Keep Cool & Carry On

Once a group of jockeys decided the track at Ballinrobe last Monday was unsafe, and no remedial measures would work, then the meeting was always going to be cancelled. That's as it should be. It's easy to be brave on the sidelines. No one can insist on jockeys riding in such circumstances. But they were circumstances that meant questions about the future of flat racing at the Co. Mayo track were only logical. The result is a summit of interested parties today where the most likely outcome will be to keep cool and carry on as before.

The Irish Jockeys Association, the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, Horse Racing Ireland, the Association of Irish Racecourses and the Trainers Association meeting at Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board headquarters to discuss the future of flat racing at Ballinrobe illustrates how events can gather their own momentum.

It's interesting to ponder if the riders who went into the Ballinrobe stewards fully considered the implications. Certainly any suggestion that by describing the surface as unsafe, and with no remedial work likely to change it, they couldn't anticipate the card being abandoned stretches credulity. There was no other course action to the stewards. That was obvious to everyone.

Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer staunchly maintained his satisfaction with the track and no doubt his forthright post-enquiry comments left some in the IHRB hierarchy less than impressed. But he was being rational in the implications of what had transpired. If the track was officially race-worthy and the jockeys riding it disagreed then that's a fundamental dilemma that needs addressing.

The events look to have left the Jockeys Association fire-fighting. Some high-profile riders approached the stewards. Others didn't. As is the way, plenty of people have developed off-the-record muscles yet are reluctant to publicly flex their unease with the way things unfolded. Some apparently were perfectly willing to race on. So it's safe to say there was hardly a united front in the jockey's room on this.

That means a face saving fudge probably has to be found because there are wider longer term ramifications to this.

It's fair to say that Ballinrobe isn't a favourite among jockeys generally. It's tight, sharp and places an onus on scraping the paint. But if question-marks are placed over the future of flat racing there then what does that mean for other tracks such as Clonmel or Tramore which might be argued are even more challenging when it comes to riding the flat.

In fact it's actually presumptuous to believe a satisfactory fudge will be found. There's no flat racing anymore at Wexford. Or Downpatrick. Or Punchestown. Or Thurles. There are those in the game who insist flat racing shouldn't take place at such courses at all. And in purist terms they might have a point. But it's a point that in Britain would have Epsom blown up and Chester reduced to rubble.

Small country tracks in Ireland serve a function. They might not always be perfect racing environments but in terms of enthusiasm and enterprise they often put the more fashionable to shame. And with the amount of media rights revenue being generated they are lucrative enterprises with a lot of people and organisations having a stake in them.

I have heard a few suggestions as to how a scenario like the Ballinrobe one could be avoided in future. For instance at least one senior flat rider might be required to walk the course before racing starts and suggest changes where necessary in a timely manner. But it's easy to imagine how, like last Monday, problems emerge when horses actually gallop on it.

Then there's a view that a secret ballot of riders could be made in circumstances similar to last week when some jockeys were reportedly prepared to ride on. But the logistics of replacing those who vote not to ride with other suitable jockeys is an obvious problem. And there's always the issue of when voluntary becomes obligatory.

Most importantly it seems both obvious and vital that jockeys speak with one voice when it comes to their own safety.

The specific issues of last Monday happened in an overall context where, rightly or wrongly, the perception exists that some riders aren't particularly enamoured at riding some of the smaller tracks. Which automatically raises the question - and even allowing for professional commitments - would it not be easier for all concerned if they just didn't?

Ultimately this looks an issue to be sorted out by jockeys as a professional group. The welfare of those competing out on the track is paramount. When riders say something isn't safe that's it. But a procedure that allows representative concerns be expressed and processed more satisfactorily in future is surely not beyond the wit of the Jockeys Association.

On other jockey matters it was noticeable last week how the season's leading rider, Donnacha O'Brien had a seven day ban imposed at Galway for attempting to weigh out without any harness attachment on his back protector reduced to five days on appeal.

The appeals body chaired by Justice Tony Hunt heard evidence from both Donnacha and Aidan O'Brien and considered the recommended penalty structure used by race day stewards. They established the Galway panel was "perfectly correct in their application of the penalty structure." So you would imagine it should be a straightforward case of the penalty standing.

Except on consideration the appeal body accepted the breach had occurred as a result of genuine error and without intention to cheat the weigh out system which no doubt is correct.

They also suggested a review of the ability to take account of factors "such as an intention to cheat on weight, inadvertence, and whether the attempt to weigh out involved an absent or unapproved body protector or, as in this case, a missing crotch strap when imposing penalty." In other words race day stewards need to look into the hearts of those before them and establish intent.

In this particular case they appear to have decided O'Brien should get his penalty reduced by a couple of days basically because he said it was a genuine mistake. That's almost certainly the case but also should be irrelevant. This is the regulatory equivalent of being caught by the traffic police not wearing a seat belt but arguing you hadn't meant it so should get a lesser penalty as a result.

A certain degree of discretion is important when it comes to those charged with regulation. Perhaps even more important is consistency. And asking officials to prove intent in such circumstances is surely asking too much.

It's six years since Frankel put up his most impressive winning performance in York's Juddmonte International and nine years since Sea The Stars had his most unimpressive. Such anniversaries inevitably provoke wonderfully futile theoretical games of 'what if' the two outstanding talents of modern times ever clashed: basically a big game of G-O-A-T, or greatest of all time.

That Brigadier Gerard - another contender for that un-provable title - met his sole defeat in the York highlight just shows how much of a championship event the race has become. It's at the height of the season, over a mile and a quarter, usually on decent ground, and over a track that rarely produces hard-luck stories.

This week's renewal doesn't look to contain such an exceptional performer but looking at the overall complexion of the three year old crop against their elders, Poets Word looks a worthy favourite. Considering how the King George unfolded he did very well to win at Ascot.

As for Sea The Stars V Frankel over a mile and a quarter at York on fast ground, there's surely no betting - all Sea The Stars ever needed was a good lead horse to show how much he really had in the locker!