'There's a strong basis for what they did' - Irish Angle team divided on Benvenuto Cellini The Benvenuto Cellini furore has divided racing like few other incidents in recent times. The splits in opinion are what we love about racing and they couldn’t be starker than those offered up by Paddy Flood and Johnny Ward on this week’s Irish Angle. While journalist Johnny Ward said: ‘I feel there's a strong basis for what they did,' former jockey Paddy Flood described it as ‘an absolute farce’. This stems from what stewards decided on Saturday when the Derby favourite, Benvenuto Cellini, got his near hind foot caught on the running board when the stalls opened. The son of Frankel finished the race, won by Christmas Day, but twenty minutes later was deemed a non-runner by stewards. Subsequently a Rule 4 was applied to all winning bets. The rule was introduced in 2024 driven by the incident with Harry Angel at Royal Ascot in 2018 when his foot was caught in the stalls and he lost many lengths at the start of the Diamond Jubilee. Where do we draw the line? Paddy Flood believes this sets a precedent for future races commenting on the frequency of these incidents in racing, he said: “Clearly the horse got his leg caught on the running rail, there's no doubt he did that. But how many horses do that a week? “There were only two cameras on the stalls, one on the favourite. Where was the other one? Are they going to put cameras in every stall every week? They've just opened such a can of worms here. “Aidan O’Brien didn't seem to come across like he knew anything was wrong. It didn't look like Ryan Moore was going to rattle the cages.” On the application of the Rule 4 he said: “It doesn't suit any bookmaker in Ireland or England. It doesn't really suit any punter either because you're getting money taken off a horse." Emma Nagle commented: “I don't think it's any fault of the stewards on the day because the rule is there - the rule reads as they have employed it. “If a horse's leg gets caught in the stalls before the mechanism has started, they can be declared a non-runner. “But Ryan Moore gave a shout as the stalls were opening. In my opinion, the existence of this rule seems ridiculous to me. This is the horse's fault. The horse was messing around in the stalls. “We saw him before he got into the stalls - he was sweating up, acting up a little bit down at the start, obviously a little bit agitated. “He didn't miss the start by 20 lengths. He came out upsides horses, ran his race, was put into the race." Vague rule Flood commented on the ambiguity of the rule: “If he finishes fourth, is he a non-runner? If he finishes second or third, is he a non-runner? If he wins, is he a non-runner? No. Where is the line with this rule? I don't like the rule. “I'd say they'll have to revisit it because it's open for jockeys to come in and say anything they want. The rule is really vague." By contrast, Johnny Ward feels the rule should have been applied and said: “I was all set to slate the BHA on this, but I'm actually not going to - on the basis of what happened in the stalls. “If we're getting really worked up about a Rule 4 in a horse race, we probably should be talking about more important things in life. “I met a fellow in the pub the other day who did a tricast in the race - the tricast came up, he hit 600 -1 or 200-1 or whatever and he's done with a Rule 4 on this. That is about as unlucky as it gets. “I feel if there was never any video evidence of what happened to the favourite, it would be the tree falling in the forest - it never happened because nobody was around to hear it. “But we do have the video evidence, and we know what happened, and we have Hector Crouch coming on Luck on Sunday and describing very importantly what happened from the jockey's perspective. “Benvenuto Cellini is by Frankel, and Frankel horses can be a little bit off their minds, the key point is that Ryan Moore did not want the stalls to open at the time. “In a split-second decision, Ryan wasn't happy, he wasn't ready, the jockeys hadn't given their all-clear, and in that split-second the stalls opened. “Based on that very important point, that Ryan wasn't happy and it happened before the stalls opened, I don't think it was the worst decision in the world. Jockey made it clear he wasn’t happy Ward went on to say: “Paddy is wrong to say punters didn't benefit from this. Everyone who backed the favourite got their money back, which is an incredible bonus if you backed the horse after declaration time. “Nobody would have felt they deserved money back, but that's just the way it worked out - those punters were lucky. “Bookmakers are absolutely not obliged to pay out the full result on Christmas Day because they have to honour all the non-runner bets on Benvenuto Cellini. “I feel there's a strong basis for what they did. Regardless of whether it was a 16-1 chance, a 25-1 chance, or the favourite in the Derby, the horse's jockey wasn't happy and made it known when the stalls opened. “A lot of people will be annoyed about it, but I can see why that decision was made.” Watch the Irish Angle in Full
