So now, when I reflect on it, the IHRB got it right.

It was up to each sporting body to set the guidelines and then to enforce them. At least we know those who breached the Covid rules under the IHRB’s watch paid for it, and if it all ever happens again, the Government can trust them to enforce the guidelines.