Tommy Lyons: Charles Byrnes case a wake up call for trainers - but it's still a classic whodunnit
The conclusion of the appeal by racehorse trainer Charles Byrnes against the severity of the suspension of his licence and fine imposed felt like it ought to have been a huge moment in Irish racing, but somehow it doesn’t feel quite so momentous.
Byrnes lost the appeal so, if this is the end of the road for this particular case, we can summarise that a complicated story which involved nobbling and laying a horse has resulted in a trainer being sanctioned for leaving a horse unattended.
Byrnes was not implicated in the administration of the sedative which was found in Viking Hoard’s system after he ran at Tramore on October 18, 2018, and nor was he connected in any way to the laying of the horse.
But the appeals body upholding the sanctions put the onus squarely on the trainer to do everything in his or her power to ensure such opportunities do not present themselves.
Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board chief executive Denis Egan, speaking at a briefing Thursday afternoon, said this case should serve as a “wake-up call for trainers,” pointing out that “the rules state that the trainer is primarily responsible, and if the trainer wants to leave a horse unattended in a stable yard, the trainer has to suffer the consequences, and that’s what happened in this particular case.”
In its decision to uphold the ban, the Appeals Body was within its powers to increase the sanctions on Byrnes but chose not to. That decision, however, came with the warning that it wanted to “take this opportunity to stress that such a lenient view might not be taken in the future.”
For all that the dismissal of the appeal ought to bring finality to the situation – and the IHRB CEO said the result was “excellent” - it does not solve the issue of where the sedative was administered, who administered it, and who laid the horse on the exchanges?
In the original enquiry, the referrals committee said the laying of the horse “demonstrated substantial confidence on the part of the layer.” Difficult to argue, given the sums of money involved.
The fact that, also in the original enquiry, IHRB deputy security chief Declan Buckley identified an individual “in a distant part of the world” as being involved in the laying of the horse should open the eyes to anyone who believes that being on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean precludes us from being part of a bigger global problem.
The Waterford & Tramore Racecourse On Facebook Handicap Hurdle, with a winner’s prize shy of €8,000, ought not to have made many waves but it, like any other event which can be bet upon, has the potential for much greater financial implication. That is the joined-up world we now live in.
Even though the investigation did not find out who laid the horse, Egan expressed satisfaction with the “excellent cooperation from Betfair Paddy Power which enabled us in the first place to at least find out the direction where the money came from.”
He added: “In a perfect world, of course we’d like to have found out the person that administered the substance to the horse, and we’d also like to have found out the person that laid the bet.
“If we get evidence, we’ll certainly follow it up but, at this stage, as far as we’re concerned at the moment, the case is closed unless some additional evidence comes forward.”
Egan was keen to stress that this a one-off, the first in Ireland in 30 years. “We take over 200 samples on an annual basis of horses that run unaccountably badly. It was two and a half years ago, and we have no evidence of it happening before or after.”
Egan, rightly, pointed out that the sample was taken from the horse for the very reason that it ran unaccountably badly. It strikes a blow for the stewards of the day, who noted the run and set the ball in motion which led to the illegal substance being found.
That must be lauded, and I want to come away from this saga happy for Irish racing, enthused by the protocols in place, and encouraged that this case was a watershed.
But that requires quite a stretch of the imagination. Leaving a horse unattended in a stable yard ought to be punished and, yes, the buck must stop with the licenced trainer, but the third parties involved in the more serious aspects of the case remain unpunished.
For Byrnes, however, the decision has serious implications. Six-months might seem quite a short spell in a person’s career, but it is quite significant in that of a racehorse, particularly owing to the seasonal nature of their careers.
Owners with horses in Byrnes’ yard may have to face the decision whether to leave those horses with the trainer, happy to ride out the suspension or in the hope that a solution can be found, or whether to move them elsewhere.
Those decisions could have a significant bearing on the livelihoods of Byrnes and his staff, and the future of his yard. However, Byrnes is not a disqualified person, and can continue to work in racing during the period of his licence being withdrawn, so perhaps another solution can be found.
