Pat Keane Article last Saturday

One law for the rich and another for the poor


AT Tipperary last Thursday week the stewards found what could be best described as a real easy touch in the shape of a horse called Ballyronan Boy.

He is in the care of little-known Co Laois trainer, Michael Connell, and was partnered by 7lbs claimer Ronan Whelan.

Ballyronan Boy finished seventh of ten behind Jembatt, who won by five and a half lengths, and his performance didn’t half exercise the minds of the stewards.

They decided the racecourse had been used as a training ground and Ballyronan Boy was suspended for 60 days.

In addition Connell was fined 1,500 and Whelan suspended for seven days and ordered to forfeit his riding fee.

Ballyronan Boy went off the complete outsider of the field at 66-1 and if the bookmakers had gone 166-1 they still wouldn’t have been able to attract a euro for the horse.

And why? Because he simply didn’t have the form to be competitive and only an optimist, a dying breed apparently, or someone who liked his name, would have been tempted to invest.

Ballyronan Boy, a 50-1 shot, started life with a what looked a reasonable effort when eleven and threequarters of a length fourth behind Blasket Spirit at Cork in April.

He made the running that day, before fading in the straight. The third horse, Prince Jock, seven lengths in front of Ballyronan Boy, has since finished a disappointing sixth at Killarney.

Sarsfields Legend, a place and three lengths behind Ballyronan Boy, and with a lowly rating of 64, then went to Navan and was a remote ninth of 12 behind Ghetto Gospel in a handicap.

The reality is the form of the Cork race is worth about the price of a half-decent bag of chips! Ballyronan Boy then went to Leopardstown, stepping up two furlongs in trip to a mile and a quarter, was again a 50-1 chance and ran near the front.

The son of Catcher In The Rye began to backpedal with less than four furlongs to travel, trailing home ninth of 12 behind Troas.

He was beaten about 27 lengths and, remarkably, was 16 lengths adrift of eighth placed, Devils Bit.

And so onto Tipperary. On what we knew of the horse, Ballyronan Boy couldn’t possibly score and there was no need to give him a second thought.

That was the conclusion one had to arrive at, even in a race which was not going to take a lot of winning.

Jembatt, as we know, bolted in, having produced a shocker when going off favourite at Dundalk previously.

Second was Mutamaleq, who had his limitations exposed at Killarney and the third, Bass Rock, had indicated in the second of his two outings last season that he was not to be trusted.

The layers, arguably the best judges of all, would have been well aware of this information and, yet, were more than comfortable to put 66-1 against Ballyronan Boy’s name.

He was ridden differently on this occasion by Whelan and restrained towards the back of the ten-strong field.

Truth to tell, he was never going to get involved, although making some late progress. It wasn’t so much what the horse did, however, but rather Whelan’s display which had to attract your attention.

The head-on clearly shows him making a couple of token attempts to hit the horse and it didn’t look good.

But if he had literally butchered Ballyronan Boy would it have made a whole pile of difference? The answer has to be a resounding no.

WHAT makes all of this simply hilarious is the concept of using the racecourse as a training ground.

Since the start of the current flat season, and in many seasons past, a number of trainers in this country, with monster reputations next to Connell, have used the racecourse as a training ground practically every day.

If the stewards have difficulty indentifying those having a "look" then all they have to do is head into the betting ring and some of the wide boys down there will give them as much help as is needed.

There is simply no sense that this is a level playing pitch and you have to be forgiven for thinking there’s one law for the rich and another for the poor.

Connell and Whelan were soft targets. The next time you see one of the major trainers giving a horse an "educational" run you can bet your bottom dollar no action will be taken. And that’s just a bit sickening.