Not all stewarding decisions actually makes sense There have been some real head-scratching decisions made by racing authorities of late. The BHA stewards' decision to deem Benvenuto Cellini a non-runner after finishing tenth in the Epsom Derby trumps them all, though no doubt, there will still be one or two at their headquarters in Holborn Gate trying to convince themselves that the colt's victory in the Irish Classic on Sunday vindicates them. In reality the starting stall incident at Epsom had close to zero to do with Benvenuto Cellini's below par run and back on home soil, racing on a sounder surface at the Curragh with his stablemates to aim at, he produced his true form on Sunday. The Foley Suspension The decision of the Naas stewards to give jockey Shane Foley a nine day suspension last week for 'improper riding,' is another somewhat baffling decision to understand. I'm not actually convinced Foley did a whole lot wrong, but once the stewards had determined that the rider "had intentionally interfered with White Sand Beach and as such was in breach of Rule 214 in that he had ridden improperly" it should have followed that his mount Moonlit Sun would be disqualified from first place, irrespective of the fact that the stewards determined that the horse did not improve her finishing position. The stewards are basically saying that Foley intentionally broke the rules, or in other words cheated, yet they issued no sanction against the horse he rode. Article highlights: The BHA deemed Benvenuto Cellini a non-runner at Epsom; he then won the Irish Classic at the Curragh. Shane Foley was suspended for intentional interference, yet his mount faced no disqualification. Christophe Soumillon was sanctioned for team tactics at Ascot, but trainer Aidan O'Brien was not. Seamie Heffernan received twice the ban for trying to win a race compared to stopping a horse from winning. The Soumillon Ruling Similarly, when the Ascot stewards sanctioned jockey Christophe Soumillon for riding to 'team tactics' aboard Puerto Rico in the St James's Palace Stakes, why did they not also sanction the team, in particular the team captain, trainer Aidan O'Brien? Surely if the stewards thought Soumillon had followed team orders by moving off the bend entering the home straight to facilitate another O'Brien-trained runner, they should have also sanctioned the trainer who is ultimately responsible for issuing those orders. Anyway, however odd their original decision was, it was nothing compared to the 'nonsense' excuse offered by Soumillon at last week's Appeal. The jockey who considered the original BHA charge of riding to team tactics as nonsense, claimed to have seen a group of "probably 50 kids" near the inside rail when he walked the track earlier in the day and that prompted his decision to come wide into the straight. Is that really the best he could come up with? Bans That Don't Add Up Another pair of stewarding decisions from the last fortnight are worth highlighting. They relate to the lengths of bans handed down to jockeys for different offences. Jockey Seamie Heffernan picked up: 14 days suspension for not trying on a horse in Ireland 28 days in Britain for trying too hard on a winner Many within the industry have been critical of the severity of the British whip rules, but when a jockey can get twice as long of a suspension for trying to win a race compared to stopping a horse from winning, there has to be something wrong. The Arc Debate Another racing authority decision coming in for flak recently is France Galop, who have announced that they intend to change the rules to allow geldings to participate in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe from next season. The Prix de l'Arc is a race that doesn't appear to need tinkering with. It is Europe's richest horse race, has a perfect position in the calendar, attracts most of the best middle distance horses from around the world each year, and it is consistently ranked one of the world's best races. Allowing geldings to compete is unlikely to make any significant difference to the race most of the time. There are very few middle-distance geldings capable of competing at this high level, yet the decision to allow them to take part has drawn criticism from some racing purists. The catalyst for this change most likely stems from the fact that the highest rated horse in the world last year was a gelding, the French-trained Calandagan. I for one don't see a problem letting a horse like Calandagan line up in the Arc. His presence would only add to the quality of the field. Why shouldn't one of the best races in the world include all of the very best horses? No doubt this news that geldings will be allowed to compete in a €5 million flat race will have filtered down to the jumps fraternity, in particular Willie Mullins who loves to have a shot at big pots on the flat, but in all truth I don't think too many jumpers would be up to the level of running in an Arc — that is of course unless the ground came up bottomless. New Video Replays on Irishracing.com Changing the subject, for close on twenty years I have wanted to have video replays on irishracing.com, but the issue has always been the prohibited cost of buying in the content. Irishracing.com operates on tight margins in order to keep all the content free to view and without switching to a subscription model the sums never quite added up. However, now thanks to the considerable assistance of William Hill we are finally in a position to add video replays for all Irish races and the majority of UK races to our website. The video replays will add greatly to the primary use of the website as a tool for form study, while also helping to enhance our news and results sections. Here's what to expect: Videos available within 30 minutes of a race finishing Links on the main menus to view the latest replays Play buttons added to all race results pages Back-filled coverage of the last two years' worth of race results The Jockey Angle Podcast Along with the race replays on the website we also intend to produce a new weekly podcast show in association with William Hill. This show, titled Jockey Angle and presented by Paddy Flood, will be published each Tuesday on the website, YouTube and our various social media accounts. The Jockey Angle show will focus on significant incidents that occurred during races from the previous week with Paddy analysing what took place by giving his expert opinion as a former professional jockey. I sincerely hope that all this new content will enhance your enjoyment of following the sport with us on irishracing.com.
