RACING NEWS:A TURF Club investigation into the controversial 'starter' incident at Bellewstown 10 days ago has recommended a new precautionary procedure be put in place at the start of races run in Ireland.
From now on the starter on duty will have to make contact with the clerk of the course before each race to confirm the correct number of runners are at the start.
At Bellewstown, the well-backed favourite, Warcraft, hadn’t made it to the start of a valuable handicap hurdle before the rest of the runners began the race.
At a subsequent inquiry the starter Derek Cullen took full responsibility for an incident that Warcraft’s trainer Michael Hourigan described as a “farce”. In the Turf Club report published yesterday,
Cullen’s mistake was put down to “human error” as a result of the starting procedures not being followed.
It states that Cullen didn’t notice Warcraft’s saddle had slipped on the way to the start and the horse travelled three furlongs past the start before he could be pulled up. Warcraft was still being led back when the race began.
The report concludes that “the starter, who was at ground level, was unable to see Warcraft as he had disappeared from view due to the undulations of the track”. Cullen let the other runners go before realising his mistake.
At the subsequent inquiry, Warcraft was treated as a withdrawn horse and punters got their money back.
“It was a most unfortunate incident and it was due to human error. The main thing is to ensure a similar incident does not arise again which is why we have introduced an additional check at the start,” the Turf Club chief executive, Denis Egan, said yesterday.
The lack of information available to punters at Bellewstown, and why they weren’t informed what the inquiry was into, has also been criticised and Egan stressed that these concerns have been taken on board.
Yesterday’s report says that the stewards’ main concern on the night was that no betting tickets would be discarded prior to the result of the inquiry but adds that the information given over the public address was vague.
The Turf Club says it will “endeavour to include as much information, where possible, in future announcements”.
In other news, the regulatory body’s senior National Hunt handicapper Noel O’Brien yesterday described the upcoming William Hill Galway Plate as “the most competitive Galway Plate I’ve ever seen”.
A total of 62 horses remain in the mid-summer chasing highlight on the third day of the Ballybrit Festival with a massive 46 remaining in the handicap proper.
Topweight is the Willie Mullins-trained Deutschland but the big-race sponsors have installed Roby De Cimbre as an 8 to 1 ante-post favourite to give the British champion trainer Paul Nicholls a second successive win in the race after Oslot last year.
Roby De Cimbre won at Newton Abbott in April and Nicholls said yesterday: “The Plate has been Roby De Cimbre’s long-term target and I think he will go to Galway with a big chance. He has a similar profile to Oslot and, fingers crossed, he will run a big race.”
Nicholls also has Hoo La Baloo in the race and in total there are seven cross-channel entries. Hoo La Baloo is due to run in the race for a third year in a row, being brought down in 2007 and finishing last behind his stable companion 12 months ago.
GALWAY PLATE BETTING: (William Hill): 8 Roby De Cimbre, 10 Deutschland and Northern Alliance. 12 Green Mile and Majestic Concorde, 14 bar.
Five-in-a-row for Walsh
RUBY WALSH picked up a fifth successive leading rider prize at Ireland’s 2008-09 National Hunt Awards and his great rival Tony McCoy received a special achievement award, writes Brian O’Connor
It was given for McCoy’s 14th champion jockey title in Britain during a season when he also passed the 3,000-winner mark.
Walsh was again champion jockey in Ireland for a seventh time in total and also scored seven winners at the Cheltenham Festival as well as 10 at Punchestown.
Willie Mullins received his prize for being champion trainer for a fourth time at Sunday night’s ceremony held in Adare, Co Limerick. The point-to-point champion rider Derek O’Connor also picked up an award for a season when he rode 113 winners.
