For the last fortnight the country has been lashed with wind and rain of almost biblical proportions which resulted in the cancellation of seven race meetings in a row. Leopardstown bucked the trend on Sunday and staged a program of the highest quality.
The near unraceable heavy ground was bound to throw up a few shocks, but there was no fluke about the manner of Alexander Banquet's victory in the prestigious Hennessy Gold Cup.
Second in the race twelve months ago, when his stablemate Florida Pearl won a record equalling three-in-a-row, Alexander Banquet again had to play second fiddle to that rival in the betting ring. In the race itself he exploited his proven stamina and having fought his way into the lead off the home turn dispensed with both Rince Ri and Florida Pearl by the last fence. He then had enough in reserve to repel the strong finishing English raider Behrajan by 1 ? lengths at the line.
Alexander Banquet has shortened considerably in price for both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Aintree Grand National (now favourite), while the odds of both Rince Ri and Florida Pearl have gone in the opposite direction. Sackville, one time anti-post favourite for the Cheltenham showpiece, looked punch-drunk as he crawled over the final fence to finish tailed off and on this form will struggle to win again this season.
The opening juvenile Hurdle produced a terrific finish when Scolardy out-battled Newhall for a ? length victory. Ruby Walsh switched the winner to challenge after the second last flight, hampering the favourite Turtleback which, in turn, slightly hampered Newhall. The stewards were of the opinion that the interference to Newhall cost her the chance of winning and subsequently disqualified Scolardy.
This was a brave decision on the part of the stewards, but could also be viewed as a harsh one for the connections of Scolardy. Whether the couple of lengths that Newhall may have lost as a result of the interference three furlongs from home equates to more than half a length at the finish is debatable. It is only a little over a year ago that the stewards at Listowel deemed that ten lengths lost at the start (late opening stall) by a horse beaten a short-head at the finish of a one mile race had made no difference.
Like-A-Butterfly gave weight and a comprehensive beating to the cream of the home challenge for Cheltenham's Novice Hurdles when winning the Deloitte and Touche Novice Hurdle and is assured the unenviable tag of 'Irish Banker' next month.
She was the only favourite to oblige from the seven races at Leopardstown and as a result the Jackpot pool of over ?57,000 was not won and is carried forward to next month's meeting at the track.
Edward O'Grady supplied three of the beaten favourites, all of them weakening noticeably in the closing stages. The ground will have been partly to blame, but such poor showings will not sit easy with the man who has trained more Irish winners at Cheltenham than any of his counterparts.
The undulations in the Turf Club carpet became more pronounced this week with the publication of the appeals and referrals committee investigation into the debacle surrounding West Of The Bann.
The basic story of West Of The Bann is that he was entered for a point-to-point race at Tynan and Armagh on November 24th,but did not run. Unfortunately the officials on duty that day did not cop his absence and he was supported down to 5/1 in the betting, before apparently pulling up in the race.
If his trainer had not spotted his charge's inclusion in the official result we would have been none the wiser. This is unacceptable. Every punter has said at some stage that the nag he backed was 'never mentioned.' Is it any wonder? It may not have run at all.
The appeals and referrals committee`s view of the seriousness of this matter is reflected in what I would consider a minuscule fine of Eur100 for the Hunt in charge of the meeting.
Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy unveiled a major tax rebate system for sportsmen and women this week and it will have far reaching consequences for racing. Jockeys are included and will be entitled to reclaim 40% of tax paid in their ten highest earning years when they retire.
The main flaw in the Minister's policy is that there is no ceiling and will just make the rich even richer. On another front it may prove to be a logistical nightmare for the Turf Club, as every jockey who retires will request details about their previous earnings.
