The alternative handicap, although introduced with the best of intentions, backfired spectacularly in the Pierse Hurdle

THE connections of 50-1 shot Penny’s Bill, good luck to them, and the bookmakers had every reason to toast the Irish racing authorities last Sunday night.

That Pierse Hurdle debacle at Leopardstown really took the biscuit. When top weight Newmill came out of the contest on Sunday morning the alternative handicap, hopefully it will be the last we hear of it, kicked in.

An 8lbs rise in the weights, at relatively short notice, changed the whole complexion of this Pierse Hurdle.