Wexford People

Cheltenham is out for our top amateur riders

- BY PEGASUS

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’.

 ??  ?? Patrick Mullins, seen her closest to the rails on Sharjah in Cheltenham last year, is said to be considerin­g the option of turning profession­al in order to compete in a fortnight.
Patrick Mullins, seen her closest to the rails on Sharjah in Cheltenham last year, is said to be considerin­g the option of turning profession­al in order to compete in a fortnight.

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