No Blog this week

The use of the whip in horse racing is one of the most emotive topics, both inside and outside the sport. Within the sport there are two distinct schools of thought. Many see the whip issue as the sport’s Waterloo. Lose the battle to preserve the whip and the entire sport will start to crumble.

The Mazars report into financial irregularities at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) was finally published last week, some 16 months after it was first commissioned. Despite the long-drawn out process that got us to this point, it does finally give clarity on many aspects of the carryon at IHRB and helps us fill in some notable blanks when trying to decipher what actually happened.

Only once before in my lifetime can I recall hype around an American horse race to match the level we saw in the build up to last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.