Prospects for Peace in Ireland took a turn for the worse in the closing stages of the fourth race at Galway last night. It was hardly a surprise, on recent form.
But having devoted himself to the cause for so long, Albert Reynolds was one of many each-way punters at Galway disappointed at the setback.
Ridden by Peter Fahey, Peace in Ireland had led from the start of the GPT Handicap. But just as he looked like justifying the former Taoiseach's each-way tip at odds of 16/1, he was suddenly overtaken by trouble, and half the field. By the time the race was won by Rapid Deployment (an obvious triumph for violence), Peace was dropping fast. It was the first failure of the night for Mr Reynolds, just returned from Marbella. Despite being stuck in traffic, he backed the winners of the first two races "from the car". And he was duty-bound to support Peace in Ireland, not so much because he co-authored the Downing Street Declaration, as because he'd won twice before on the gelding at long odds and because trainer Seamus Fahey had said he was "keeping him for Galway".
But you win some, you lose some. The decline of the peace process was warmly welcomed by another former politician, and current bookmaker, Ivan Yates. The one-time Fine Gael minister had laid the Fahey horse at 25/1 and stood to lose "a couple of thousand" if it won. That was "small money", he added, admitting he was more worried about the favourite, Crimson Flower, after three heavily-backed winners left his off-course betting chain "about 20,000" in arrears.
"But we're not crying or panicking - it's early days yet," he said. He was right about that. With 48 races to go, the punters were set up for the kill. Not only did Peace in Ireland fail to materialise, but Crimson Flower also obligingly finished nowhere. The former TD's parting advice to The Irish Times was to back Euro Pressure in the fifth, which it duly did. Sadder but wiser, The Irish Times' advice to readers is: never listen to tips from bookmakers.
Race-week Monday is a clash of cultures in Galway. In last week's language, yesterday was a major scene change. In racing speak, the Galway of the past fortnight was a ringer, and the rain had washed its paint off. The arts festival was getting the first train out of town, without waiting for an encore.
Performance spaces were being replaced by horse boxes. And Macnas was clearing the stage for McManus, JP. But the festival was still gathering steam. Apart from Albert, Fianna Fáil was represented by a small advance guard including John O'Donoghue, Jim McDaid, and Ray McSharry.