The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has said Maurice Regan’s claims that Aidan O’Brien-trained runners receive preferential treatment in the starting stalls remain “under consideration.”
More than two months have passed since it emerged the owner’s Newtown Anner operation had sent lengthy correspondence to both the IHRB and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) urging them to investigate Coolmore Stud for allegedly bringing the sport into disrepute.
As part of that correspondence, Regan – a New York-based property developer who has been embroiled in a continuing high-profile dispute with Coolmore boss John Magnier – suggested starting procedures and stalls allocations in Ireland give Coolmore horses a competitive advantage.
Regan stated he’d reviewed footage throughout 2024 in respect of 109 rides at the Curragh and Leopardstown by Coolmore’s number-one jockey Ryan Moore. He said the Coolmore runner was loaded last in 23 of 109 races. Late entry into starting stalls is widely seen as a plus.
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In the correspondence, it was stated that the statistical probability of that pattern “occurring at random” is “in the order of 216/1”.
Starting stalls come under the auspices of HRI. A subsequent letter, sent to Regan by Magnier’s solicitors and seen by The Irish Times, indicates that the sport’s ruling body has said there is no basis for the complaint.
However, when asked about the status of Regan’s complaints in relation to racing’s regulatory body, an IHRB spokesman said on Monday: “We have engaged with the parties involved and the matter remains under consideration.”
More immediately, an IHRB referrals panel will sit on Tuesday to examine how jockeys Leigh Roche and Eoin Staples were stood down by the stewards from riding on the final day of the Galway festival after failing pre-race alcohol tests.
They were the first positive tests for alcohol in some time, with the last high-profile case coming in 2009 when Paul Carberry was suspended for 30 days and fined €5,000. However, he had previously failed a test at the 2007 Galway festival.
In other news, Sandown’s Solario Stakes has a history of throwing up future classic winners and Aidan O’Brien could try to win the Sandown contest for the first time on Saturday.
His Listed Gowran winner Sergei Diaghilev is one of 14 entries left in the race after Monday’s acceptance stage. The Group Three has been won in the past by Field Of Gold (2024), Masar (2017) and Kingman in 2013.
Sergei Diaghilev was a beaten favourite at Royal Ascot but bounced back earlier this month when scoring in the Churchill Stakes over a mile at Gowran.
There could be more O’Brien cross-channel interest on Saturday, with both Expanded and Isaac Newton left among 17 entries for Goodwood’s Group Two Celebration Mile. It is another significant prize yet to be won by the Irishman.
A potentially intriguing raider to Windsor on Saturday could be Willie Mullins’s Gaucher. However, the focus this week will be on whether ground conditions allow former Champion Hurdle winner Constitution Hill to take on the biggest challenge of his burgeoning flat career.
Winner of both his starts on the all-weather since time was called on his jumping career, Constitution Hill is entered alongside Gaucher for the Listed August Stakes over a mile and a half. If forecast rain falls, it could be the Nicky Henderson-trained star’s first start since March.
Other entries include the former Group One winner White Birch and Al Aasy, horses that could also wait for Kempton’s September Stakes if rain doesn’t arrive at Windsor in time.
“He’s run in two novice races, let’s face it, and that told us he can run quite fast over a mile and a half, but that’s all he had to do on those occasions,” said Henderson of his star performer. “This will be different altogether – it will be a very stiff test, but it will tell us where we are.
“We want to make a decision as early as possible, for everybody’s sake. There’s no point getting into a situation where we’re umming and ahhing on Friday and then taking him out on Saturday morning.
“We appreciate that he’s very popular and that people will want to go and see him. The last thing we want to do is take him out at the last minute because the rain hasn’t materialised."
