A DREAM To Share has been given an official handicap mark of 103 by the handicapper following an appeal by connections. To put the rating in context, the mark is 1lb lower than recent listed race winner Chally Chute and 2lb lower than dual listed winner Harbour Wind who carries top weight in a premier handicap at Leopardstown today.

A dual Grade 1 bumper winner in 2023, A Dream To Share has been campaigned on the flat this year following two disappointing hurdle outings.

Following two runs over seven furlongs and a mile, the seven-year-old gelding won a Leopardstown qualified riders’ maiden over 15 furlongs in June but the senior flat handicapper Garry O’Gorman declined to give the horse a handicap mark as he felt he did not have enough information to do so with confidence.

That decision in June was not appealed at the time by connections but the horse’s trainers John and Thomas Kiely believe that the situation changed later in the season, following subsequent runs by horses who had finished behind A Dream To Share at Leopardstown.

Last month, the Kielys successfully appealed against the handicapper’s continued refusal to give their horse a handicap mark and this week the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board published the reasons behind the verdict returned by the Handicapping Appeals Body. Chaired by Mr Justice Peter Kelly, the Appeals Body included Mr Justice Tony Hunt and Anthony Byrne. They considered submissions from retired British handicapper Phil Smith and barrister Graeme McPherson as part of the Kielys’ appeal, along with observations from O’Gorman.

Discretion

It was acknowledged that the handicapper has a “very wide discretion” when it comes to issuing handicap marks but that this right can be challenged.

On behalf of the appelants, Smith noted that almost all the other horses who contested the Leopardstown race had been given official ratings.

In his observations, the handicapper said he “cannot be unaware” that the horse in question is a dual Grade 1 winner under National Hunt rules and that the decision to race the horse over seven furlongs and a mile on the flat “raised eyebrows”. O’Gorman also referred to a conversation he had with A Dream To Share’s former owner about how that owner would campaign the horse if he still owned it.

In response, the apellants claimed that none of those points should be taken into account when deciding on a flat handicap mark for the horse.

A Dream To Share was also denied a handicap mark in Britain, but it appears that this is only because the horse did not have a published Irish mark. A submission from BHA handicap ombudsman David Cleary proposed a mark of 104, based on a Leopardstown performance rating of 94, plus 10lb to reflect the horse’s ease of victory.

O’Gorman acknowledged that a figure of 104 might be close to his own assessment but it was a figure he would not be comfortable defending if it was appealed, and so, in arriving at his decision not to issue a handicap mark, he felt he was “damned if you do and damned if you don’t”.

In reaching their conclusion, the Appeals Body said: “This Body is of opinion that, in effect, the handicapper had come to the conclusion that he had sufficient information to award a handicap mark but declined to do so because of his concern as to what might happen on appeal. A handicapper ought to award a handicap mark in accordance with the provisions of the rules, taking into account only the best form of the horse. What might or what might not happen on appeal is not a relevant matter to take into account.

“Although that handicap mark would be based on only one run (the first two flat runs being rightly disregarded), this would not be impermissible or inappropriate. It follows that the refusal of a handicap mark was, in the circumstances, unreasonable and cannot stand.”

John and Thomas Kiely declined to comment on the handicap mark or future plans for A Dream To Share when contacted by The Irish Field on Friday.