TCOA and Turf Club set for Labour Court

LABOUR COURT talks between the Turf Club Officials Association (TCOA) and the Turf Club over pay issues and budget cuts are set to start later this month.

Strike action over the dispute was only narrowly averted earlier this year and prolonged talks in the Labour Relations Commission eventually resulted in the matter being referred on to the Labour Court.

“No date has been set but the Labour Court are due to get back to us early in July so it should happen sometime this month,” the Turf Club chief executive, Denis Egan, said yesterday.

The news comes a year after the infamous Bellewstown debacle when the Séamus Mulvaney Crockafotha Handicap Hurdle was begun before the heavily-backed favourite Warcraft even made it to the start. That provoked some initial disquiet about contract conditions for Turf Club officials that escalated afterwards.

The Crockafotha is tomorrow’s €24,500 feature at Bellewstown where 14 runners line up including the Gordon Elliott pair, Grey Soldier and Backstage.

Grangeclare Gold hasn’t won over flights for almost a year but she was an impressive winner on the flat at Ballinrobe recently where fast ground proved to be no problem.

Gordon Elliott looks set for better fortune in the concluding bumper with the impressive Tipperary winner Steps To Freedom while Fingal Rock, a Grade Three winner at Fairyhouse over Easter, should prove hard to beat.

The aforementioned Warcraft will be out tomorrow too, but at Limerick, where he concedes weight all round in the novice chase.

However, the feature is the Galway Plate Trial which can see the 2009 Pierse Hurdle hero, Penny’s Bill, add to an impressive course and distance success last month.

Tomorrow will be just his fourth start over fences but he has looked a good jumper up to now.