Compensation for He Is Top Class

Jockeys Paul Townend and Luke Dempsey made the headlines, for contrasting reasons, in Ballinrobe last night.

Townend took the honours with a 181/1 treble while 3lb. claimer Dempsey was suspended for fourteen days and fined €150 for “repeated offences at scales” which amounted to breaches of three rules governing back-protectors and equipment – he attempted to weight-out, more than 3lb. overweight and with a defective back-protector for his intended ride on Blackandamber Vic (replaced by Andrew Ring) in the mares handicap hurdle.

Townend’s treble was sparked when He Is Top Class, disqualified last time in Sligo, gained compensation for trainer Donie Hassett when proving an emphatic winner of the David Heneghan Memorial Handicap Hurdle.