The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has stood over the process that led to the decision by the Wexford stewards panel not to hold an enquiry on the day into the controversial unseating of jockey Philip Byrnes at the final flight of a hurdle race last May.
On Thursday, Byrnes was exonerated by an IHRB referrals committee of any wrongdoing after his unseat from Redwood Queen, trained by his father, Charles, in a claiming hurdle race at Wexford.
Redwood Queen was a notable drifter in the betting from 6-4 to 13-2 and looked to have her race won until Byrnes was unseated at the last obstacle despite the horse not making a blunder. It allowed the well-backed 1-3 favourite Beacon Edge to win.
The IHRB accused Byrnes of deliberately jumping off Redwood Queen, but the referrals committee, chaired by retired judge Peter Kelly, considered the incident was due to “poor horsemanship”. It also dismissed any suggestion that betting or betting patterns formed a motivation for the fall.
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A day later, it emerged that the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which had a commercial agreement worth €350,000 over five years with the IHRB to supply integrity monitoring, repeatedly flagged unusual betting patterns on the race, initially to the Wexford stewards, before the race was run.
Nevertheless, the Wexford stewards panel, chaired by former Irish Grand National-winning jockey Tom Rudd, opted not to inquire into the incident. A day later, the IHRB announced an investigation, with the referrals hearing taking place in December.
“Ultimately, the race-day stewards did not consider the threshold for a stewards’ enquiry to be met on the evening. However, the rules also allow matters to be examined subsequently by an IHRB senior racing official which is what occurred immediately in this case, through a full investigation and it concluded at an independently chaired referral hearing,” said an IHRB spokesman on Sunday.
Immediately after the Wexford race, the BHA’s integrity department contacted the stewards again, as well as the IHRB’s integrity department, to encourage them to seek an explanation from Byrnes for the unseating. But no action was taken until the announcement of an investigation the following day.
The BHA’s five-year deal with the IHRB finished last August. The Irish regulator said then it was “reviewing future requirements for investigative support”.
The IHRB has also defended its examination of betting patterns on the race, insisting evidence submitted was a result of monitoring through “memoranda of understanding” with betting firms, Flutter and Entain. Evidence was also heard from Aidan Connolly of Idiro Analytics.
“Idiro were identified through a public procurement process and Mr Connolly provided an independent analysis at the hearing. The committee considered all of the evidence put before it, including a detailed report from Mr David Cleary, BHA handicapping ombudsman,” added the IHRB spokesman.
The referrals panel found betting patterns evidence submitted to it was “unsatisfactory and unconvincing”.
There appears to have been no mention of white-label betting at the hearing. White-label companies are akin to offshore brokers who place bets on exchange betting accounts. On Sunday, professional gambler Neil Channing told Racing TV he understood that “tens of thousands” were bet on the race.
“My understanding is there were tens of thousands being laid on these foreign exchanges. I don’t think any of that came up in front of the tribunal [referrals committee],” he said.
The IHRB has also pointed to how the referrals committee did not criticise how the matter was handled on the day at Wexford. It insisted the approach taken was thorough and evidence-led. It has no plan to appeal the referrals’ decision.
In other racing news, next weekend’s Grade One feature is the Betfair Ascot Chase, where Pic D’Orhy will bid to become the first horse to win the race on three occasions. Paul Nicholls’s runner is already one of a handful to have twice won the Ascot highlight.
“Pic D’Orhy worked well yesterday morning and he had an away day with Tutti Quanti [Saturday’s William Hill Hurdle winner] so we have prepared him for this. Arguably, he has won it on faster ground before, but he has won on very soft before, and he will definitely run in the race,” said Nicholls.
“He ran very well in the Charlie Hall Chase first time out, but we then probably ran him a bit quick back at Ascot [third in 1965 Chase] as we didn’t have a lot of options to be honest with you.
“There hasn’t been much else for him. There was the Silviniaco Conti Chase, but we had Kalif Du Berlais in there, and we wanted to go to Ascot, so we weren’t going to do both races. The idea was to go to Ascot, then possibly Aintree.
“His owners love having runners at Ascot and the track suits him very well. We have won the race with Cyrname for them as well as with him. We are only a few thousand pounds from winning a million pounds with him. It would be nice if he could get enough prize money to say that he has won a million pound,” he added.
Joseph O’Brien’s Fakir D’Oudairies won the Ascot Chase four years ago. The latest acceptance stage for the race is on Monday.
Nicholls also indicated that his prolific Grade Two performer Rubaud is set to line up in Saturday’s Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.
