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Is five days ban really enough for in essence not trying?
I am referring to Enright willingly handing his whip to Davy Russell (a long way out with nothing beaten) when asked after Russell dropped his earlier in the race.
Russell may be a senior jockey, and on a pedestal somewhat perhaps, but that will be no consolation to anyone who had invested their hard earned on Enrights mount.
Either grow a pair and try your best Mr. Enright, or find another job.
Ah! Those were the days. When horse racing was a sport and everybody knew it was. That incident invoked in me feelings of nostalgia from times past when jockeys knew that initiative was to be rewarded. I think we should be praising Davy Russell for doing all he could to win the race, taking responsibility in doing his best for punters when riding this odds-on favourite in a sixteen runner handicap. His mount, Leave At Dawn looked to have a good chance. Phillip Enright’s mount, Backinyourbox looked to have a very poor chance, with a total race record of: Fell, beaten 37 lengths, then 24, then 49, then Pulled Up. It was probably injured when Pulled Up because its last race was fourteen months ago, and I guess that now, on his return to the track, on Soft going, the trainer had told the jockey not to beat it up – very sporting.
I imagine the conversation:
Davy: How’s yours going?
Phillip: Slow but sure.
Davy: I’ve lost my whip.
Phillip: What a shame.
Davy: Are you going to need yours?
Phillip: Probably not.
Davy: This is odds-on. I have to give it my best shot. Can I borrow yours?
Phillip: Why not. Here you are. All yours.Very polite.
Why would not carrying a whip imply that the jockey was not trying? Some horses do not go on for the whip, some do. There are much bigger and more frequent problems for punters in findings winners. Take Russell’s mount Leave At Dawn. It’s form prior to this race was: beaten 41 lengths, then 26, then 61, then 25, and finally winning by over 9 lengths in a 17 runner handicap at an SP of 11/10, with no significant change in distance, going or class of the race. If you think the punter’s task is difficult, what chance does the poor Irish handicapper have?
Five day bans for Enright and Russell for doing the decent, sporting thing, with a side-effect of being beneficial to the punting public. On the other hand, perhaps there ought to be a rule that trainers can be banned just for being “unkind” to the official handicapper.
Good post MV.
I haven’t seen the race but this sort of thing has happened before and been applauded.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
What an odd pair of posts. They were a heck of a long way out, I doubt you would be of this opinion if you had backed Enright’s mount, as some will have done (not me).
Based on MV’s post the rules should presumably state any horse shorter in the betting than yours has ‘whip privileges’. Should they also move off the rail for horses more fancied in the betting?
What an odd pair of posts. They were a heck of a long way out, I doubt you would be of this opinion if you had backed Enright’s mount, as some will have done (not me).
Based on MV’s post the rules should presumably state any horse shorter in the betting than yours has ‘whip privileges’. Should they also move off the rail for horses more fancied in the betting?
Enright’s mount finished about 29 lengths behind the winner and about 20 lengths behind the fourth horse. Anyone betting on the horse cannot believe that the absence of a whip caused them any loss. If Enright had a whip, and by such means got the horse into a place, the Turf Club would have given him the ban of a lifetime and the courts would have been interested in a prosection for animal cruelty. You could reply that “it is the principal that counts”, and then I would reply that Enright is a good, experienced horseman who would know what his horse was capable of on the day, and knew that he would not be in a position to use his whip to advantage.
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