Elliott and Qatar strengthen ties with new jumps recruits

IRISH National Hunt racing may seem a curious attraction for a member of the Qatari royal family but Gordon Elliott is expanding his fledgling alliance with Sheikh Fahad Al Thani.

Eyebrows were raised when Elliott (right) acquired Brutal off the Flat for the Sheikh – he won a juvenile hurdle at Cork but was only second at Perth yesterday – but a much higher-profile addition is Pallasator, a Group Two winner for Mark Prescott and a smart recruit potentially to jumping.

However, perhaps most intriguing is that Qatar Racing is going down the most unexpected route of “store horses” – young, yet-to-race jumpers with a longterm future. And Elliott feels privileged to add Sheikh Fahad to his roster.

STRAIGHTFORWARD

“I already have Brutal and am getting Pallasator, though I have no idea what the plan might be with him,” Elliott said.

“I have two unraced bumper horses also for him. One will likely run this season, though the other may be a little weak.

“He is down to earth, a very straightforward and nice guy to deal with. He’s 100pc,” Elliott added. Sheikh Fahad is expected to ride the bumper horses.

Meanwhile, Adrian McGuinness has been given a suspended two-year disqualification by the Turf Club in the wake of a court appearance last year relating to the possession of unauthorised animal remedies.

McGuinness was fined €2,500 at Swords District Court in Dublin in February 2016 for possessing four animal remedies without authorisation and two remedies without a prescription from a veterinary surgeon.

The case against McGuinness, whose stables are in Lusk, had been brought by the Department of Agriculture, following a visit by its officers to the yard on June 4, 2014. In passing sentence, the court had accepted an argument that the offences were “at the lower end” of the scale. McGuinness was ordered to pay Turf Club costs of €1,000 and stressed that none of the medications were performance-enhancing.

The Turf Club has banned owner and Nenagh farmer Pat Coffey for two years. Following a stable inspection carried out at James Coyle’s yard in June, the integrity body found evidence there was evidence that Coffey may have been training and running horses without a licence. The inspectors were told by Coyle that a number of horses had been kept at Coffey’s premises, which are unlicensed and, despite being returned in training under Coyle’s name, had been trained by Coffey without any supervision or direction from Coyle.

As expected, meanwhile, Enable has been supplemented for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly on Sunday, her presence taking the number of possible runners back up to 20. Aidan O’Brien still has seven in the mix, although Winter and Seventh Heaven could instead run in the Prix de l’Opera. Limato will not defend his crown in the Prix de la Foret due to the expected soft ground.

O’Brien will have a select but strong team at Newmarket later in the week but no runners today when the feature is the Group Three Tattersalls Stakes.

REDUCTION

Intriguingly, Paddy Power Betfair has become the first major bookmaker to support a major reduction in gaming machine stakes, calling for them to be reduced to £10 or less – a move that could have major consequences for rival firms.

The company’s outgoing CEO Breon Corcoran wrote to British Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport minister Tracey Crouch, arguing that the subject had become “toxic” to the industry and that lack of decisive action would lead to continuing uncertainty.

“We believe the issue has become so toxic that only a substantial reduction in (gaming machine) stake limits to £10 or less will address societal concerns. I am confident that we could operate our retail business successfully and profitability under such circumstances. Other well-run operators should be able to do the same.”