Jockeys heading to the parade ring at Punchestown during Covid© Photo Healy Racing
The IHRB issued reports last week on sanctions handed out to three more riders that had tested positive for cocaine. High profile cases such as Frankie Dettori or Oisin Murphy hit the headlines both inside and outside the sport but cocaine use is now so prevalent within society these days that another random jockey testing positive barely raises an eyebrow anymore.
In these recent IHRB cases one of the three riders was committing a third breach of the rules in respect to positive samples while for another this was his second time falling foul of the stewards having previously breached the rules by failing to submit to a doping control test which in itself says a lot about the extent of the issue.
An indication of how ingrained drug taking has become within Irish society was contained in a message issued by the Entertainment Committee of the Trinity Ball ahead of last Friday’s annual event. Rather than the obligatory ‘don’t take drugs’ they instead issued a guide to ‘safe drug taking’ and listed a variety of drugs including cocaine and how to use them without causing harm.
Back in my younger days jockeys like the rest of society used and abused alcohol but there has been a major shift in recent years and the IHRB data mirrors that change. No jockey riding in Ireland has failed an alcohol test for almost a decade whereas positive tests for cocaine are becoming more and more common.
The IHRB has taken it upon itself to try and rehabilitate the offenders which is a noble endeavour, but must be unsustainable going forward as the numbers of cases continue to rack up. Society has changed and drugs like cocaine are now readily available throughout rural Ireland as well as the cities and I’d imagine there will be many more incidents of jockeys failing dope tests in the future and I’m not certain the IHRB has the resources to offer adequate support to each individual rider that runs into trouble.
This week sees the conclusion to another memorable National Hunt season as Punchestown brings down the curtain for the jumping fraternity in front of packed stands. There have been many more highs than lows this season, but once again Rachael Blackmore has shone brightest on the biggest stages, winning both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup at Cheltenham in another brilliant season for the trailblazer.
No doubt, Rachael’s exploits will over time encourage new people into the industry and racing is relatively well set up to cater for young budding jockeys with facilities such as the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) and their proven pathway for apprentices to join racing yards.
On the other hand there is no such avenue currently available for anyone looking to become a racehorse trainer. Needing to rent or own stables and land is a significant barrier to entry for most with aspirations to emulate the likes of Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead.
With the amount of public money pumped into the industry each year you’d think that this barrier to entry could be eliminated to give some wannabe trainers a leg up at the start of their careers. Gordon Elliott is the only current top Irish National Hunt trainer that didn’t emerge from an established racing family. Not every budding trainer will have the same grit, determination and good fortune of Elliott, but that doesn’t mean that under the right circumstance that they too wouldn’t also make a go of it.
This week Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead will finish first, second and third respectively in the Trainers’ Championship for the sixth time in the last seven years and in the case of Mullins and Elliott it will be the tenth year in a row that they have filled the first two spots.
Another 12 victories across the week at Punchestown will see Mullins’ tally of winners for the season top 200 for the third time in his career and considering he trained 19 winners across the 5-day Festival last year it’ll be disappointing by his standards if he doesn’t achieve it.
I for one will be sad to see the end of this National Hunt season, but as always it will leave me with a real sense of excitement looking ahead to how it will all unfold again next season. I can’t wait to see the top bumper horses going over hurdles and the top novice hurdlers and chasers taking on the big guns in open company. This narrative that runs from season to season really does set the National Hunt side of the game apart from the Flat.
