Alternative Facts

After an eventful week that conjured lots of comment, the most arresting statement came at the start. And it came from Brian Kavanagh, the Horse Racing Ireland chief executive, normally politic in his utterances but clearly feeling his oats on this occasion. On the release of HRI's half-year statistics he baldly declared "it is undeniable that prizemoney remains the crucial factor in attracting people into horse ownership." Well, I won't deny climate-change or global-warming but I'll have a good go at denying that.

I don't believe prizemoney is the crucial factor to owners getting involved in racing. I believe it might be important to the HRI agenda that it appears so. But that doesn't make it so.

What about the glory, the excitement and the thrills and spills that come with owning a racehorse. Or - to use the phrase neutered to within an inch of meaning by advertising jargon - the PASSION. Maybe the motivation is less aesthetic and more to do with getting an 'in.' Or maybe it's just pure punting. There's no one-size-fits-all factor in determining why people buy racehorses.

But if there's one general rule that does fit it is that if you're worrying about prizemoney financing your ownership habit then you really shouldn't have a racehorse in the first place. Prizemoney is a factor to major owners such as Michael O'Leary who has said he uses it to cover training costs. It's not what attracted him to spend millions in the first place though. And if you've millions to spare anyway then whether or not a handicap chase is worth ten or twelve grand is immaterial.

It might be in HRI's own interests to tie prizemoney to upward statistical trends. But if there's an increase in ownership it is principally due to a wider economic upsurge that puts more money in certain people's pockets rather than any direct link to prizemoney. It stretches plausibility to claim otherwise. Claiming it is the crucial factor in getting people to own racehorses is very deniable. But in a post-truth culture of alternative facts maybe the spin is to keep repeating until it is true.

And so to Kerry where it really is undeniable that people go to relax and get away from it all by sheltering from the rain. Except there wasn't much relaxing going on at Killarney's July festival.

The best outcome, and the only truly important one, is that Ana O'Brien is expected to make a full recovery from some horrific injuries sustained in Tuesday's fall. That the care and attention she received on-track was truly excellent is to the credit of all concerned. That the nearest available air-ambulance had to travel from Baldonnell near Dublin city says a lot about wider issues about public services in this country. But racing's systems and supports were faultless.

But trivial as it is in comparison, within the sport's environs there is the potential for quite a lot of fallout from Thursday's void race which is set to be the subject of an appeal from the owner of the 'winner,' Stars Over The Sea, later this week.

First up it must be said the Killarney stewards didn't take the easy option. That in itself is commendable when so often the instinctive reaction is to keep the head down and do nothing.

If they'd done nothing after Thursday's race there might have a bit of grumbling about the winner getting a flying start after being led in but probably no more than that. Instead the stewards took the initiative. That instinct is to be applauded. But maybe these weren't the circumstances to apply it.

A precedent has now been set for starting races which sets a standard that looks like being very difficult to consistently maintain. For instance what's to stop any disgruntled trainer or owner in future from marching into a stewards room after a ropey start and pointing to the Killarney race as back-up for their argument.

In May, for instance, Stars Over The Sea was reportedly left 20 lengths at the start of a race at Wexford. That was hardly fair either. Take a lot of maiden hurdles from October on when it really is a case of 'triers to the front' and any number of other horses 'out for a run' are skulking with intent out the back: how can fair starts meeting Killarney standards be reliably ensured in those circumstances.

In fact the more one looks at it, the more it seems a bag of worms has been opened. How is it possible to square the race being voided under Rule 10 - which doesn't seem to outline a scenario akin to Thursday's - with Rule 209 which states: "The starter's decision as to the fairness of a start shall be final." The starter, Joe Banahan, saw no reason to call them back. Yet he was overruled.

The senior stipendiary steward, Peter Matthews, was also quoted afterwards as saying "the winner got a flier and was a significant distance ahead of most of the runners to the first bend."

But watching on replay if Stars Over The Sea was two to three lengths ahead of the second by the first bend that looked about all he was ahead. And nothing in behind was exactly getting the head punched off it to make up ground.

It's also noteworthy that the race was the only flat contest on the Thursday card. Maybe it was too big a chore to send stalls for a single race. Except with stalls none of this would have occurred.

Ultimately perhaps any long-term impact will be that making allowances for horses unwilling to line up is infeasible. And maybe it shouldn't be feasible. The job of ensuring that large fields of horses - complete with riders following their own agendas - start roughly together is tricky enough with having to deliver special attention to certain individuals.

The more immediate impact however is that a standard has now been set which will be very tricky to maintain.

Finally as for the drone-attack on St Killenagh, and the indignation of some 'something has to be done' merchants, what precisely could the stewards have done with someone dumb enough to believe flying one of these contraptions around a parade ring full of horses is OK?

They had no powers to demand anything, either a name, a number or the drone itself. And even if they did, it still doesn't make it possible to legislate for stupidity. That's inevitable, wherever you go. And that really is undeniable.