The Pat Smullen Column: Humbled By Racing’s Support

[Wandering Eyes]

I’d like to apologise for being missing for the last couple of weeks. It has obviously been well documented that I had a setback with my health but we are working our way through things and hopefully we can get back on an even keel in the very near future. I’m working through my treatment and getting a programme together to get back to where I was.

I’ve had fantastic support over the last few weeks with the upcoming Longines Irish Champions Weekend. I was appointed ambassador for this earlier in the year but unfortunately I haven’t been able to do a great deal of work in promoting the weekend, but with the power of Twitter and so much help from people in the racing industry we have brought great attention to the whole weekend. It’s amazing the support that Cancer Trials Ireland is receiving, especially through the Champions Race.

There will be great competition throughout the weekend at both tracks and I think it is especially fantastic that we finally have a Japanese representative in the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. It gave me great pleasure to hear that Deirdre (Jpn) will be running. Well done to Pat Keogh and his team for encouraging the connections of Deirdre to participate in our great race. I’ve been very fortunate to travel to Japan on several occasions and I’ve always been blown away by the hospitality and the quality of racing in the country. This could be very big for Irish racing to have such a high-profile mare running in the Champion Stakes. The race will be viewed by millions in Japan and hopefully it will encourage more Japanese to come in the future.

I’m pleased to see that Charlie Appleby is sending Pinatubo (Ire) for the National Stakes—that will be a huge attraction on the Saturday. The whole point of the weekend is to showcase Irish racing and I think we have the quality of entries to do that.

Jockey Pledges So Touching
It’s an unbelievable gesture from the jockeys to donate their riding fees from the weekend, started by Chris Hayes and with Donnacha O’Brien, Conor Hoban, Gary Halpin and others all getting involved. It’s very humbling for me that I’ve shared a room with those lads for so many years and they feel that this is something that they want to do. I must admit that it is very touching. We all know that riding fees are hard earned and for them to give them up through the weekend is very special.

Friends have been outbidding one another on items for the online auction so there’s great fun involved with the whole thing. I wanted it to be light-hearted—of course it’s serious but I didn’t want it to be all doom and gloom. Really all we want to achieve is awareness and to raise a lot of money for the charity, and it looks like we’re doing both. The most important thing is that everybody has fun doing it.  To see AP McCoy, Richard Hughes, Ger Lyons and Johnny Murtagh, what they’ve all been doing on Twitter, it’s great fun and it just shows how strong the community is within racing, not just here in Ireland but all over the world. They know that this is something very close to my heart and something that I wanted to do and it’s amazing the response that we’ve had. I will never be able to thank people enough.

Joseph Is My Nap
I honestly wouldn’t be able to say who is the most competitive out of all of those retired jockeys in the Champions Race because they are absolutely ravenous for success and they have been that way all their lives. I suppose I would be disappointed if Joseph O’Brien didn’t do it with the number of horses he has in training—he should be able to produce something that’s going to run for him.

I think he’s favourite and he’s probably a worthy favourite, but it’s very amusing to see how seriously AP is taking it. Ted Durcan is a good friend of mine and he’s very fit and active on the Newmarket gallops every morning so he’s going to have fitness on his side. If I was to nail my colours to one mast I think Joseph will pull it out of the bag.

I’m only sorry that the Legends race in Doncaster is so close to this one as that is a great race and very well run. At one stage I was thinking about riding in that myself but then this opportunity came along. It is a shame that they are in such close proximity to each other and I wish everyone riding in the Leger Legends race today (Wednesday) the best of luck.

Whipping Up An Unnecessary Storm
Last week four pretty senior riders in Ireland were suspended for six days in connection to the whip. I said earlier in the season that I didn’t want to speak about the whip again but unfortunately the issue has raised its head once more.

When they brought out the rule for eight strikes in Ireland I felt that was fair and I believe the riders have to adapt, no question. But sadly I think common sense has been lost by the authorities. I appreciate that there can’t be grey areas in something like this but equally there has to be a bedding-down period for change. You’re asking riders that have been riding for 20 years or so to adapt overnight to a new rule of race riding. Yes, the onus is on the jockey to do so, but we have a system whereby if a jockey goes one over, or hits the horse in the wrong place, it goes on their record and stays there for 12 months. They could have four offences in a short period of time, for four minor infringements in my opinion, and be referred to the Turf Club for a minimum suspension of six days.

I’d like to see common sense playing a part, with stewards in having a quiet word with someone to say, ‘You got your whip a little bit high there on one occasion’, or ‘You went one over there and you want to be very careful’.  But now it’s so black and white that jockeys records are dreadful, and unfairly so. The Turf Club has brought only unnecessary negativity on itself and has created these stats for riders which appear extreme, and that’s just not the case. I feel the Turf Club has really dropped the ball on this occasion and that common sense has been lost.

When I’m watching racing, and when I was riding, I am the first to get upset about misuse of the whip, and if it does happen riders should be severely punished. But the Turf Club has created a situation which suggests that jockeys are whip happy when really we are talking about mostly minor infringements.

I believe that what I am saying makes sense and it would help to take the heat off the situation and not create a negative view of our great sport which is under enough scrutiny at the moment. There is always a minority that do break the rules and need to be dealt with, but in my opinion the majority of riders in Britain and Ireland are very competent jockeys who are well aware of the rules and well aware of the situation that we’re in when it comes to being in the public eye.

I think that the art of race riding should not be taken away from those riders who are capable of using a whip in a measured and productive way to get results. Discretion and common sense are what is needed. As Mark Johnston said, if the whip goes that is beginning of the end of horse racing and I genuinely think he is correct in saying that.

The Pat Smullen Champions Race, featuring AP McCoy, Ruby Walsh, Johnny Murtagh, Ted Durcan, Charlie Swan, Paul Carberry, Joseph O’Brien, Richard Hughes and Kieren Fallon, will be run on Sunday at the Curragh after the Irish St Leger.

 

The post The Pat Smullen Column: Humbled By Racing’s Support appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article