Morphine was all the talk within racing circles this week. Traces of the banned substance have appeared in an alarming number of samples taken from winners in both Britain and Ireland over the last three weeks.
Investigations into the origin of the morphine are still at an early stage, but it appears that it will be traced to feed stuffs. Morphine occurs naturally in nature and is an addictive narcotic. It is used in medicine as an analgesic and sedative.
This is not a doping scandal in the true sense of it, but nevertheless any horse confirmed with a positive test will be disqualified. The Turf Club has a zero tolerance approach to banned substances.
Details of which trainers' horses have been found with traces of morphine are still under wraps, but it is rumoured that at least one high-profile winner in the last three weeks has tested positive.
The John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown on Sunday delivered as much as it had promised. The stage was set for both First Gold and Rince Ri to rekindle their Gold Cup aspirations and neither could be faulted on their return from injury.
Native Upmanship is a decent horse over 2m4f when on song, and was certainly that on Sunday. He never came off the bridle to win, but the aforementioned pair will have both pleased and relieved their connections with more than adequate displays.
First Gold and Rince Ri will improve considerably from the outing and when stepped up in trip at Christmas can book their places for Cheltenham in March.
The ride of the week must go to amateur Jamie Codd for his performance aboard Nearly A Moose on Saturday. The pair were over ten lengths clear when Nearly A Moose made a mess of the second last fence.
Codd was shot out of the saddle, but somehow managed to cling on as Nearly A Moose veered on to the Hurdle track. With both feet out of the irons he regained control of his mount as Killultagh Thunder swept past. Codd, bouncing in the saddle, negotiated the last and forced Nearly A Moose back in front close to the line for a memorable win.
The stewards have often been derided for punishing the 'small man' to the exclusion of higher profile figures within the industry, but nothing could have been further from the truth at Punchestown on Saturday.
Two of the biggest names in national hunt racing fell foul of the stewards at the Co. Kildare venue when adjudged to have used the racecourse as a schooling ground. Both Willie Mullins and Christy Roche were fined ?600 and their respective charges, Jasmin D'ourdairies and The Kop End, were banned from racing for 42 days. The riders of the two horses, Sam Curling (for Mullins) and Padraig Roche (for his father), were given 10-day suspensions.
The Novice Chase division looks particularly strong this season. Le Coudray and Beef Or Salmon have already displayed the level of ability over fences required to compete at Cheltenham next March and a seemingly endless stream of above average Hurdlers are joining them over fences.
The Horse And Jockey Beginners Chase at Thurles on Thursday was a case in point. Eleven of the sixteen runners boasted Hurdle ratings in excess of 100. The winner Jurado Express fell slightly short of that figure with a Hurdle mark of 93, but he made a most impressive debut over the larger obstacles, winning on the bridle from Galway Hurdle victor Say Again.
Jurado Express was Arthur Moore's only runner in the Thurles race from an original entry of twenty-five horses. A fact seemingly ignored by punters who allowed his charge to start virtually unbacked at 8/1 and pay almost 20/1 on the Tote.
Entries in recent times are often of encyclopaedic proportions, but twenty-five from one stable is something new for national hunt races. Martin Pipe does it in England and Aidan O'Brien has the trademark for it on the flat, but now Arthur Moore has set an expensive trend for his counterparts to follow.
The Government's finance budget was widely touted to include the abolition of tax-exempt status for stallion fees, but in true Irish style the issue managed to sweep itself under the carpet and was never mentioned in the Minister's speech last Wednesday.
