Decisive action from the racing authorities is welcomed Last week Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced details of the new management team that themselves and the Moloney family have put in place to run Thurles on a temporary basis until the end of the current jumping season. In Peter Roe and Jessica Cahalan they have two people with plenty of experience in this area which bodes well for a smooth transition. In addition to the new personnel at Thurles, the release of the 2026 fixture list last week included an interesting footnote in relation to the Co. Tipperary track. "The 2026 fixture list includes a condensed National Hunt season at Thurles racecourse to allow for more prudent ground preparation — moving one fixture from mid-March into late January, and two fixtures in October to November and December." With the ongoing issue at Thurles with the lack of a watering system, this is a welcome move. The last thing that Thurles needs is problems with inconsistent ground at the course and moving some of their fixtures away from the potentially drier months is a good idea. British rule changes impact Irish racing success Plenty of Irish racing fans have been irked by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announcement last week that they have brought in a new rule to prevent horses lacking jumping experience from competing in Grade 1 novice and juvenile hurdles. This rule change means that jumping newcomers, like 2025 Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros, will be prohibited from competing at Grade 1 level on debut and many on social media have seen this as another direct attempt by the British authorities to curtail the success of Irish-trained runners at the Cheltenham Festival. Willie Mullins ran three juveniles with no previous racecourse experience over hurdles in last season's Triumph Hurdle and went on to win it with one of them, Poniros. I am of the opinion that this rule change should have been in force all along. The sport was leaving itself wide open to a potential mess if there was a serious incident in a race such as the Triumph Hurdle, with the world watching at a fixture as high profile for the sport as Gold Cup day at Cheltenham. Article highlights: The BHA has introduced rules preventing jumping newcomers from competing in Grade 1 novice and juvenile hurdles Horses like Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros would now be prohibited from Grade 1 debut Sean Bowen has gone 384 races without a fall or unseat - an extraordinary safety record Authorities should study Bowen's techniques to improve safety for both horses and riders Safety concerns in juvenile hurdle races Aside from trainers like Willie Mullins, who are obviously more than capable of having their horses well-schooled in advance of a jumping debut, we do often see early season juvenile hurdle races run in Ireland with clueless three-year-olds putting themselves and their riders at risk with sketchy jumping. In the early part of my career as a journalist I spent much of my time in the jockeys' room at race meetings gathering riding arrangements for the following day's race cards to be published in newspapers and on many occasions I witnessed the dread of riders ahead of those early season juvenile hurdle races. One prominent trainer back in those days refused to school his three-year-olds at home prior to their jumping debuts, I think it was related to his horses only being insured if they were injured while competing in a race. Any rider booked to partner one of his horses having its first outing over jumps would be ashen-faced in the jockeys' changing rooms with the prospect of what lay ahead of them. With that in mind, I have always felt it would be a positive step if horses in maiden races over jumps were required to pop a practice obstacle on the way to the start. It would give the jockey a chance to assess the ability of their mount to jump, get the horse's eye in for the job in hand and give punters an extra layer of information to help them make an informed decision. Sean Bowen's remarkable safety record On the subject of Jump jockeys, we are all well aware of the dangers they face on a daily basis. These jockeys suffer a fall on average once in every 25 races they ride in. 1 in every 6 of those falls results in an injury. When you look at those stats it is truly remarkable to see the run that Sean Bowen is on at the moment in the UK. The Champion Jockey has ridden in 384 races without a single fall or unseat. The last time he hit the deck in a race was back on 22nd March when he was unseated in a handicap chase at Bangor. It is actually 483 races since a horse he was riding fell. I really don't want to jinx him, but his current streak is a complete outlier and the sport needs to examine what he is actually doing that is so different from everyone else? I have often heard it said that the likes of Ruby Walsh, Jack Kennedy and other top jockeys like Sean are even more prone to injury by the nature of invariably riding contenders which tend to be flat out in the latter stages of races when jumping errors are more likely to occur. That certainly has a ring of truth to it, but Sean Bowen blows that theory out of the water. Bowen has a 27% strike rate so far this season in Britain and has not been overly selective in choosing his mounts. He has ridden for 43 different trainers on 116 different horses in over 300 races at 18 racecourses this season, but not a single fall. This phenomenal record in the saddle requires detailed study by the relevant authorities to determine the key to his success. Not only could this help reduce the number of injuries sustained by other jockeys, but also bring down the number of injuries and fatalities suffered by horses. If the horses and riders are not falling, they are far less likely to be breaking bones.
