Cheltenham is out for our top amateur riders
THERE WAS bad news this week for a number of top Wexford riders when it was confirmed that amateurs have been been barred from the Cheltenham Festival, due to start in two weeks’ time on March 16.
And there was no good news for the beleagured point-to-point sector either as the resumption of racing will not even be considered until April 5 under the Government’s latest plans.
There is no guarantee there will be a green light even then, giving very little time to get a run into all the valuable horses that have been stacked up at yards all over the county in preparation for the sales season.
Amateurs have not been allowed to ride in Britain since early January and hopes of returning for the Cheltenham Festival were dashed this week when the British Government’s roadmap to recovery and the British Horseracing Authority agreed that March 29 would be the earliest date for them to resume.
Among the Wexford riders to be hit will be Jamie Codd, ten times a Festival winner; Barry O’Neill, champion point-to-point rider for the last four years; Rob James, Harley Dunne and others. Top riders like Patrick Mullins, who had a prize book of rides lined up, and Derek O’Connor will also lose out.
Only a handful of current professional riders can compete with Codd’s Cheltenham haul.
In his 20 years in the saddle since his first successes in late 2001, he has ridden over 1,300 winners in total between track and point-to-point. It is extraordinary and defies all logic that he and other top riders are not allowed to compete on the biggest stage in jumps racing.
However, Codd was reasonably philisophical, and he scotched any suggestion that he might turn professional to get around the ban. He has always ridden as an amateur and has no intention of changing now.
This is an option Patrick Mullins is said to be considering but the racing authorities may not be too kindly disposed to that idea.
‘It’s hugely disappointing for the amateurs in the UK and for us qualified riders in Ireland not to be there, but this is a government decision in very difficult circumstances and there was very little that we could do. I was preparing myself for this. I thought we might be in trouble,’ Codd said.
‘Cheltenham is a big deal and it’s a few days of the year that we can showcase our qualified riders on the big stage... we’re in strange times, and there’s a lot of people worse off than us.’
Codd has twice beaten the professionals in the Championship Bumper, on Fayonagh and Envoi Allen, and he would have been in with a great chance again this year on Gordon Elliott’s highly-impressive Sir Gerhard.
‘He looks very exciting and he would have been a great ride to have, but that’s life. We just have to get on with it,’ he said.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve missed Cheltenham and it’s been a very lucky hunting ground for me. With the restrictions that are in place, I don’t think I’ll be travelling over. I’ll probably sit at home and cheer Gordon’s horses on from there,’ he concluded.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s address on Tuesday did not have any good news either for the point-to-point fraternity, which has been locked down since January 13. Apart from the big items like re-opening schools and childcare, minimal changes were made to the Level 5 restrictions and lifting the ban will not even be considered until April 5 at the earliest.
It’s quite possible that no relief will be forthcoming until the following review in May and that will leave just a few weeks until the usual end to the point-to-point season.
It will be impossible in that time to run and showcase the hundreds of expensive horses that have been kept fine-tuned at yards all over the country.
It is essential that these horses get sold on to make room for the new intake and generate the cash to pay for those replacements.
That’s the way the system works and major disruption could create real logjams that will have very serious implications for everybody, from the breeders onwards.
Some point-to-point handlers have been trying to run horses at track meetings but an awful lot of those have fallen victim to the bad weather and there are already massive entries for the suitable races.
Seán Doyle of the hugely influential Monbeg operation at Ballindaggin has been preparing 40 four-year-olds and ten fiveyear-olds for the vitally important point-to-point maidens which should be in full flow at this time – and his brothers Donnchadh and Cormac would have more than that again between them.
Seán did not beat around the bush: ‘We’re hanging on by the skin of our teeth,’ he told the Racing Post.
‘Point-to-points are essential and it is vital that they return as soon as possible.’
He appealed for a definite date to be set to end the uncertainty and was hoping the racing authorities could create more opportunities for all in the business.
Horse Racing Ireland came up with a response on Friday, announcing five additional fixtures including one at Wexford on Saturday, March 20.
That and meetings at Punchestown (March 15), an all-bumper card over varying distances, and Tipperary (March 24), are for horses eligible to run in pointto-points and holders of pointto-point handlers’ permits may enter and run horses at them. Fairyhouse (Friday, March 5) and Navan (March 22) will be mostly maiden hurdles.
Brian Kavanagh, HRI Chief Executive, said they were very aware of the pressures on those in the point-to-point community and these extra fixtures will provide some additional opportunities.
He hopes that things improve enough for point-to-point to resume fully after April 5 ‘because of the vital role it plays in National Hunt racing, and its importance to the rural economy’.