Ruby Walsh: Monasterevin raid results must be published as soon as possible
One story has garnered the headlines, taken up column inches and been the topic of discussion in the racing world for 12 days now.
It has even taken racing out of the racing pages, and some high-profile journalists have written some very detailed articles on the topic. We are all well aware now that the Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine raided premises in Monasterevin over 11 days ago, questioned John Warwick, and seized unlicensed animal remedies.
We know two licensed trainers - my father and Liam Burke - turned up during the raid and that the horseboxes of four other trainers visited the premises, who someone had under surveillance during the months before the raid.
Five of the six trainers have given reasons why they or their vehicles were on site and have explained why, but to take this story forward and condemn or vindicate them and the sport, we now need what we don’t have: The names of what remedies the DAFM sized and the results of tests taken by the IRHB on the racehorses tested there, since and backtested from stored samples the IHRB have, which one assumes will be cross-tested against what the DAFM found last week.
I don’t believe myself to be naive but nor am I willing to throw stones before the proof is presented. Speculation is rife, and if horse racing has an epidemic problem with drug cheats, the results are on the way, or so we are led to believe. The DAFM inquiry could take a while as everything judicial does here. However, the IHRB inquiry shouldn’t, and with the magnitude of this case the results of their testing are needed soon. One assumes they are working with the DAFM, or at least we hope the IHRB now knows what substances to test for, and I feel the IHRB needs to break with tradition here and make positive and negative findings public.
As it stands, only positive findings are published because traditionally, the negatives are not news. But they are now. Until the results appear, all we can do is speculate. The day will come for us all to be judge and jury, and I will wait for that day to pass judgement.
Either way, the show must roll on, and it’s round two for the elite chasers this weekend or, at least, the second significant staying conditions chase of the season. No one is attempting the Down Royal-Haydock Park double and, with only the two outsiders in today’s Betfair Chase having had a run this season, the playing field looks level on the fitness front for the six more fancied runners.
Going left-handed is a massive plus for the Gold Cup runner-up and one assumes the three weeks extra work he has had over Minella Indo, who returned at Down Royal looking undercooked, will benefit him.
Today’s race won’t necessarily be his biggest target for the season, it’s still one they will want to win, but it will be D-day for some of the opposition.
Nigel Twiston-Davies will have Bristol De Mai primed, and Paul Nicholls may well see this as Next Destination’s best opportunity to bag a Grade One, so A Plus Tard will need to be close to his best to repel the home defence.
Rachael Blackmore has travelled to Lancaster to partner him, but she will undoubtedly be glued to the action In Kilkenny at midday when Daragh O’Keeffe sets off to the first fence aboard Bob Olinger. He won’t have been an easy horse for Rachael to leave behind, but staying to ride any horse in a beginners’ chase over the favourite in a Grade One isn’t a choice. Henry will be looking for better fortunes today than he has had with many of his big guns of late, even if they are just the opening salvos in a long campaign.
Put The Kettle On went under last Sunday, but with Sharjah winning the Morgiana, Honeysuckle strengthened her position as the favourite for the Champion Hurdle without even leaving Knockeen. That said, Telmesomethinggirl never landed a blow at Punchestown either, so of his six Cheltenham Festival winners, four have been beaten on reappearance this season with only two left to reappear. A Plus Tard doesn’t fit that bill, and perhaps he will follow Envoi Allen and give Henry something to smile about.
I have lost count on how many weeks I have been trying to win the €19-million Lotto prize, so I have devised a new scheme to boost the Christmas coffers.
Ilikedwayurthinkin — perhaps you do — is the first leg of this super small stake bet at 1.03 in Gowran Park. Hopefully, those winnings will roll onto Tommys Oscar - and I’ll be getting one of those statuettes if this works - 12 minutes later at Haydock Park. You might be starting to think I am Saint Felicien if he wins the 2.13 at Gowran Park, and I hope you were in the Rightplacerightime and have latched onto this acca if he collects at 2.25 in Haydock.
You will have a Buzz watching the 2.40 at Ascot, and an even bigger one if She’s Commanche rounds it out at 3.23 in the fading Kilkenny light. The odds will be a little over 800/1, which explains the likelihood, but they are better than the 10.7 million/1 odds of getting the Lotto numbers!
