‘Extraordinary Circumstances’ - Should Reserves Trigger Automatic Inquiries? irishracing.com editor Vincent Finegan has called for automatic inquiries to be introduced if a reserve horse wins a race. Speaking on irishracing.com’s Irish Angle show this week, the panel reacted to reserve Porsche Lad’s victory in the Now Racing Every Wednesday Dundalk Handicap last Wednesday (5.40). The Charles Byrnes charge replaced Giselles Defence who was withdrawn due to coughing. His trainer, Sean Davis was set to ride him in the race but ended up riding the winner for Byrnes. Porsche Lad was available at 4/1 when the market opened but was gambled into 6/4 before producing a victory. Punters Will Be Going ‘Hopping Mad’ Explaining the situation from a punter's point of view, Finegan said: “If you were going through some of the races thinking of having a bet, and you picked a horse out in the last race. You thought, ‘Ah yeah, fancy this, looks a fair price,’ or whatever it may be. You were looking at the ones you didn’t think had a chance against you, including the top horse carrying top weight, which is trained by Sean Davis. “Next thing, the Sean Davis horse is taken out because he’s coughing. The first reserve gets in, a Charles Byrnes horse which Sean Davis used to train. Sean Davis picks up the ride on the horse, then it gets gambled from 9/2 into 6/4 and wins by a neck. “The rider gets done for the whip for two separate offences as well, picking up a four-day suspension. “You’d be hopping mad if you backed something in that race in the morning and then saw that going on, wouldn’t you? I’m sure there’s nothing untoward with it; it just has the look of something that, from a punting point of view and from the general idea of saying, ‘Come watch Irish racing, come have a bet,’ is a little bit annoying.” Bookmakers Need To Factor Into Reserves “It’s an incredible set of circumstances,” added racing journalist Johnny Ward. “To be honest, I don’t really bet in the morning now. I don’t know what bookmakers’ general rules are regarding reserves, but if you get a horse trained by Charles Byrnes, who’s a 6/4 favourite, added into a race when you’ve had your bet in the morning, and you’re told that, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, if you back this horse at 10/1, just know there’s going to be a gamble on the Charles Byrnes 6/4 favourite,’ you wouldn’t want to have the bet. “This is an instance where bookmakers should factor in the ignorance of the reserve, because obviously there was a chance he was going to get in. “It’s an extraordinary set of circumstances that the trainer of another horse ends up riding him. I actually can’t remember this ever happening before. Maybe it has. “Sean is a promising young trainer. It took him a while to get going, but you can see in recent months that he’s going to train plenty of winners. He’s a shrewd enough operator, a very charismatic character. “It really brought through that this is the worse situation ever if you want to back a horse. You’re told ‘By the way, if the reserve gets in you have to pay a premium because that horse is a runner.’ What Needs To Be Done Finegan also added that something needs to be done to avoid a repeat of the scenes at Dundalk. He explained: “Look, I think there should be something in the sport. “They have rules about all sorts of things. There should be an automatic little inquiry into that, at least to tell the public who did their dough backing something else in the morning: ‘Look, we’re very sorry, but this is what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. There’s nothing untoward, and we move on.’ “But it just leaves a little bit of a bad taste in the mouth for someone who had a bet that morning, I would have thought.” Watch The Irish Angle In Full Or Listen On Spotify
