Pat Smullen © Photo Healy Racing
Just as nobody can ever be completely confident about what might happen in a steward's enquiry, so it is when the crap hits the courts. Nobody's panicking, and those in the know say it was all but inevitable, but with Britain's 'point of consumption' betting law referred to Europe, there is inevitable unease over possible implications for Ireland's new betting bill. Because in Europe big-picture considerations can wind up trumping the local: Just ask the Greeks.
Irish racing has been waiting a long time for the supposed promised land of tax revenue on off-shore and telephone betting, with the proposed legislation already having made a couple of detours to the EU. It is still set to come into practise at some stage this year and even though the actual forecast figures due to be raised by the new rules appear negligible compared to the hype surrounding them, there is a lot riding on it in terms of racing's long-term outlook.
What the English High Court's referral, after finding in favour of the Gibraltar Betting & Gaming Association last week, means is unclear but we're always assured the one thing big-business detests is uncertainty and it's hardly as if big bookmakers will be heartbroken if the EU's Court of Justice ultimately opts to focus on overall competition theory rather than how individual industries are funded. And then we will be into appeals territory which is always interminable.
The Irish reality for the foreseeable future is that racing's main financial player will continue to be government. But HRI's chief executive Brian Kavanagh is correct when pointing out the absurdity of paying out one rate of tax in a betting shop and a different one if stepping outside to bet on a phone. And it is important to get structures properly in place for the long-term because we are assured the betting shop is as endangered a species as the newspaper.
Last week's Department of Social Protection commissioned UCD research into gambling in this country argued it is only those in their 50's, and late 50's at that, who bet in shops. Anyone under 50 is much more likely to bet online, using smart-phones.
Whatever the ethics involved in online gaming, and the survey also argued that 40,000 people in Ireland can be described as gambling addicts, which in turn generates major questions around the issue of aggressive advertising, there's no escaping the conclusion that more and more will simply step outside the door to bet. Once there, if the means aren't in place to effectively tax them, then it is open season.
In comparison it hardly gets more small-picture than the matter of what sort of grub is served up to jockeys at racecourses, and for how much. It's the little things that can burrow under the skin however and riders here are clearly fed up - excuse the pun - with some tracks and their attitude to catering for those, without whom, the show really can't go on.
Personally I find it baffling that jockeys have to pay for anything. After all, officials, and even us parasitic media types, usually get fed and watered for nothing. And it's hard to believe jockeys are going to pack away more than us. The cost of serving up decent healthy grub such as fruit and salads for a necessarily limited number is hardly earth-shattering, far less surely than the potential for bad feeling over something so comparatively trivial.
Anyone who tells you the role of jockeys is overstated only has to be referenced Covert Love's Irish Oaks victory which leaves Pat Smullen needing only the 2,000 Guineas to complete his classic set in Ireland.
The top flat races are invariably a test of jockey judgement and the top riders invariably pass it a lot more often than not. What counts is not messing up when it counts and it is baffling that Smullen's continuing excellence in that regard isn't better recognised on the European stage. Ireland's champion jockey mightn't choose to indulge in profile-friendly showboating but he is at the peak of his career and this Oaks display was a master-class in judgement of pace.
It's not often you see a Group 1 winner sent out to ensure a furiously run race but that appeared to be the case with Together Forever. As she cut out fast fractions, the apparent Ballydoyle No.1 Words sat out the back. The problem was she stayed there and by the time they got to the furlong pole, Together Forever had shot her bolt.
It was Smullen who once again was in perfect position to pounce first and decisively. No doubt he had the filly to do the job. But giving her an optimum chance to do it was her jockey' job and once again Smullen delivered when it counted.
There appears to be some surprise at how Golden Horn is being targeted at the King George this weekend, the theory being that running in Britain's midsummer all-aged highlight automatically compromises a horse's Arc chances in October. It's certainly The French way to concentrate on the Arc. But it looks a no-brainer for Golden Horn to go down the hopelessly old-fashioned route of the Derby winner lining up at Ascot.
For one thing he's not even in the Arc. Golden Horn also loves fast ground and it is odds-against about that happening in Paris in the Autumn which is over two months away and he is in the form of his life now. And for a horse to be retired at the end of the season it is surely appropriate to pursue an ambitious policy.
We mightn't learn much ratings-wise about 2015's star three year old colt since he looks to tower over his likely opposition but the sight of a top runner lining up at the top of his powers at the peak of the season is one to warm hearts.
