THE stewards could do more to help trainers from going out of business, according to Michael Grassick, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association.
He was reacting to statistics issued this week which showed that the number of licensed trainers continues to fall, particularly in National Hunt racing.
“Based simply on field sizes, the problem appears to be worse in National Hunt,” Grassick said. “You regularly see jumps races failing to fill, whereas there is always big numbers at Dundalk and frequent balloting there.”
He predicts more ‘medium-sized’ trainers will continue to leave the profession and suggested a number of measures which should be taken to improve matters.
“The fines being imposed [by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board] for technical rule breaches, such as proof of vaccinations and passport irregularities, are unreasonably high at €350.”
The number of ‘vaccinations not in order’ cases rose from 86 to 140 last year but Denis Egan, IHRB chief executive, denied that the fines were a money-making exercise.
“All passport fines are avoidable if passports are checked by trainers before coming to the races,” he said.
“There were difficulties with this at the end of 2017 but we are seeing an improvement in the past couple of months.
“Any money we take in fines is offset against the integrity funding we receive, so there is no net benefit to the IHRB.”
Grassick also pointed to the recent racecourse improvement schemes and said that stabling facilities are not getting enough attention. He cited Tramore, Thurles, Wexford and Clonmel as tracks urgently in need of work on their stables.
“Ballinrobe is an example of what can be done by a small track with just a handful of fixtures. If they can do it right, so should the others.”
Returning to the licence numbers, Denis Egan said there was only one applicant for the upcoming trainers’ course. “We run a course every six months and there are 10 places on it. Usually there is a waiting list but at the moment we only have one application and the cut-off date is March 16th.”
“The fall in National Hunt trainers’ licences is very worrying,” he said. “It is now at its lowest level in many years.”
TRAINING FEES
Grassick believes it is vital that Horse Racing Ireland moves forward with the trainers’ proposal to automatically deduct training fees from owners’ HRI accounts.
“This would give some certainty to trainers in being paid and would be a huge help,” he said.
The Association of Irish Racehorse Owners has expressed reservations over the move and Grassick says the Turf Club has given them “very little co-operation” on the matter. He appealed to both organisations to support the initiative.
Egan also confirmed yesterday that the IHRB’s whip review committee will reconvene to consider the penalty structure for whip offences.
“In 2017 there were 169 whip-related stewards’ enquiries, up from 131 the previous year.
“There seem to be more horses being marked, for whatever reason,” he said. “The Pro-Cush whips do not mark horses, so it is puzzling.”
Andrew Coonan, executive secretary of the Irish Jockeys Association commented: “On the face of it, the increase in the number of whip enquiries is not significantly different from the 2015 statistics [160 enquiries], but possibly reflects a more stringent approach being taken by the Regulatory Body.”