O'Gorman ban completely inadequate
January 29th, 2010 by Gary O BrienIt’s hard to believe that there has been so little coverage of Thursday’s decision by the Turf Club to warn off John O’Gorman, an employee of trainer Charles Byrnes, for four months after he was found to have laid a number of the stable’s horses over an eight month period in 2008. This is without question one of the biggest stories to have broken in Irish racing for a long time ; the first case of its type to have been dealt with in this country following several high-profile instances in Britain in recent years, and one whose outcome has serious repercussions for any future breaches of the rule concerned.
For those of you not aware of the facts, O’Gorman placed a total of nine separate lay bets on Betfair on Byrnes-trained runners between May and December in the year in question – and there are several high profile names amongst them, most notably Champion Hurdle favourite Solwhit. Many will recall the day the now five-time Grade 1 winner emerged from the fog to win a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse in November ’08 under Tom Doyle – who has not ridden for the yard since – and it proved a particularly costly victory for O’Gorman’s account, which suffered a hit of over €8,600. Certainly a lot of money for a man working in a profession not exactly associated with lavish salaries, and supposedly the catalyst for the authorities to act.
This was not the fist time that he had been prepared to risk a four-figure loss though. His two previous lays, on Merchent Paddy at Gowran Park and Twofan at Fairyhouse, meant significant liabilities (for relatively small gain) if either had even been placed but fortunately for him neither was sighted. His final venture once again concerned Solwhit, this time a long odds-on favourite in a three-horse race, at Thurles’ pre-Christmas fixture. The star hurdler could manage only second behind Ninetieth Minute, who was meeting him on 9lb worse than handicap terms, but the big question is why the marked difference in stakes? On that occasion O’Gorman would have been out of pocket to the tune of just €46 had he got it wrong. Maybe that was all he could afford after Fairyhouse, or maybe his confidence was low after that earlier setback, but until then his judgement had been little short of inspired. Or perhaps there is another explanation.
Byrnes himself has polarised opinion amongst punters ever since the infamous Laetitia incident, where the aforementioned mare failed to go past heavily-supported stable-companion Alpha Royale in a Cork bumper, but all the indications are that he couldn’t care less what people think of him. He has continued to make his name chiefly through landing gambles, one of them with the very same Laetitia at a time when she was meant to be suspended from racing, exploiting a ridiculous loophole in the appeals procedure. It will be interesting to see the reaction should Solwhit continue his winning streak at Cheltenham in March.
Everyone can read between the lines and draw their own conclusions, but what is surely beyond dispute is that the Turf Club has missed a golden opportunity to send a message to the Irish racing public that when exposed this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated. A lengthy disqualification – five years minimum – would at least have acted as some sort of deterrent for other potential wrong-doers, but instead they have dished out a penalty that would justifiably be regarded as risible across the water. We are told that “O’Gorman’s admission of the rules breach at an early stage and his full co-operation with the enquiry” was a major factor in what can only be described as the leniency shown by the three-member referrals committee, but what else could he do? Deny what is there in black and white? As it is he merely has to give the racecourse a miss until May (did he go racing much anyway?), while possibly even continuing to work for Byrnes, before returning as if nothing has happened. The committee concluded that O’Gorman’s actions “seriously damaged the integrity of racing”. If, as surely few would argue, that is indeed the case the ‘punishment’ is completely inadequate.
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Categories: Horse racing
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