Racing: The saga surrounding Davids Lad may not be over yet as the owner's of the controversial racehorse indicated yesterday their willingness to go to the Supreme Court.
The High Court decided yesterday morning to rule in favour of the Turf Club in regard to the 42-day suspension awarded to Davids Lad at Naas on February 23rd. That means the horse can't run in the Martell Aintree Grand National on April 5th and appeared to finally bring to an end a case that has been in and out of the High Court for the last fortnight.
However, Mattie Lynch, one of the three owners that make up the Eddie Joe's Syndicate that own Davids Lad, said afterwards: "We got no joy this morning and we are not happy. We will go to the Supreme Court." However, even that couldn't shake the satisfaction at the result among the Turf Club who were also awarded costs in the case by Justice Mella Carroll.
"It is a great result for racing. It was very important for the integrity of racing that the judge reached the decision she did as it has confirmed the right of stewards to suspend a horse," said the Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan.
Davids Lad's ban was originally appealed to the Turf Club's Appeals and Referrals Committee which turned it down along with trainer Tony Martin's appeal at a €1,000 fine and jockey Timmy Murphy's appeal at a seven-day suspension.
The owners however had a stay put on the Davids Lad ban by the High Court. That was contested by the Turf Club, a move that led to the horse's withdrawl from Cheltenham last week. The High Court deliberations then dragged into this week after beginning last Thursday.
Less dramatic Grand National news yesterday was confirmation that the 2000 winner, Papillon, has been retired. The Ted Walsh-trained horse ran at the weekend but didn't show enough to encourage his connections that he should get another crack at the Aintree spectacular.
"Because I couldn't be sure he would run his race at Aintree, I've spoken to Betty Moran (owner) and she is quite happy to retire the horse," Walsh said yesterday.
Papillon missed out on Liverpool last year but was remounted to finish fourth the year before behind Red Marauder.
In total Papillon won nine races throughout his career and earned almst €570,000 in prizemoney. His greatest moment saw him beat Mely Moss by a length and a quarter after a morning gamble down to 10 to 1.
Papillon was ridden to victory by Ruby Walsh and the partnership led from four fences out to beat Mely Moss and Niki Dee.
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