Start Of An Era

There will come a time when gender is irrelevant when it comes to jockeys. People will look back and shake their heads at how dumb prejudices about female riders weren't just tolerated but widely accepted as fact. The story of that change is going to fascinate countless generations. And since Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh are fundamental to the tale it means their place in racing history is assured.

It's been said that the desire to be like men shows a lack of ambition. But the scale of the pioneering achievements of these sisters-in-law can be gauged by how seamlessly they blended into a crowd of men. Once upon a time identifying a female rider in a race was routinely regarded simply spotting the floppiest style. That time is long gone. It's some legacy to leave.

Both women haven't been alone in changing such stereotypes. Cathy Gannon was a champion apprentice on the flat. But there was at least some international precedent on the flat. Women riding over jumps still had to tolerate more than a bit of 'National Velvet' condescension.

No one watching Carberry and Walsh over more than a decade could dare pursue such a line and presume to be taken seriously. Both have competed against their male colleagues over the most fearsome obstacles at the highest level and their sex has been irrelevant.

Either could have turned professional any time they wanted and prospered. That they stayed amateur simply proves how being a top part-timer is a full time job in Ireland.

The legacy of their impact is already obvious in the flourishing professional career Rachael Blackmore is carving out. It's only stating fact to point out how that wouldn't be happening without Carberry and Walsh altering so many perceptions over so many years. Countless others are going to experience the benefits of their efforts. And they will owe these two woman a special debt.

That they both managed to bow out on their own terms at the grand stage that is the Punchestown festival proved once again how impeccable their timing was.

Nevertheless it says something for how dramatic the 2018 festival was that they could retire, Willie Mullins run riot, Samcro take a fall and still the most lingering memory of all will be Paul Townend's "brain-freeze" on Al Boum Photo. It's an incident that must rank as one of the most remarkable ever seen on a racecourse.

Townend is a very lucky man. That violent swerve which carried out Finian's Oscar could have been disastrous for both man and beast. It was only good fortune all emerged unscathed.

He's also lucky to have got a 21 day suspension. Dangerous riding offences can be penalised by up to 50 days. Suggestions that Townend was hard done by, and that what he did was simply careless riding, are hard to fathom.

No one can argue there was intent in Townend's actions. But he was penalised under Rule 214 which describes dangerous riding as "riding in a way which is far below that of a competent and careful rider and where it would be obvious to such a competent and careful rider that riding in that way was likely to endanger the safety of another horse or rider."

An adolescent amateur doing the same as Townend did would fulfil that criteria. That a top professional at the peak of his career, a former champion jockey, could pull off such a cack-handed manoeuvre when there were no obstacles or signs of any sort on or near the fence was incredible.

And there's no contradiction in acknowledging it was human error while also pointing out he was a very lucky man not to get the book thrown at him.

It's important to learn from mistakes then there are plenty lessons from the aftermath of Townend's clanger. The most obvious is that if there's an information vacuum then all sorts of wild conjecture will fill it. And in this day and age racing's reflex instinct to treat the betting and sporting public like mushrooms by keeping them in the dark is simply unacceptable.

In an ideal world Townend would have had to resolve to immediately hold his hands up and explain he thought he'd heard a shout to bypass the fence. In the circumstances it's understandable enough he chose to skip that chore. But for the stewards to issue a report outlining the bare minimum with no explanatory details of the evidence given was an inevitable green light to all kinds of speculation.

Their rationale was that Townend was upset and that's an admirable instinct in one sense. But there were wider factors here and it came off as racing once again circling the wagons, protecting 'one of our own' and treating as irrelevant the interests of the betting public who just happen to subsidise the show. It all reeked of an unfortunate complacency.

One significant fallout from the incident is that it prevented Willie Mullins reaching €6 million in prizemoney for the season. He came up just short on €5,968,275 and the Al Boum Photo incident looked crucial in terms of passing the six million mark.

Having started the week over half a million behind Gordon Elliott, Mullins's record breaking 17 festival winners, and Grade One domination, meant he secured over €1.7 million during the five days. Ultimately what everyone thought would be a close call turned into rout and Mullins won by €809,524. They're mind-boggling figures and another indicator of how exceptional an era racing is enjoying here.

The Punchestown festival itself is enjoying an exceptional time with Saturday's modern day record crowd of 35,948 bringing the attendance total to 127,489. That's up 4,932 on last year and it was interesting to note once again how much was made of the crowd figures even though racing generally treats such figures as trivial when it suits!

Also interesting is how the biggest crowds are on the final two days even though much of the best racing is on the first three. The net result is that the biggest races are run in front of the smallest crowds. That doesn't feel right but it does correspond to the pattern of how quality is largely irrelevant to general public appeal in Ireland.

But a free day on Sunday due to Gowran's cancellation only makes reluctance to move the festival forward a day to run from Wednesday to Sunday all the more puzzling. The rationale appears to be that the corporate sector prefer to schmooze on weekdays and presumably their 'spend' is greater than the rest of us. But from most other points of view it seems a no-brainer.

Finally, there's reluctance to treat it as any kind of 'Eureka' moment but last week's Anti-Doping Task Force meeting apparently may have come up with a possible route to a protocol that allows drug-testing throughout racing - including the breeding sector.

Everyone's tip-toeing for fear of bruised sensitivities. But I understand the central problem of jurisdiction could be solved through a Service Level Agreement process by which legislation is processed to give Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board officials similar powers to enter premises as Department of Agriculture officials.

What's more it appears all parties are prepared to get on board such a proposal. If this tortuous process can come to a satisfactory conclusion it will surely be a win-win all-round. And Colm Gaynor, the Task Force chairman brought in to try and bring this to a resolution, will surely be entitled to promotion to Admiral of the Fleet!