Turf Club already under pressure to backtrack on revised Rule 212
Listen, anyone who thought the stewards were going to restrict their new powers to only going after “lads’’ of the minor variety had their answer at Dundalk last night week.
It is generally believed, rightly or wrongly, that there has always been one rule for the rich and another for the rest, in this country, when it came to stewarding.
But our little world of racing is rapidly changing and, the farcical situation that has been allowed to develop regarding the much-publicised Gowran Park contest aside, this rewritten Rule 212 offers real hope for the future.
The likes of Declan Queally and Matthew Smith were easy targets at Gowran, but the perceived notion the stewards would bottle it when having to tackle much bigger fish was buried without trace at Dundalk.
The contest in question was an innocuous three-year-old maiden, which saw Aidan O’Brien saddle three of the ten runners.
He won the race with the well backed 6-4 favourite, Asking, who beat Sir Danilo by a length, with the O’Brien newcomer, Music Box (she runs at Leopardstown today in what looks a very good maiden), a further nose away in third and his Pennsylvania filling fifth.
Music Box was a massive eye-catcher and then it was simply a case of waiting to see if the stewards had the balls to make a move.
This is now an entirely new process and what was fine a short few months ago, at least as far as the stewards were concerned, will no longer cut the mustard.
And so the stewards, buoyed no doubt by the backing Rule 212 offers them, to their credit, took swift and decisive action.
They fined O’Brien €2,000, suspended Music Box for 42 days and rider, Wayne Lordan for five days. O’Brien was later quoted as describing their conclusions as “bizarre.’’ He’s entitled to his opinion, of course, but it would have been more bizarre had they turned a blind eye.
Watch the race again, including the head-on, and try and find someone who disagrees with the stewards.
As one who thinks they got it all wrong at Gowran, I have to say that they were spectacularly right at Dundalk.
The head-on was seriously revealing. As Lordan sought, apparently, a clear passage in the straight, he could easily have switched to the left of Pennsylvania, towards the rail. You could have driven a double-decker bus up there.
But instead, he chose to edge to his right, back into traffic. For a number of strides Music Box was basically trapped, before getting a clear run between horses and finishing to real effect. At no stage did the pilot attempt to use his stick, pushing the filly out hands and heels.
This week, O’Brien lodged an appeal, that is due to be heard at the Turf Club at 2.30 on Monday, and the outcome will be eagerly awaited and, possibly, have far-reaching consequences.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, the appeal is tossed out faster than you can mutter Ballydoyle. If that proves to be correct then it really will be a case of game on.
Mind you I have been reliably informed over the last day or two that a lot of pressure is now being applied to get the Turf Club to backtrack on Rule 212. “Savage pressure’’, is how my source described what is happening.
In any case a national pastime for many punters is watching horses being educated with a view to the future. But educating them out on the track now seems to be a thing of the past. Such educating has long been especially significant on the lead-in to Galway.
We spend weeks prior to the meeting watching everything like a hawk, scribbling down the names of horses we think are being “educated’’ with Ballybrit in mind.
The standard suspension under this new rule for a horse is 42 days, six weeks. So, from six weeks before the Galway extravaganza starts falling foul of the stewards might well mean no festival for your delightful little beauty. It is going to be absolutely fascinating to see how all of this pans out over the coming months.
What used to be the tried and trusted system approaching Galway will have to be discarded by a trainer or two, who will, obviously, remain nameless! In the meantime, we will all be focussed on that O’Brien appeal.
Power gave Sizing John a terrific drive to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup for owners, Alan and Ann Potts, and, in the aftermath of the success, was given the job as their retained rider.
He is the third jockey to move into that hot-seat, following on Andrew Lynch and Jonathan Burke, in a relatively short space of time.
In the wake of the appointment you had to smile at the tweet in the Racing post that said: “Happy for Robbie Power landing stable jockey role for the Potts, but got to the question how long it will last.’’
and thousands of punters continue to bet in the traditional manner, with the bookmakers, and will have nothing to do with the exchanges.
There are numerus occasions, however, when having access to both isn’t just a good idea, but essential.
A very good example came at Cork last Sunday, with regard to the seven-furlongs maiden won by Johnny Murtagh’s 25-1 shot, Maximus Daia.
It was hard to make any case for the Holy Roman Emperor gelding, but this is a complicated game and there was bound to be the odd punter here and there who wanted to have something small on the horse.
Supposing then you felt like investing say €10 on him, but could only do so with the layers, your return would be a tasty €250.
But that represents a shocking dividend when compared to what a punter could land on the exchanges.
Those playing on the machine tend to be mighty opinionated and you could have backed Maximus Daia at 89-1 with them.
After commission that would see a punter win about €860 for his tenner. Now that is some difference.
