Turf Club have made mess of Davy Russell saga
There’s North Korea, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the floods in Texas, and then you have the Davy Russell affair.
Last Saturday at Killarney a referrals committee of the Turf Club allowed Russell to get off with a caution, in other words scot-free, after he had been charged with punching the mare, Kings Dolly, at Tramore eight days earlier.
Then on Wednesday, in what can only be described as a bizarre twist, the Turf Club announced it was to appeal its own decision. I mean you just could not make this up.
In our mad overall world, Russell’s action was hardly worth a backward glance, but in the little bubble that some of us inhabit, horseracing, this was a big deal.
Kings Dolly was contesting a modest mares’ handicap hurdle and Russell delivered his blow when she essentially refused to behave herself, when given a view of a flight before the contest started.
There is every chance Kings Dolly was misbehaving well before the video of the incident kicked in and, perhaps, understandably, Russell’s patience finally wore thin, he lost his temper and took the law into his own hands.
He shouldn’t have behaved in such a manner, obviously, but show me someone who claims they have never lost their temper and I’ll show you a liar.
There was surely now no mystery as to what was going to happen, with Russell, having committed the crime, certain to do the time!
But then the Turf Club began this cock-up by taking an age to decide what everyone in racing already knew, that he had a case to answer. Eventually, they nodded in the affirmative and a three-man panel was charged with the task of administering the “punishment’’, before racing at Killarney.
Russell, to his credit, made many of the right noises on the lead-in to Killarney, with remorseful emerging as a key word.
And so, as he made his way west, the only question to occupy his mind was how long his sentence would be.
Russell did everything in his power to explain what he had done, expressed sorrow, accepted he was totally wrong and there was good reason to believe he was highly unlikely to ever travel down this particular road again.
That was all grand and dandy, but we live in an era where perception counts for so much and, you would have thought, the Turf Club had to take a dim view of a jockey punching a horse, on the basis it had been clearly captured by the television cameras.
I can’t say I ever give much thought, when it comes to our game, to what people outside the bubble think, but much of the demand for the Turf Club to be seen to act in a decisive manner, I would contend, was coming from within the ranks of racing.
The panel found Russell guilty of acting in a prejudicial manner to the proper conduct and integrity of horseracing and then, inexplicably, let him off with a caution.
It defied logic and, to use a well-worn cliché, it simply sent out the wrong message.
Turf Club chief executive, Denis Egan, on Attheraces, wheeled forward to defend the decision, basically the indefensible.
Among the things Egan said was that Russell was “genuinely remorseful’’, “a very sympathetic horseman’’ and “I don’t think he will be doing anything similar again’’.
All of that was entirely plausible, but did not entitle the rider to a free pass.
The Turf Club had now dug a hole for itself and established a precedent. What was to happen going forward if a jockey decided to punch a horse?
They could have argued, maybe, a different panel might well arrive at a different conclusion, like an actual penalty, for instance, but the buck stops with them and that would be just a cop-out.
Russell’s error was at the lower end of the scale and no sort of draconian sentence was called for.
The Turf Club had to be seen to take the matter very seriously, however, but instead the issue was fudged.
If the panel had handed down say a moderate four-days suspension, with a recommendation should Russell ever repeat such antics again he serve a minimum of three months, that would surely have seen justice served.
Alternatively, they might have concluded he should be fined €1,000, with the money to go to horse welfare.
The panel should at least have done something, but instead did nothing. The reaction to their total inaction was entirely predictable.
It was a decision that smacked of amateurism and did little to promote an industry largely propped up by government money.
Russell, you suspect, could hardly believe his luck.
Egan said: “Hopefully, it has been dealt with fairly’’.
No Denis, it was dealt with badly.
In the interview with Attheraces, Egan appeared very at ease with the verdict handed down by his “experienced’’ panel. So what happened to change his mind, or have it changed for him, between then and Wednesday?
We know criticism of the Turf Club soon arrived thick and fast and that was only to be expected.
The Turf Club had to be aware this was now a real mess, of their own doing, but surely the best course of action, at this stage, was to sit tight and wait for the storm to pass.
But instead they panicked and concluded that making a bad situation worse was the way to go.
And so Russell, who went to Killarney a week ago certain, you suspect, to fully accept whatever the panel deemed was an appropriate punishment, is to be tried again.
Why should he be subjected to this process one more time, because of a flawed Turf Club system? The Turf Club then has managed to turn what should have been a relatively minor matter into a full-blown controversy.
In other words they collectively failed to grow a pair on Wednesday and instead buckled to pressure, largely outside of racing.
When this is finally resolved can we expect Turf Club resignations?
Now you down there at the back, stop laughing.
