Throwing Under The Bus

Metaphorically throwing people under the bus is a phrase with a lot of political currency at the moment. After all a scapegoat can be very convenient. In racing jockeys are the ones most vulnerable to the blame game and sometimes it's justified. However Liam Casey's successful appeal against 'Non-Trier' penalties imposed at Thurles earlier this month potentially opens up a route that could see quite a lot of jockeys ending up under a bus.

At Thurles Omega Springs was banned from racing for 42 days and his trainer, Casey, fined €2,000 under Rule 212. Jockey Danny Mullins was banned for five days. The penalties were appealed last Monday. Gordon Elliott's and Jack Kennedy's successful appeals over the Suitor case dominated headlines on the same day but it's the implications of the Omega Springs appeal which may prove more significant.

Mullins's appeal was thrown out but Casey, who had expressed satisfaction with his jockeys' ride at the original Thurles enquiry, had his penalties quashed by the Referrals Committee panel essentially on the basis that once the horse left for the start he, as trainer, was powerless to influence its performance.

In the literal sense that's just a statement of reality. It's a good trainer that can steer from the stands. In their summation the appeals panel found "that he had fulfilled his functions in that the horse was fit and well schooled." So in the circumstances of what occurred during the race Casey's appeal was allowed and the ban on Omega Springs lifted.

That's legitimate and proper in these specific circumstances but in coming to their decision the panel has effectively signposted an argument for every trainer or owner to make in future: just throw the hands up and say that they're powerless over what happens on the track. It worked in the Omega Springs case so why not in others.

The implementation of the new Rule 212 has been a rare success story for the Turf Club. It has transformed the 'Non Trier' process and introduced some much-needed regulatory teeth. After ten months one would have thought all concerned would be familiar with the new lie of the regulatory land which essentially has to be a package deal. But this outcome is a nod to the past and a worrying signal.

As for the Suitor case, the winning argument essentially boiled down to the authorities being unable to convince the appeals panel that Suitor would have been able to bridge the eighteen gap to the third horse in his race at Down Royal and so improve his position.

But if the rule requires a rider to be seen to make timely, real and substantial efforts to achieve the best possible place then what relevance does an opinion on the strength of Jack Kennedy's leg muscles, or a deceptively quiet style, have on the matter. Speculation as to where the horse might or might not have finished is irrelevant to the requirement to be seen to make a timely, real and substantial effort.

The former chief veterinary officer at the Department of Agriculture, Colm Gaynor, is the new chairman of the Anti-Doping Task Force reconvened to try and plot a course through the impasse over drug testing procedures on unlicensed premises and in relation to sales companies.

Many scoffed at the idea of attempting to find an 'independent' chairman with no link to major industry parties but Gaynor appears to fit the bill. He certainly boasts an impressive CV including being adjunct professor of veterinary public health at UCD.

Nevertheless he has an unenviable task trying to juggle the various agendas involved and in trying to lay some of the groundwork for the industry's stated aim of implementing a proper testing programme underpinned by effective traceability of every thoroughbred throughout its life.

However the scale of the ground that needs to be made up can be illustrated not by a rule the Turf Club hopes to have but what it already has. The widespread presumption is that the racing side, as distinct from the breeding end, is covered when it comes to testing - except of course where it isn't.

How sustainable is Turf Club Regulation 14 (7) which outlines how if a horse is to be tested away from a trainers yard or a racecourse, the Turf Club has to serve written notice of intent to test on the owner, requiring them to furnish them with a location at which the horse will be available to be tested. And the owner has five working days to respond.

This corner has criticised the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association over its position on notice ahead of drug testing but why shouldn't it try its luck when the Rules of Racing include this ludicrous regulation. Within five days - sorry, five working days - most equine systems will be well flushed of any medication that shouldn't be there.

And the culture of light touch regulation in relation to this matter can be gauged by how many industry professionals don't even seem to be aware of the rule. In such an atmosphere industry concerns about the practicality of policing any potential changes to the rules about reporting wind operations can hardly be dismissed as groundless.

Some of the jury may be out on whether or not Samcro is already jump racing's great white hope but he is a rare beast already in terms of the numbers of people who showed up at Navan just to see him first-hand. That he's physically a great slab of a horse will probably only add to the sense of excitement his talent and potential have already aroused.

Some may crab the form of his Monksfield Hurdle success but in terms of artistic impression it had to be ten out of ten. He jumped perfectly, quickened up beautifully and won with any amount in hand. With Davy Russell's recent commendation that he's as good a horse as we'll ever see thrown into the mix, and Sunday's rave reviews, Samcro really does fit the 'could be anything' bill.

What's different about him already is the focus he's already under. Even Douvan got to the end of his novice career before being engulfed in expectation. But Samcro has only had two starts over flights and is already being acclaimed as racing's next big thing. Perhaps we have to go back to Florida Pearl for a valid comparison in terms of the public buying into a horse at such an early stage. Exciting times lie ahead.