Reserve system not fit for purpose

There was nothing tragic about Carlingford Lough's 2013 Galway Plate success. But that history repeated itself with the reserve system before last week's Plate is farcical. Patricks Park's failure to overhaul Clarcam meant it wasn't a near-exact replication of five years ago. However it was close enough to highlight once more how the reserve system isn't fit for purpose when it comes to high-profile races. And that there's been no move to change it in half a decade is yet another signal to the betting public of how far down Irish racing's priority list it is.

It's certainly a kick in the teeth for those who think 48 hour declarations are a good way to sell the sport. The final shape of this Plate wasn't known until less than four hours before the race was off. That was when Patricks Park, the long-time ante-post favourite, got promoted from first reserve after one of his five stable companions in the field proper, Ballycasey, was declared a non-runner.

In 2013 a JP McManus owned horse, Like Your Style, was taken out which allowed the first reserve and widely quoted favourite, Carlingford Lough in the same ownership run. The reason given was a change in going to soft ground even though his two career wins at that stage had been on soft ground. His trainer memorably described that as "circumstantial more than anything."

A change in going was also given as the reason for Ballycasey's absence even though the official going description of "yielding" for the chase track applied at both final declaration time and race time. Ballycasey's career profile, which includes two runs in the Aintree National, has seen him win on various surfaces including more than once on both soft and heavy ground.

However Willie Mullins told the stewards "he felt that Ballycasey was suited by small fields of runners but competing on today's ground conditions with a large number of runners where he would encounter kickback was not suitable to him at this stage of his career."

Whether or not he was pitched the logical query as to why then he'd declared the horse in the first place isn't clear. The official report merely says Mullins's explanation was "noted" just as Harty's was half a decade ago.

Later the champion trainer responded to media questions by criticising the "rigmarole" around the process involved in taking Ballycasey out of the race, complaining about how it couldn't be done at the scales and instead involved ringing a phone number. Maybe he has a point in terms of detail but in big-picture terms it was a diversion from the point.

Because yet again we had a situation where the final field for the biggest, most valuable and most high-profile steeplechase of the summer wasn't known until three hours and forty minutes before it was due off.

And not only could it not be officially established if the long-time favourite from the most powerful stable in racing was actually in or out of such a major betting race until that time, we also had the sport's best known jockey, Ruby Walsh, getting off another runner to ride the promoted reserve: how big a chump would you feel if you'd backed Saturnas on the basis Walsh was riding it?

And what's most important here is that no rule was broken. Everything was by the book. But any part of a rule book that allows for such a scenario isn't fit for purpose.

That's not an argument for the reserve system to be scrapped. It has a purpose as was shown two races before the Plate when the big-race winning jockey Mark Enright rode the first leg of his mighty 1155/1 double on the promoted first-reserve, Rovetta. That was a mares handicap hurdle. The Galway Plate helps sell a sport. It should be sold a lot more transparently and straightforwardly than this.

And yes it is a tiny bit tragic that it's probably only a matter of time - maybe in another five years in another Galway Plate - that all this stuff will get to be aired once again.

As for the Plate outcome itself it was widely popular in terms of Enright's success if not Clarcam's 33-1 SP. A lot of us examining the race beforehand wouldn't have been tempted by 330-1 given how Gordon Elliott's handsome hero looked to be a light of past glories.

The odds on the Plate attendance actually decreasing on its first ever outing in an evening slot wouldn't have been as long although it was still disappointing to see the initiative fail to deliver. Instead of boosting the crowd the overall reported figure dropped under 17,000. The weather is always a mitigating factor in Ireland and Galway was unlucky in that regard for much of the week.

However rain in the west of Ireland is hardly unknown. Galway has pumped a lot of capital investment into facilities which puts roofs over racegoers heads. After a while explanations about weather get to start sounding like excuses.

In contrast Friday's attendance of 30,159 was the biggest of the week, eclipsing even Galway Hurdle day, something that not so long ago would have been felt to be near-impossible. Yes the weather improved and yes a different crowd descends on Galway for the Bank Holiday determined to go on the razzle. It's great they go racing. It's delusional to think most go for the actual racing.

Overall the Galway figures were down. Attendances reached 132,691 for the week, a slip from last year's 137,682 and which is put in context by how Punchestown's five day crowd figure last April was 127,489. On-course bookmaker betting continued its remorseless slide, down almost a million from last year to €6,340,530. And the Tote also tumbled almost a million to €5,298,536.

There was plenty of logistical drama on the course through the week although the most unsettling story of the week however was off it. The David Dunne trained Vodka Society was found in a racecourse stable described as being in a "deplorable condition" by an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board official on Friday.

The horse ran on Thursday and Dunne explained that arrangements to transport the horse home had fallen through so the horse was left at the racecourse overnight. The trainer stated he attended the horse at 8.00pm on Thursday evening and didn't return to the horse until 2.15pm the following afternoon.

The stewards also heard how a member of the stable yard personnel stated she observed the horse overnight but didn't have the authority to attend to its bedding or feeding needs which is the sole preserve of a trainer and their staff. An embarrassed Dunne was subsequently fined €1,500 in what is a sorry tale all round.

Quite rightly the stewards decided a horse left unsupervised and unattended for that time period was unacceptable. These animals are vulnerable to any kind of mishap, not to mention that they are entitled to professional care and attention, the least of which is surely that someone is regularly on hand to effectively keep an eye on them.

There's actually an indirect link here to the 24 hour notice element of the thoroughbred industry's new Anti-Doping policy. Some will no doubt claim this space is a one-string banjo on this. But if a day's notice is required to make sure someone's there to present horses to testers, a reasonable query might be who's carrying out duty of care obligations and keeping an eye on these animals?

Finally, and on a much lighter note, Dirk Diggler makes his debut at the Curragh today. The horse is named after the fictional and famously blessed porn star. Sad to report though that his two year old namesake has already suffered the unkindest cut of all. It's probably as well Dirk don't do irony.