Losing top horses will hurt Elliott the most says Walsh
Fears for handler’s mental state after his ‘major blunder’
TRAINER Ted Walsh reckons the loss of Gordon Elliott’s horses “will hurt the most”.
And he believes the former amateur jockey “needs to make sure he is OK himself ” after a picture emerged of the handler sitting on a dead horse.
Elliott lost eight of his animals on Tuesday, including undefeated superstar Envoi Allen, after Cheveley Park Stud removed them from his Co Meath yard.
He is set to discover his punishment at an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board meeting tomorrow, but Walsh said the 43-yearold “needs a bit of help now”.
He told Today with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio One: “The licence is only a detail after what happened to him in the last few days.
“To be in Gordon Elliott’s yard yesterday and watch Envoi Allen and eight of the best horses you have loaded into a box [will hurt more].
Everyone dreams of having a Dawn Run or an Arkle.
“Envoi Allen might have been one of them and now he has gone. I’m sure at this stage he is so low.
“He’ll probably lose his licence for some length of time and receive a fine but I don’t know what.
“At this stage he needs to make sure he is OK himself. It is very easy to put a nail in a fella’s coffin and kick a fella when he is down.
“He knows he made a major blunder and what he did is wrong. I’d say he needs a bit of help now.
“People will castigate him for what he did because it was terrible but I hope mentally he can be strong enough to get over it.
“It is a huge blow to see your whole life crumbling like a deck of cards in front of you. He has paid for it.
“His yard is gone, his staff will be redundant. He has 80 staff and he has the damage done on his family, himself and the staff. And the only person he can blame is himself. He will pay dearly for a long time.”
Walsh, 70, told how the photo was not something he “expected from anyone in the racing game”, adding it will be “a long road back”.
He said: “I was disappointed. Plain and simple I was very disappointed. It’s not something I expected from anyone in the racing game. I was always brought up to treat horses with respect when they were alive and dead.
“I never thought anyone from a racing background would get any enjoyment or would ever think about doing it. It is a bit alien to what I was reared to.
“We all make blunders and mistakes that we look back and say, ‘My God why did I do that?’ But he did it.
“From my experience, and I was in Gordon’s yard a couple of times, and looking at the outfit as it is first-class, like a five-star hotel, his results show his horses are always in top condition.
“His staff are well turned-out. I’m dumbfounded. It is alien to what I expected. I’d never thought I’d see a picture of Gordon like that. That is not what I thought he would do.
“I’m not for one moment saying what he did was right. The picture tells a story.”
Elliott’s yard sponsor has ended its contract with the trainer after the photo emerged.
Ecomm Merchant Solutions announced it was terminating its sponsorship in a short statement “due to recent events”.
The company was founded by Noel and Valerie Moran, who have a number of horses in training with Elliott including Cheltenham Festival contenders Zanahiyr, The Bosses Oscar and Grand Roi.
Betfair also ended their sponsorship earlier this week.
A spokesman for the firm said: “While we recognise Gordon deeply regrets and apologised unreservedly for his poor judgement, his actions are at odds with the values of the Betfair brand.”
It’s a huge blow to see your life crumbling like that TED WALSH YESTERDAY