Ruby Walsh: Did the stewards take the easy way out with Naas call?
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Foggy conditions caused the abandonment of last Sunday's Naas meeting. Picture: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Last Sunday, Naas races had one of those really unfortunate days with the weather. A morning inspection was called for 7.30am to assess the extent of Saturday night's frost, and while Sunday morning brought good news on the frost front, it came with a threat of lingering fog. Brendan Sheridan, the clerk of the course at Naas, did what, in my opinion, was the right thing and pushed the inspection back two hours to 9.30am.
The Naas officials gathered again as most of us waited to set off and assessed the situation, which had improved but not enough for a green light, so they decided to look again at 11am.
As I travelled the 20 miles to Naas, the fog lifted and fell every few miles, but as I swung into Woodlands Park, I most definitely felt the news would be good, such was my range of vision. Sure enough, Naas passed its 11am inspection.
What happened in the next 90 minutes mirrored my journey as the fog again fell, lifted and fell, but each time it lifted, the blazing sun would start to become visible, and hope was always there.
From a safety point of view, even at its worst the range of vision, in my opinion, was sufficient for both horse and riders, but what became apparent when the first race set off was that Naas's ambulance road, which was being used by the tracker camera, was too far in from the chase course to broadcast live pictures of the horses as they made their way through the fog.
This became the most significant issue because a spectator sport became a sport nobody could watch, and another obvious thing became apparent: How could the stewards stand over this race from an integrity point of view?
They couldn't because they saw as much of Night And Day winning as the rest of us, which was about 5% of the race. Obviously, they assumed, like everyone who gathered in front of a screen last Sunday in Naas, that the roadside camera would be how we would be watching the action.
Everybody was trying their best to beat the elements and stage what could be a great day of racing, but the fog won out in the end. The following is the IHRB statement regarding the cancellation. "Having consulted with a delegation of riders, trainers, the riders association, medical officer, judge, clerk of the course and racecourse manager, the raceday stewards abandoned the remainder of the card at Naas owing to fog in the interest of safety under Rule 10(i)."
Fair enough, it's 2024, but why did the stewards not mention that they could not do their job? Is it taking the easy way out? Everyone else said they had safety concerns, so they had to listen, but the acting stewards are responsible for enforcing the sport's rules on any given race day. Spectators and participants will give them grace in trying circumstances, but surely they should have known how much of a race they could see before the horses set off. The rules don't accept assumptions from anyone else, so why are the enforcers granted one?
The early January slump in fare quality is annual and will never change so, at this time of year, we are reduced to a good race here and there, with plenty of quantity in the middle. The quantity even struggles a little when you see Punchestown-rated beginners' chase only attracted the same number of entries as its Grade Two novice chase — nine in each — but at least the maiden hurdle has held up, with 36 entries.
The Silviniaco Conti Chase is Saturday’s featured graded race at Kempton, and it continues a regular trend for the moment, with an Irish-trained runner looking like the one to beat. Joseph O'Brien has sent Banbridge over for his seasonal debut, and the sharp judges will be watching him here but investing in him for the Ryanair in March before he goes to post today. There is no Irish-trained runner in the Lanzarote, but Sonigino is my pick.
Up at Warwick, Gavin Cromwell has sent Malina Girl over for the Classic Chase, at 3pm, and Conor Stone Walsh's five-pound claim will aid her chance in this marathon contest.
Meetingofthewaters is a non-runner in Wetherby's Towton Novice Chase, in which Gavin Sheehan can keep up his excellent run aboard Colonel Harry.
On home soil, Fairyhouse stages a competitive seven-race card, and the first, at 12.12pm, is particularly tricky to solve. Most of the runners have the potential to be competitive in decent handicaps in time, but as for Saturday, maybe Miss Manzor will have improved enough from Christmas to deliver.
The Dan and Joan Moore Chase is the feature, and Gavin Cromwell looks to have found an excellent opportunity for Letsbeclearaboutit to bag a decent pot.
Punchestown takes centre stage tomorrow with a pair of Graded novice events, and the Skybet Moscow Flyer is renowned for throwing up a decent winner.
Jigoro, Lambron, Mystical Power, and Blizzard Of Oz set the standard, but figuring out which will come out on top is tricky. Blizzard Of Oz will possibly surprise me most if he does, so perhaps small ante-post wagers are more enticing.
The others are massive prices in Cheltenham novice hurdles, so try Jigoro and Mystical Power in the Supreme and Lambron in the old Ballymore. Whoever wins will be a lot shorter in those markets Sunday evening.
As for the novice chase, that is much easier: Blood Destiny.
