Brian O’Connell and Kieren Fallon have plenty in common. Even though O’Connell is still in the early journey of his career as jockey he has already seen some personal high and lows, although not quite of the Himalayan proportions that have been strewn along the path that Fallon has trod.
They shared another experience last week in finding themselves on the receiving end of the wrath of people who should know better. In the case of O’Connell it was the comments made by betting pundit John McCririck during Channel 4’s Morning Line programme where he laid the blame for Dunguib’s defeat in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Tuesday squarely upon O’Connell’s young shoulders.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion but some just seem to abuse the privilege and McCririck could have been left in no doubt of the views of the weighing room just a few hours later. Davy Russell had just won the RSA on Weapons Amnesty and then gave McCririck both barrels when he said: “I was very disappointed with John McCririck this morning and the comments he made about Brian O’Connell in a cowardly fashion. I would like a public apology from him. Brian is only a lad trying to make his way in the game and that is all I have to say about it.”
Not much needs to be added except that anyone who watched Dunguib could not help but notice that the horse probably jumped just one of the eight hurdles with the sort of fluency expected of a top-rate hurdler. The rest were scrambled over in a manner that was only going to interrupt the flow and rhythm of his gallop, compromising his chances of winning the race.
A jockeys’ performance can be crucial but that looked a far more deep-rooted problem within the horse himself. There could be a justification for claiming that O’Connell took a wide course, rather than keeping close to the rail, but there is far more chance of finding trouble there as Fallon found out at Lingfield on Saturday.
Race-riding is hardly an exact science and the seven-furlong handicap produced a fairly simple chain reaction when Fallon’s mount, Elna Bright, was hampered and struck into. Fallon had no alternative but to take some form of avoiding action which then impeded The Scorching Wind, the 3-1 favourite.
So far another day at the races but then David Reynolds, a part-owner of The Scorching Wind, brought in a streak of malevolent comedy that was absent from the Marx Brothers original. The Lingfield stewards cleared Fallon of any blame over the interference but that was not enough for Reynolds.
As Fallon was unsaddling his horse, Reynolds threw a punch which left the jockey unmoved other than to say later: “He came up behind me when I was unsaddling but I'm all right - he hits like a girl. I don't know what it was about. Unfortunately, you are not able to retaliate, but I used to do some boxing in my younger days and I know how to defend myself. He needs to take some boxing lessons, anyway.”
Reynolds later expressed regret for his actions, although pointedly not about striking Fallon, and then attempted to justify himself when he was quoted as saying that Fallon “cost me the prize money and a substantial gamble.”
So, no greats concerns about his horse’s welfare? And what if the jockey who had been the subject of his ire had been Hayley Turner? Shall we avoid protestations that this is a gentleman who would no stoop to such an action?
Reynolds will now be summoned to appear before the British Horseracing Authority, facing a charge under its violent conduct rules, with the possibility of a one-year band from the sport. Doubtless there will be those who would consider that length of suspension as draconian but the BHA needs to consider this incident as something far more serious than a breach of etiquette.
Riders have often sorted out their own differences – usually within the privacy of the jockeys’ room – and one the most celebrated altercations between a trainer and a jockey took place at Ayr in 1990 when the redoubtable Jenny Pitman slapped Jamie Osborne, whom she believed guilty of dangerous riding. She was fined £200 for bringing racing into disrepute and the jockey would later conclude: “What can I say about her? She has got a great left hook.”
However, the Fallon incident raises serious implications. Unlike racecourses in many countries, where jockeys are kept well away from the public, the layout of many tracks in Britain and Ireland allow the public to get close to jockeys and trainers. This access can help cement the human element of the sport within the public’s affections and the child autograph hunter of today can be the paying customer of tomorrow for years to come.
However, that can only work if jockeys and trainers can feel that they are not about to fall prey to the next owner or racegoer with a hole in his pocket and only a misguided grudge to fill it.
Not a real problem? Think of Monica Seles, who was forced out of tennis for more than two years following an on-court attack in which a German spectator stabbed her in the back with a 10-inch-long knife in 1993. Still no real problem?
This is one fight that the BHA needs to tackle head-on if it wants to avoid the next one on a racecourse.
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