The Referrals Committee Justice Tony Hunt (in the Chair), N.P. Lambert and N.B. Wachman met at the Turf Club, The Curragh, Co Kildare on Tuesday, 24th May 2016 to consider an objection lodged by Denis Egan, Chief Executive of the Turf Club to “Abraham” who won the www.killarneyraces.ie race at Killarney on 17th May 2016. The objection was lodged in accordance with the provisions of Rule 262(v)(c) on the basis that the weight at which the rider of “Abraham” weighed out was less than his correct weight.

Evidence was heard from Ms Vicki McWey, Supervisor, Registrations Section, Horse Racing Ireland and J.R. Barry.

Ms Vicki McWey outlined the background to the return of “Abraham” in training by J.R. Barry. She said the horse was originally returned in training on 9th February 2016 on the Minitel system. One of the questions asked as part of the return was if the horse had raced outside Ireland, to which Mr Barry responded no. It was subsequently noted that “Abraham” had run in France on a number of occasions and as a result the horse was then taken out of training. Mr Barry’s wife was informed of this and that the horse needed to be returned in training using the horse in training return form and providing the performances abroad.

Mr Barry subsequently returned the horse in training again on 6th March 2016 on the new RAS system. As a result of the incorrect first horse in training return attempt a data feed of form from Weatherbys had been uploaded to the system and so the trainer only confirmed the horse’s last run in France and made no reference to the winning run. The horse was subsequently entered for two handicaps at Dundalk and was then given a rating by the handicapper based on the horse’s French rating.

Ms McWey said the Entries Department updates the winners file which is used for qualification purposes, using the performances that the trainer’s provide. As a result of the trainer not doing his return correctly, the horse carried the incorrect weight in the Killarney race on 17th May. She stated that the horse should have carried 9st 12lbs but only carried 9st 4lbs. She said that if the Return in Training error had been discovered in advance of the race the horse would not have been allowed to run.

In conclusion Ms McWey said Horse Racing Ireland are now reviewing the current system with a view to trying to reduce the risk of a similar error being made in the future by a trainer.

In his evidence J.R Barry accepted he was in breach of the Rule and that the horse would have to be disqualified. He outlined the history of the horse and said he thought the form on the system was correct as the horse had run in handicaps at Dundalk on two occasions with no problems. He did not check the weight the horse had been allocated in the Killarney race.

Having considered the evidence the Referrals Committee found J.R. Barry to be in breach of Rule 148(v)(c) and disqualified Abraham from first place. They also ordered that the placings be amended accordingly:

The result now reads:

First: Jocular (GB)
Second: Ebayya
Third: Azure Sky

The Committee advised J.R. Barry to be more careful in future when returning horses in training to ensure that the correct details are returned.

The case was presented by Paul Murtagh, Turf Club Stewards Secretary. J.R. Barry was represented by Kevin Power, Maurice Power Solicitors, Kilmallock, Co Limerick.