Shark Hanlon is facing an outrageously unnecessary ban – the IHRB must see sense over ‘tarpaulingate’

THE Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board will bring shame on its own body if it suspends Shark Hanlon from training.

That’s my view on ‘tarpaulingate’, which faces crunch time, or ‘le crunch’, as my old man used to say.

Today, Hanlon appeals against the severity of a ten-month suspension for bringing racing into disrepute – something many feel IHRB will do to themselves if they ban the trainer – after he transported a dead horse in an open (although it didn’t begin that way) trailer attached to one of his branded lorries.

Unless the IHRB have something on Hanlon that none of us know, this seems an outrageously unnecessary punishment for any governing body to give to one of its participants.

Indeed, if looked at sensibly you could argue some readers would believe Hanlon deserves a medal for transporting a dead horse away from open land as soon as he could.

Of course, Hanlon himself would not see it like that, because as a man who deals with animals on a daily basis he would just consider it the right thing to do.

This case, though, is not just about that.

For those of you who don’t know how the chaos has evolved, it all became public in June when footage from a mobile phone was widely shared on social media of a dead horse carcass visible to the public in Hanlon’s trailer.

The King George-winning handler explained the unfortunate event by telling everyone that a tarpaulin covering the carcass had blown off during transportation to a knackery in Co Carlow.

It was impossible to see that while driving.

There are numerous witnesses to the fact a tarpaulin was in place, and Hanlon himself re-tracked his journey and picked it up later on the day concerned.

An IHRB panel decided Hanlon had been “grossly negligent” in the transportation of the carcass and had caused “significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of horse-racing.”

What utter nonsense.

It also concluded that Hanlon’s appreciation of the matter should have been sharpened by the fact that the events occurred in the context of an RTÉ Prime Time Investigates programme relating to serious equine welfare issues being broadcast earlier that week.

Again. Totally irrelevant.

It’s nothing to do with Hanlon that RTE had a show on equine welfare.

But more importantly than that, he had taken every step to cover the horse. The cover came loose. These things happen.

Yes, it didn’t look good. But to take someone’s career way for that is ridiculous in the extreme.

Do the right thing IHRB and free the Shark.

It’s worth remembering, people, that this is an organisation that still hasn’t fully explained the “bombshell” €350,000 transferred between the Jockeys’ Emergency Fund (JEF) to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) and back again in early 2022.

It would be nice to get answers there. If anything untoward has happened then presumably all the IHRB hierarchy will be resigning immediately. Or at least suspended!

OH God. How could racing around the world have got the whip so wrong?

I don’t just blame the UK here, although I feel the BHA has been at the front of this mayhem, mainly because those who pop in and leave the game as quick as they have arrived see it as something they can put on their CVs.

How they left their mark and saved the Sport of Kings. As if.

The BHA is used to messing things up. You can also throw in Premier Racedays which have clearly failed.

No surprise the same leaders have quit, leaving others to sort out the mess they have created.

I’ve tried so many times to debate the whip with those in charge at BHA and every time they have refused to do so.

They aren’t even confident enough in their own rules to have a debate! Well, that is other than with their chosen ones.

This all blew up again on Saturday, when following the Cesarewitch winning rider Jamie Powell was deemed by the stewards to have used his whip ten times before scoring by a nose, four more than the permitted level on the Flat.

That is the trigger point for disqualification if the BHA’s whip review committee, which meets tomorrow, agrees that all ten uses made contact and none were clearly used for safety purpose.

It’s sad that people have become so bored by the non-sensical whip rules that the general attitude on social media is – they (the jockeys) know the rules just ride within them. Pathetic.

There are very obvious reasons why the rules make no sense.

The first, of course, is that the whip is no welfare issue. That in itself should be enough.

But there is more.

Secondly, every jockey uses the whip differently. Six strokes by an apprentice having their first ride will be very different than six strokes from the recently retired Tony McCoy!

So clearly one rule for all just doesn’t work straight away.

Added to that, the distance of a race should be taken into account as well. It’s not.

And who decided that a horse needs time to reply between strikes?

I’ve not seen one piece of scientific evidence that suggests this is true.

I have, however, seen many races where a horse has been hit with a whip quickly and responded very nicely!

You only have to look back at Lester Piggott in the Derby, or more recently what Vincent Ho did on the Hong Kong legend Golden Sixty.

The latter loved every moment of being struck with the whip quickly and responded every time.

Indeed, some top jockeys I have spoken to have told me two quick slaps is much more useful to them than allowing time between strikes.

It’s all a nonsense. All pointless. And all achieving nothing other than trying to pretend a foam-padded whip is not crucial for racing.

Most significantly, allowing the majority of horses who need encouragement to do their best, and proving a crucial tool for integrity purposes.

That latter point is important as the whip it not a welfare issue.

Jamie Powell’s horse was responding in the Cesarewitch and wasn’t hurt in any way.

That is all that should matter to everyone and anyone who enjoys horse racing and animals.

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