An inch away from a massive controversy

While you would hardly describe it as the race that stopped a nation, it was certainly the talk of the place.

The contest in question was a rather innocuous mile and a half maiden at Leopardstown last Sunday and no one could have envisaged how interesting it was going to prove.

There were nine runners, with Aidan O’Brien running two newcomers, Bondi Beach and Bantry Bay. The latter was the mount of Joseph O’Brien and went off a heavily backed odds-on favourite.

Bondi Beach, partnered by Seamie Heffernan, was returned at 7-1, but was available at over 10-1 on the exchanges at the off.

The word through the day, regarding Bantry Bay, was good and it seems reasonable to assume, given how strong the son of Galileo was in the market, many of the big hitters wanted to be with him.

Bantry Bay went straight into the lead and for most of the 12 furlongs those who played were entitled to be more than content with their lot. Approaching the home turn Bondi Beach, who travelled well throughout, lost his place a little.

But off the bend, however, he got a dream run through on the inside and, suddenly, was left chasing his stable companion.

What followed was quite extraordinary. As Joseph O’Brien threw the kitchen sink at Bantry Bay, Heffernan did a passable imitation of a sack of spuds.

O’Brien pushed, cajoled and used every means at his disposal to persuade his partner to go forward.

In contrast, Heffernan sat and then sat some more. We waited for him to become in some way animated. And then we waited some more.

Finally, near the line, Heffernan decided it was time for action, not a whole lot mind you, and nudged out Bondi Beach.

And the rest is history. Bondi Beach nailed Bantry Bay in the last stride or two to score by a short head.

No need for a stewards’ inquiry, no need to be getting overly excited, sure wasn’t the world at peace!

Social media was awash with commentary on Sunday evening, though, and much of it would certainly be actionable if it was to appear in a newspaper.

When the race was finished you just felt a sense of unease. Essentially, we were about an inch away from a massive controversy in our minor racing world.