Arctic Fire winning at Fairyhouse© Photo Healy Racing
The bit of wind that briefly caused furrowed brows at the Winter Festival’s Sunday meeting was nothing compared to the gust of change apparently sweeping through Fairyhouse’s stewards room a day before. The talk at the front of the shop was about Grade 1’s: all anyone at the back could talk about was the sudden frenzy of policing vigour which saw two horses ‘done’ under the non-trier rules and a few other cases ‘noted.’
That four of the five enquiries concerned horses owned by JP McManus - the biggest of Irish jump racing’s big hitters - was lost on no one. So what was different?
Did the Turf Club’s spine donor finally come through? Was something slipped into the officials’ tea? Maybe Dirty Harry was on sabbatical to Ratoath? What the hell happened, we wondered, because there didn’t appear much very different going on from what goes on most other days of the week?
Everyone realises there are plenty who view a maiden hurdle or a Beginners Chase as little more than an exercise in getting a horse as leniently handicapped as possible. And before everybody gets too self-righteous about that, let’s not forget that pattern and conditions races are the preserve of a comparative few leaving handicaps as the only option for the majority of horses. That’s the system in place and owners, trainers and jockeys play to that system to various degrees.
And that reality is played out every day to various degrees: what isn’t evident every day is official willingness to call it and act accordingly. What was different at Fairyhouse was that the stewards on duty looked at what happened, concluded questions had to be asked, and in two cases acted under the regulations. And the general response has been widespread incredulity at officials actually doing what they’re supposed to.
There was little different going on out on the track. The difference was in the steward’s room. And the officials involved should be applauded for that. What will be immediately interesting is if ‘the inevitable appeal’ takes place and what support the Referrals Committee might provide. Will they surprise us or high tail it back to the comfort zone.
And in the longer-term, will this policing frenzy be a sustained wind of change or merely another blip on the disciplinary horizon?
Anyway such speculation gave the 4,873 Sunday crowd at Fairyhouse something else to talk about besides the wind, the cold and the rain, not to mention a trio of Grade 1 races that went very much to script with all three favourites winning. There was also that rather stark attendance figure — over 20 per cent down on 2014 - to discuss.
If the Curragh returned such a figure for a major flat card during the summer there would be some rather pious observations made about how more would turn up for a point to point. Well, this was the first major Grade 1 meeting of the jumps season and it wouldn’t be completely outlandish for a similar point to be made here.
Sure the weather wasn’t great in the morning but blaming Storm Clodagh for failing to attend such an attractive card is about as unconvincing as pinning a name like ‘Clodagh’ to a major meteorological event in the first place.
It was hard to know what to make of the atmosphere. There were occasions when it felt like everyone was standing for a minute’s silence.
Fairyhouse can be a tough place to generate atmosphere when it isn’t Easter and the Irish National and there’s a chance of some sunshine. But ultimately it comes down to people going to the effort of going racing. National Hunt fans pride themselves on being hardy. This was a very fine card. Are we really to believe a little wind got everyone shaking?
As for the action, he did no more than he was supposed to by winning the Hatton’s Grace with authority but for a horse with a paucity of his wins on his CV, and the inevitable suspicions that come with that, there was plenty to like about the way Arctic Fire did the job.
In two starts this season, he knuckled down to win the Lismullen when lacking sharpness and now has a maiden Grade 1 under his belt. Willie Mullins reckons there’s still plenty to work on too in terms of knocking the belly off him. After Faugheen’s first defeat, a progressive Arctic Fire looks a major Champion Hurdle player.
Whether Identity Thief is might be less clear but there’s something very likeable about Henry De Bromhead’s Fighting Fifth winner. To some eyes his jumping at Newcastle wasn’t particularly great overall, never mind the last flight clanger, but he kept on well and two and a half miles shouldn’t be an issue for him. Whatever about Cheltenham, maybe the Aintree Hurdle will ultimately prove to be a natural fit.
Any novice event over three miles should be a natural fit for No More Heroes. His Drinmore victory was all but faultless. It may be no harm to keep his stable companion Free Expression onside too despite him finishing only third. Once again he got checked at an important stage of a race. It will be interesting to see if he clashes with No More Heroes again.
The tax haul from offshore betting is reportedly set to make its €25 million target next year. There are different ways to view this. €25 million is simultaneously a massive amount of money and a pinprick. It depends on the context. In terms of overall state expenditure it is small change. For racing it is a substantial chunk but hardly the financial panacea it has been billed as in some quarters.
And it doesn’t change the reality that the €74 million in the big state pot ultimately remains at the discretion of the state which effectively means the relevant official at the Agriculture Department continues to get to feel very important indeed. Not much wind of change there then.
