Gaping holes in the policing of Irish racing were exposed when the off-course bookmakers met the Turf Club on Tuesday to discuss ways of improving integrity and express their concerns at aspects of the present system. The bookmakers raised a series of points on matters associated with the betting ring only to be told that none of this was anything to do with the Turf Club, even though it is the body responsible for racing’s integrity.
When the Club lost many of its powers to a semi-state body (originally the Irish Horseracing Authority and now Horse Racing Ireland) in return for massive government funding, it was forced to surrender control over betting aspects. As most dishonesty in racing has a financial motive this was akin to telling the Gardai to arrest lawbreakers without allowing them to question the suspects.
If it believes that something suspicious is going on, the Turf Club has to ask HRI for the betting details but, because of bookmaker confidentiality, it is only told what bets were placed and never who placed them.
Several of the bookmakers present on Tuesday offered to supply the Turf Club direct but they represented the off-course industry. The on-course ones deal only with HRI.
This unsatisfactory situation has been highlighted by last week’s allegations of race-fixing in Britain. The betting public will take some convincing that Irish racing is squeaky clean when the controls are so obviously deficient. What is needed is a small but skilled team with sufficient teeth to dig wherever it feels necessary, and that team should come under one authority.
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Hopefully sports minister John Donoghue, who was sufficiently concerned to hit out at a controversial race at Cork last month, will tackle the issue and push through the necessary legislation
Alayan still on waiting list
A notable absentee from today’s big race is Alayan. He was due to run in the Prix du Jockey-Club until he started coughing a few days before that race and the plan then was the Irish Derby. John Oxx reports that he had to give the colt more time and it will be August before he runs again. He was beaten only a short head by Fracas in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial so he would have had an each-way chance this afternoon.
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Stable companion Ehsan will also not run until August. He was ruled out of Epsom after managing only fifth in the Gallinule Stakes when Oxx felt that the colt was not suited by making the running. He felt Ehsan needed more time to mature and now says the horse will do well in the autumn
Hills’ rivals open bidding
William Hill has received four different approaches from Irish bookmakers wanting to buy some or all of the 55 betting shops in the Republic, plus 33 in Northern Ireland, that it bought from Stanley Racing. Spokesman David Hood says: ‘There are no plans to sell them at the moment,’ but some of the bigger names in the industry believe they will do so sooner or later.
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They believe the British firm does not realise how competitive the Irish market is. In addition the Stanley shops are unionised whereas the majority of those in the Republic are not. This is considered a big hindrance to profitability
Banasan goes west again
Michael O’Brien, who won the Galway Plate with Dovaly five years ago, will run both Banasan and Wrapitup in the Ballybrit chase. Banasan started favourite for last year’s race and finished a close-up sixth. He went on to win the Kerry National and he runs on the Flat at The Curragh today, while Wrapitup has been absent since the Galway September meeting. This month’s easy Tralee winner High Priestess, fifth in last weekend’s Ulster Derby, will represent O ’Brien in the Galway Hurdle, as will Social Order who returned from an 17-month absence to run in an amateur Flat race at Leopardstown 11 days ago
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Distance learning brings results
Racegoers might be surprised to learn that judges no longer measure the distances between the placed horses by hand. They are now calculated by time on a laptop using a basic formula of four lengths per second on the Flat and five lengths for races under National Hunt rules.
The computer operator is able to speed up or slow down the film to compensate for changes in distance and going. If the images of the horses on the screen are too short or too long, the operator must adjust the speed until they are the proper shape. Some judges say they miss the old method using the photo-finish strip and a protractor but the new method is more accurate and much quicker
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Eclipse beckons for Oratorio Oratorio, fourth in the 2,000 Guineas and runner-up in the Irish equivalent, looks likely to run in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday. Aidan O’Brien, who won the race with Giant’s Causeway in 2000 and Hawk Wing three years ago, said yesterday that he has a number of possibles, including Ace, but Oratorio is the most likely.