The running and riding appeals by Tony Martin and John Coleman that were heard on Wednesday highlight a surprising trend.
Martin was partially successful with his appeal (fine and suspension halved) while Coleman had his fine and horse's suspension quashed.
In the previous two years 80% of running and riding appeals were either wholly or partly successful, compared to only 33% of all other appeals.
Why there should be any noticeable difference between the success rate of different types of appeals is not immediately apparent, but would go some way to explain the trepidation which the stewards often show regarding running and riding offences.
In my opinion the stewards should ask a lot more jockeys and trainers to explain the running and riding of their horses, but what is the point if the appeal system is as biased as it would appear?
Last week's annual accounts published by the Turf Club make interesting reading. How much would you expect it would cost to sponsor an average race? Well eleven of the twenty-six tracks averaged less than #1,000 per sponsored race last year.
However it is the two Northern Ireland tracks which take some beating. Down Royal which hosts not only the Ulster Harp Derby and Oaks, but also the valuable James Nicholson Wine Merchants Champion Chase gleaned a paltry #7,000 from race sponsorship. Downpatrick (with over half of its races sponsored last weekend) only managed to come up with #1,000 through race sponsorship last year.
51 races were run at Downpatrick last year. That is less than #20 per race that came from sponsorship!
Punchestown has had a year to forget, with all the problems associated with the track. So let's hope the luck changes on June 26th when the track hosts a Limp Bizkit concert.
The American band has a bad reputation. In 1999 the group were singled out as the catalyst that sparked rioting at Woodstock'99 held at Rome, New York. The same year lead singer Fred Durst allegedly kicked a security guard in the head shortly before he walked on stage for a concert in Minnesota.
The newspaper adverts for the concert include an unusual condition of entry: 'no moshing/ crowd surfing'.
I'm not quite sure what it means, but it is hard to see it catching on at mid-week Thurles meetings.
