Paddy Flood - 'If it was Sean O'Keeffe putting Philip Byrnes out, he probably wouldn't get 21 days' Jockey Philip Byrnes found himself in hot water once again last week following his ride aboard Marian Avenue at Limerick. The pair had passed the post in front but were subsequently disqualified as rider Byrnes had been adjudged to have ridden dangerously and was handed a 21-day ban. The incident occurred a year to the day from the infamous Redwood Queen final flight unseat at Wexford where Byrnes was accused of deliberately jumping off his mount. However, on that occasion, the IHRB panel found no proof that the unseat was deliberate and cleared Byrnes of any wrongdoing. What happened at Limerick? Trained by his father Charles, Marian Avenue was sent off the gambled-on 11-8 favourite in the handicap hurdle over an extended two miles and three furlongs. The six-year-old gelding led into the straight before veering left under Byrnes approaching the second last flight. This caused significant interference to the Danny Mullins-ridden Qaasid and in turn carried out Sean O'Keeffe aboard Friar Hogan. Qaasid finished a length and quarter behind Marian Avenue and was promoted to first place following the disqualification. Paddy Flood’s Analysis On this week’s episode of the Irish Angle, former jockey turned coach, Paddy Flood, gave an insightful analysis of the incident: “It didn't look great and the outcome could have been a lot worse if Sean didn't take the initiative and actually pull out by the wing, because he would have crashed into it. “I do have a little bit of sympathy here for Philip Byrnes. You'll see jockeys doing what he did a lot of times. “My opinion is that Philip was trying to get a lead off the horse in front of him and probably wasn't going well enough to take him as far as he wanted. “I think he felt Danny Mullins coming on his outside, and we all know Danny rides very, very wide anyway. He's not your normal sort of jockey, he does take strange paths every now and again. “I would think Philip probably brought his horse out so Danny could carry him further. And I'm 100% sure in my own mind that he wouldn't have known that Sean O'Keeffe was there. “If you're wider than Danny, you're probably too wide anyway. But it was far enough before the hurdle that Sean could take out, which would suggest that Sean knew he was probably a bit too wide at the time.” Harsh punishment for Byrnes Flood believes the suspension, along with some media commentary, has been too severe and continued: “I heard on Nick Luck's podcast on Sunday morning, I don't know who made the comment - someone said he was lucky to get out of the way alive. I think that's a bit harsh, and if his second name wasn't Byrnes, we wouldn't be getting our backs up as much. “When I heard it, straight away the first thing I thought was, "Oh jeez, here we go again, Philip Byrnes, a gambled-on horse and will do anything to win." But I have a little bit of sympathy for him. “If you watch enough jump racing, if lads are in front and a horse is starting to come to them, as long as they can take that horse's path in Irish racing - if they're a length up - it's not cheating in a way, but you're trying to intimidate the horse so it doesn't run over the top of you. “You're trying to get that horse to think for a second so you can get to the line first. And I think that's what Philip was trying to do. “I don't think he deliberately tried to put Sean O'Keeffe out through the wing. I think he did his best to intimidate Danny Mullins, not knowing Sean O'Keeffe was there. “Look, 21 days is harsh, it's a big suspension. I do think if it was Sean O'Keeffe putting Philip Byrnes out, he probably wouldn't get 21 days.” Watch the Irish Angle in full
