At Navan on Saturday the stewards took a dim view of the performance of His Song and decided to suspend the horse from running for 42 days, trainer Mouse Morris was fined #500 and jockey David Casey will have to miss 7 days racing.
His Song was trailing his three rivals from the start and lost touch following some hesitant jumps in the back straight before making up ground from the home turn.
The gelding finished last of the four runners and this was the fifth consecutive time that he has failed to beat a single horse in a National Hunt race. He has also never won over a distance as far as Saturday's contest.
Whether or not you agree with the stewards' opinion about the running and riding of His Song, it seems to me that the penalties do not fit this type of offence.
In such cases the jockey takes the brunt of the punishment. David Casey could average five rides a day over the seven days racing that he is set to miss and at #89 a time that is over #3,000 in lost earnings.This is without taking into account him riding winners or placed horses and there is always the possibility that he will lose the ride on a horse that wins during his absence.
A #500 fine for the trainer equates to less than one sixth of the jockey's loss and the owner remains virtually untouched.
The controversy over His Song took the shine off the achievement of Limestone Lad who won the race. This was the 9-Y-O's 27th victory from 51 starts and his total earnings are fast approaching half a million pounds.
As another year draws to a close the Irish racing industry is once again patting itself on the back. Celebrating the achievements of Aidan O'Brien, overcoming the threat of Foot and Mouth (more races run this year than last), and applauding the new Limerick racecourse.
All are worthy of praise, but only serve to compound the notion that the industry is in a healthy state when I believe the opposite is in fact true. Prizemoney is out of control, funded precariously by off-course betting turnover and is masking an ailing dinosaur on its knees.
Post September 11th virtually every business and industry has taken a long hard look at itself and realised that boom can quickly turn to bust if basic rules are not followed. Racing on the other hand continues to bury its head in the Government's pocket and scoffs at anything that does not immediately make its hierarchy richer.
The basic product which racing offers the public is outdated, largely unwanted and more importantly unsustainable without Government backing. Government backing that is certain to dry up as recession bites.
Strip away the facade of Government funding and what are you left with? An industry that has been run in almost identical fashion for generations and that is not to say that it was ever run with its customers in mind.
Forget for a moment that horseracing ever existed. OK now imagine you are down the pub with a few friends and someone comes up with a brilliant idea. To race horses and charge the public to come and bet on the outcome of the races.
Would you immediately think that what is needed is 26 different tracks, some as far away from the main population centres as is possible on this small island. Does it also seem feasible that up to 30 horses would compete in these races?
When racing is viewed in these simple terms it is easy to see how far the industry has drifted off a straight line. For too long individual interests have taken precedence over the common good.
The industry needs to take a radical approach similar to the one taken by the Greyhound industry. Race meetings must be moulded to suit the consumer and if that means fewer courses and floodlit tracks with restricted field sizes so be it.
On a positive note, Cork on Sunday belied its 'white elephant' tag and attracted a bumper crowd. Santa's Kingdom in Goffs would have been envious of the queues for racecards and with four of the seven favourites winning many of the punters are likely to come back for more.
Bookmaking has undergone huge changes in the last few years accelerated by the reductions in betting tax, but the recent innovation of betting exchanges such as Betfair, Flutter and Betdaq has the potential to wipe out traditional bookmakers.
With these internet-based firms you can either back or lay any horse you choose and you can also dictate the price. Once someone else matches you, a bet is struck and the service provider (e.g. Betfair) takes a small percentage of winnings. One of the sites boasts that it has handled over #4.25m in horseracing bets in the last month alone.
