If Michael Connell trained The Real Article what would have happened?
He was trained by Michael Connell, hardly a major name in Irish racing at the time — or since — and a soft target.
Ballyronan Boy contested a maiden at Tipperary, finishing seventh of ten behind Jembatt. The stewards investigated his performance.
They decided there was a case to answer and the horse was suspended for 60 days. Connell was fined €1500 and rider, Ronan Whelan, suspended for seven days.
At the time it appeared a classic case of hammering the little man and subsequent events went a long way towards proving such thinking was correct.
Ballyronan Boy ran once more for Connell, 13th of 14 at Wexford. Then he ran on four occasions for Margaret Mullins.
He began with a 14th of 15 at Clonmel, then it was 15th of 19, over hurdles, at Gowran Park, 13th of 14 at Cork and finally, back over flights, 15th of 18 at Thurles.
The only logical conclusion to be drawn was that the Tipperary stewards got it completely wrong and Connell should at least have his €1500 returned!
Contrast the ‘decisive’ action of the stewards that day with the inaction, essentially, of the stewards at Tipperary last Sunday, with regard to the display of The Real Article in a conditions hurdle.
The Real Article was beaten a short head by Captain Cee Bee, after getting what can only be described as kid-glove treatment from Patrick Mangan on the run-in.
Mangan never made the slightest attempt to raise his whip and all that was really involved was a little bit of hands and heels.
The stewards duly went through the motions and accepted the explanations which were on offer.
Trainer, Edward O’Grady, said The Real Article had run far better than he had expected, that he told Mangan to get a lead into the straight, ride out with hands and heels and not to hit the horse. He was satisfied with the ride.
Mangan confirmed the instructions and said that his mount was travelling very well between the last two hurdles and he hoped to ‘arrive on the line.’
All of what was stated was totally plausible and the stewards swallowed the lot and told The Real Article’s connections to continue on their merry way.
In this case the merry way is the Galway Hurdle next Thursday, with a theoretical 18lbs in hand.
That’s the amount handicapper, Noel O’Brien, has decided to raise The Real Article by in the future.
Basically, what the much respected O’Brien is saying is the rest may as well stay at home for all the chance they have against a horse with a proverbial ton in hand. It is never quite as simple as that, of course, but you get the point.
Anyway none of the explanations offered by O’Grady and Mangan should have had any bearing on the final deliberations of the stewards. Perhaps, they didn’t!
You cannot escape the feeling, however, that if the decision to accept had been based solely on what they had seen with their own eyes then the outcome would have been very different. This should surely, at the very least, have been referred onto the Turf Club for further examination.
Handicapper O’Brien had no hesitation in raising The Real Article’s future mark by a massive amount and the bookmakers moved equally quickly to slash the horse’s odds for the Galway Hurdle and make him a relatively short-priced favourite.
Then Turf Club Chief Executive, Denis Egan, entered the controversy and indicated there was a possibility of the matter being reopened. That was a clear indication of the unease being felt at the Turf Club at a race which has attracted plenty of publicity, for all of the wrong reasons.
After much dithering all week, the Turf Club finally decided on Thursday that the case had to reopened and it will be heard next Monday morning.
Let’s finish by asking a simple question of the locals stewards at Tipperary. If Michael Connell trained The Real Article what would have happened?
IT was an absolute pleasure to be at the Curragh last Sunday for the Oaks.
The noise levels, compared to the Derby, were dramatically toned down and the place was all the better for it.
The 5,000 plus crowd was solid enough, there was no lack of atmosphere and being able to actually hear yourself think was such a pleasant change. Let’s hope it’s not a false dawn.
ONE can hardly wait to see Frankel taking on the older horses in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood next Wednesday. We can be certain Tom Queally will not be utilising the tactics which saw Frankel win both the English 2000 Guineas and the St James’ Palace at Royal Ascot and restraint will be the order of the day. Do you want to be with or against him? To my way of thinking, with Canford Cliffs in the field, and as long as Frankel isn’t too far removed from evens, then he has to be a lay.
