Monday’s Thoughts: geegeez.co.uk suspension

When is a suspension not a suspension? writes Tony Stafford. When it is given to the Irish coach, even if on the second attempt the authorities try to add some sting to a punishment that was originally deemed insufficient. It looks like it is little more than a slap on the ankles in reality.

A few years ago we had the Gordon Elliott episode when Ireland’s second best showjumping trainer had to surrender his licence. As her stable was conveniently close by, Mrs Denise Foster, chosen to run the Cullentra Stables, had the authorities rubber stamp his transfer and approve it. She recorded 17 and 32 wins in 2020/21 and 2021/22, which included Elliott’s 12 month ban.

A licensee since 1997/98, Denise must have shown Gordon something the stats didn’t reveal. Her season tallies since that opening date are 0, 0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 4, 2, 0, 1 and 1. Since Elliott, things have gone back to normal, with tallies of 2, 2 and 0 so far in the early stages of the 2024/25 campaign.

As such, Ms. Foster has recorded a total of 38 wins over 26 seasons, compared to 49 in the segments of seasons that Gordon left her with.

I remember thinking at the time that maybe there should be a “cooling off” period, when – say, the next season – the returning trainer could look for new owners – and horses to train for them – but the animals left with a replacement, and clearly not a “serious” trainer like Elliott or Willie Mullins, would have to find somewhere else to train their horses during that period. Maybe even stay with the “comfortable other” who had them before that period.

At least Elliott was fully remorseful for his actions and vowed never to do something like that again, and he certainly came back, keeping his promise. Now he’s shooting again, and although he didn’t manage to take the championship away from Willie Mullins, as seemed possible in the past, he’s still doing decently. This was something that seemed most unlikely at the height of his “dead galloping horse” infamy.

If Elliott’s ban had its irritating elements during the Foster months, even more so was the brief suspension of Charles Byrnes, the king of invisible gambling. He lost his ticket but was still allowed to drive his horses around the paddock while one of his sons held the license and the other rode him to victory. How much of this was “untraining” the horse?

But now Tony Martin has eclipsed it all with victory over Alphonse Le Grande on Saturday in the Northumberland Vase, the Northumberland Plate consolation race in Newcastle.

Initially handed a suspended six-month ban for their third doping offence in four years, the Irish athletes relented in the face of criticism of the lenient sentence and imposed three of the six-month bans, which will come into effect on 15 May.

Martin therefore had time to bring Alphonse Le Grande to Chester about a week early to secure a valuable consolation race for the Chester Cup, and after his performance there, few expected anything other than another success and almost 40,000 on Saturday at Newcastle . pounds of additional prize money in the UK for this long-distance runner, whose partner is Hollie Doyle.

It was almost laughable how easy it was, and it was also notable because trainer Cathy O’Leary had her first Flat winner in 15 years and only her fourth in 20 seasons with a license. And who is Mrs. O’Leary? Tony Martin’s sister, of course!

Unlike Mrs. O’Leary, Denise Foster’s career was almost prolific.

The sight of Martin standing alongside several winning owners and Hollie Doyle on the podium evoked a ‘Sod you fly’ attitude. I’m not sure if it was before or after the presentation that one of the owners, when asked about the plan, said, “Let’s give it a few weeks and then we’ll sit down with Tony.” At this stage, Martin’s ban would last for a month – no official coach was mentioned.

Martin would no doubt be keen to target next month’s Ebor at York, with its huge prize money. He won it eight years ago with Heartbreak City, a half-brother to Geegeez.co.uk money monger Coquelicot, but having won here by 81 points he would need at least a huge climb to get into the York race and even then that would be a stretch.

Perhaps Goodwood’s prized coral handicap of 1m6f will be an obvious target, with the winner able to offer another potential £51k. pounds. This would mean a £4 penalty for York, but unless the first increase is more extravagant than it is likely to be, even after winning at Goodwood he is likely to remain on the sidelines. Never mind that Tone, a richly endowed Irish Cesarewitch worth £324,000 to the winner last year and a race he would probably run in the 1990s, would be the way to go.

After his ban, in an interview reflecting on his career, Gordon Elliott said: “When I first sat on a horse for Tony Martin 30 years ago, I could never have imagined what lay ahead.” Perhaps his young first employer at the time couldn’t have either.

There was sanity in Ireland’s premier Classic yesterday as Los Angeles battled to improve on his form from Epsom and Ambiente Friendly secured a 16th victory in the race for Aidan O’Brien and co-owner Michael Tabor.

The pair battled it out in the final stretch and it was not until the final half-furlong that Los Angeles and Ryan Moore got the better of a stalwart, ridden by Rab Havlin, to claim the €712,000 first prize. Late on, the fast-finishing Sunway, in partnership with Oisin Murphy and David Menuisier, overtook Ambiente Friendly. Fourth-placed Matsuri, Roger Varian/James Doyle, also fared well. This late run increased Sunway’s prize from €112,000 to €237,000.

Initially, the result will be a major boost to his Derby form, with City of Troy securing his placed pair well, giving him the confidence to beat the older riders in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.

But Sunway’s performance, on his seventh last start in the Prix du Jockey Club, is also an advertisement for the unbeaten winner of that race, Look De Vega. In keeping with traditional Gallic custom, this potential champion may do the French favourite thing this summer – wait for the Arc while the other main contenders pore over Sandown, Ascot and York. Intriguing.

– TS

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