RICH Ricci has called on the racing authorities to do more to help smaller owners and trainers compete with the giants of Irish racing, but he says placing restrictions on the number of horses that the big players can run in races would backfire.

Ricci was speaking at The Owners Awards in Kildare last Saturday night. In a 15-minute speech, he addressed a number of hot topics including the sustainability of Government funding, the Brexit threat and governance issues in Irish racing.

On the subject of the domination of Irish racing by a small pool of powerful owners, including himself, Ricci said: “I do understand some of the frustration around competition, the day-to-day racing and the finding and buying of quality horses. We can’t ignore it, people are talking about it and it’s a real issue.”

He suggested that auction race series, such as the Irish EBF ones sponsored on the flat by Foran Equine and over jumps by Connolly’s Red Mills, should be expanded.

He said he supported the replacement of “a whole series of winners of one and two races which used to be farmed by certain yards and certain owners, our colours included” with more competitive races for lower rated and often less expensive animals.

GOOD FOR THE GAME

“Interestingly, while I was against that programme at the start, it also had an impact on the quality of pattern races, particularly in the jumps game in Ireland, because the horses who used to go to the winners of one and two to pick up the easy money are now having to play in graded and listed races, which is good for the game.”

Syndicates similar to the model used by the ‘It’s All About The Girls’ group should be developed, he said.

“However, one thing that we shouldn’t do, and I feel very strongly about this, is develop policies that penalise success. Racing, at its heart, is about the best taking on the best and figuring out who is the best. Trying to restrict numbers of horses in races from owners or trainers simply is against the heart of that principle. And anything we do that, I think, would threaten that basic tenement of racing would have a negative effect on racing.”

PUBLIC IMAGE

Ricci also advised that more needs to be done to improve the public image of the industry. “There remains a perception that while we have made progress across the board in governance and regulation we need to continue to make it an area of investment and attention. In an industry that is supported and so closely associated with gambling, as well as been supported by the public purse here in Ireland, perception is vital.

“We need to be aware how we choose our next chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, how we apply and consistently apply our Rules of Racing, stewards’ decisions and punishments, how we communicate and enforce our new anti-doping policy, and the transparency around referrals, hearings and appeals, will form a prism through which our governance and regulations will be viewed.”