Tyrrell and Behan ‘hung out to dry’ by BHA
The pair have sought legal advice after the BHA disciplinary panel found them guilty of the offence after concluding that Behan’s ride amounted to “deliberately preventing a horse from winning” the register@sportpool.co.uk Handicap.
“I’ve been in touch with my solicitor and it’s under judicial review,” said Co. Kildare-based Tyrrell.
“It’s astonishing, but I can’t say anything at the moment.”
Dublin-based Behan echoed Tyrrell’s sentiments, adding: “It’s under judicial review, so I can’t say anything at this stage.”
The five-year-old, sent off at odds of 17-2, finished sixth off top weight of 9st 13lb, beaten two lengths.
He went on to run again two days later at Musselburgh, finishing fourth on that occasion.
He has not raced since, and has been suspended from running for 42 days from Wednesday.
Behan and Tyrrell’s disqualification period commences from the same day in Britain, but the Irish Turf Club will await news of any possible appeal before reciprocating the suspension.
Irish Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan said: “We have received a request from the BHA to reciprocate the penalty issued by them concerning Jason and Eamon.
“The matter will be considered once the outcome of any appeal, if any, is known.
“If there is no appeal I imagine it will be reciprocated immediately.”
Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association chief Jim Kavanagh said: “I don’t think this decision is justified as I don’t think the crime justifies somebody losing their livelihood.
“I think the BHA have overreacted against two very small people and I certainly feel the absence of legal representation for Eamon Tyrrell and Jason Behan, with the BHA having a QC, was not a level playing field.
“I believe at that stage it should have been called off until they had a chance to organise themselves a bit better.
“In Ireland, if you don’t have a legal representative, they don’t bring it (to trial).
“This was a case of two small people being hung out to dry to satisfy when they consider to be in the public interest.”
Andrew Coonan, chairman of the Irish Jockeys’ Association, said of Behan’s disqualification: “We are all conscious that the integrity of racing has to be protected, but to deprive someone of the entitlement to earn a livelihood for three years is a very serious matter.
“Certainly we will be closely watching what the Irish Turf Club will be doing in regards to reciprocating the ban.
“Three years is certainly a long time.”
The BHA panel’s summary of the case, published on September 27, had stated that: “The gelding was subjected to strong and persistent episodes of restraint in the last two and a half furlongs, and was manoeuvred several times away from gaps and back behind other runners.
“It was running on well in the last 50 yards (despite an absence of any driving or encouragement) and lost by just two lengths. But for its treatment by Behan, it would have won.
“That may seem a strong conclusion about a race in which it finished sixth, but the more the panel viewed the recordings, the more it felt driven to this view.”
The disciplinary panel came to their verdict after a hearing on September 22, at which neither Behan nor Tyrrell were legally represented, and have since been considering the penalty for the offence, which has an entry point of 18 months.
The panel formed the view that the entry point for a “fundamental breach of the rules” is pitched too low – a fact which has been exacerbated by the “untrue accounts” given by the jockey and the trainer.
Three-year disqualifications, added the panel, were also necessary to “warn others of the consequences of similar riding, which strikes at the very nature of racing”.
The BHA submitted that there were three aggravating features of this case: the nature of the ride itself; what they describe as “the dishonesty of the ride”; and the untruthful accounts given by Tyrrell and Behan to both to the Newcastle stewards and the BHA panel.
The disciplinary panel saw no reason to treat the jockey more leniently than the trainer as “there was no hint that he was lent on to do what he did”.
The panel also added that “the gelding ought not to have been allowed to run at Musselburgh after the determination by the Newcastle stewards that this was a deliberate failure to run it on its merits”.
Chaired by Timothy Charlton QC, the panel also recommended that the BHA may wish to consider giving stewards the power to suspend a horse with immediate effect when they determine that a deliberate breach has occurred.
