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This is instructive:
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-ra … 87949/top/
The comments of trainer Edward O’Grady, who instructed the jockey Paddy Mangan not to use the whip, are significant. I’m not making any judgement on the facts of this particular case, and don’t have a strong view either way.
That’s not the point. Moving from the particular to the general, I can’t help musing whether there might be a heck of a lot more serious trouble over this kind of ride, should the whip rules here in the UK ever be codified more than they are.
Would jockeys be required to administer up to three smacks, or whatever, irrespective of what might be good for the horse, simply in order to be seen to be “making an effort”?
Certainly the visual perception in what looked a very curious contest (especially for such a high-profile race) is that no jockey was really “going for everything”, on any of the horses. Interesting one for the Turf Club to rule on….
A few points:-
The Real Article should have won.
Relatively speaking A P McCoy was ‘going for everything’.
If the whip was only carried for correction/steering this ride would not have been an issue.
This is an inexperienced rider and has only been highlighted to this extent because of the possible penalty that might have been incurred. In my opinion Murtagh’s recent rides on Kirinda, Alanza and Cocozza were far worse but for some reason they have been ‘buried’.
- Total Posts 17716
Stilvi
, you’ve concentrated on the particular race, rather than the general question I asked. Our opinions about whether an enquiry or not is merited (let alone whether its likely outcome will be to exonerate the jockey) are of no consequence.
I ask this: what are your thoughts on the likely impact on whip bans or codified rules, in creating many more situations such as this one, where the public
perception
will certainly be that rider(s) are not "going for broke" at the business end?
if that
perception
weren’t there, there’d be no enquiry. And as a piece of entertainment – leaving aside how disgruntled punters felt about it, or whether the horse should have won – this Listed Race presented a pretty sorry spectacle, because the riders were only barely riding out hands and heels.
Get rid of the whip, if you want to see a lot more of the same half-hearted fare.
Very good article in today’s Irish Indo (excellent racing coverage in the Saturday edition every week) from Richie Foristal.
Quotes include
In the language of the day, if Irish Racing Inc were a financial institution or a sovereign economic state, on Monday every ratings agency worth its salt would have downgraded its status to junk.
O’Grady, who is based in Tipperary, told the sitting panel that the horse had run far better than expected and that he had instructed Mangan not to hit him. The stewards accepted this, leaving seasoned race-watchers wondering why they had bothered holding an inquiry at all.
To be quite honest, the book of evidence that you could level at the incompetence of Irish race-day stewarding is becoming exhaustive, but it’s about far more than simply bad decisions.
The crux of it all, and what undermines punters’ faith in Irish racing to an increasing degree, is that a cabal of untouchables are being given free rein to do as they like without any recourse to the rules of the game.
It’s a shocking indictment of the game in this country that plays no small part in the ever-shrinking pool of money that is being wagered on it, despite overall sports betting figures continuing to rise.
Completely agree with him and have done for a long time.
Full article here
http://www.independent.ie/sport/horse-r … 29410.html- Total Posts 17716
Thank you
Cav
. Good, factual analysis of the race from Mr Forristal – and the significance of the upcoming Galway Hurdle is hard to ignore. He also points to the difficulty caused by the failure to resort to the whip.
I think Forristal rather underplays the importance of the Turf Club’s full enquiry into the race, but we’ll see what they have to say about it, and what – if anything – they choose to do about it.
Meanwhile it’s certainly a high-profile race which ought to give the anti-whip brigade pause for serious thought. "No whip" equals "cheat’s charter"? Whatever the rights and wrongs of this particular case, it’s not a pleasant thought.
It seems to me a case of double standards from the Turf Club. Surely what they want in a perfect world is to ride a horse to it’s best possible position without the whip, or at least with a limited use of the whip.
This is what Mangan gave The Real Article in the race in question. If the turf club think that Mangan did something wrong then should the whip be banned completely or is whipping an horse exceptable. What about racing’s impression to new members who think whipping a horse is barbaric. Not good.
The whole affair stinks and puts me off Irish racing. I love the game and would have defended to the hilt in the past but events like this have succeeded in breaking my faith.
- Total Posts 17716
The whole affair stinks and puts me off Irish racing. I love the game and would have defended to the hilt in the past but events like this have succeeded in breaking my faith.
Interesting day for Ireland – this curious decision from the Turf Club, and then to top it all the Vatican withdraw their Ambassador from Dublin. No wonder
Imperial Call
talks of having his faith broken, one way and another. Quare times, Pip, quare times!
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