Russell cautioned for Tramore incident
BY MARK BOYLAN12:49PM 26 AUG 2017
Davy Russell has been cautioned for the incident at Tramore last Friday in which he punched Kings Dolly on the head.
A Turf Club inquiry held before racing at Killarney on Saturday determined there would be no further punishment for the rider over the incident before the start of a mares' handicap hurdle.
Russell, who represented himself, appeared before a referrals committee of the Turf Club, which considered whether he was in breach of rule 272(i), which relates to "conduct or behaviour [...] which is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horse racing".
Shay Quinn, who presented the case for the Turf Club, said: "Davy was found in breach of rule 272, which is acting in a prejudicial manner to the proper conduct and integrity of horse racing. The panel considered his record in coming to their decision and cautioned him concerning his future responsibilities in this regard."
Social media storm
The incident went largely unnoticed at first but later created a storm on social media after a video was widely circulated.
In it, Russell's mount Kings Dolly is shown approaching the 'show' hurdle - an obstacle riders show their horses before the race - at speed, coming to an abrupt halt that lifted Russell briefly out of the saddle.
Russell then appeared to strike the horse on the back of the head with his right fist.
Denis Egan, chief executive of The Turf Club, said: "The hearing lasted about 25 minutes and Davy gave very fair evidence. He set out what had happened on the way down to the hurdle, which was that he felt his horse was not paying attention.
"He said if he'd have his life to live over again he'd have let the horse jump the hurdle and deal with the consequences of that.
"He said he couldn't use his whip because that would also have been a breach of the rules, so to get the horse to concentrate he did what he did, which was strike the horse on the soft part just behind the head with his fist - and he actually had his whip in his hand when he did that.
"He accepted he was totally wrong and was very remorseful for what he did. I have absolutely no doubt that he won't do it again."
Russell: I felt I didn't cross the line
Speaking to At The Races on Saturday afternoon, Russell said: "It's a relief that it's over and done with and myself and my family can move on. It was an unfortunate incident that maybe got misinterpreted by the general public and that's the way the stewards felt today. It's great to move onwards and upwards now.
"Visually it doesn't look good but there were a number of things going through my head then, what I could have done, maybe bring the filly back under control because at that point she was out of control and I felt if I had to continue in that vein in the race I'd have had a very difficult time trying to control her in the race."
He added: "I felt I needed to do something to let her know there was someone on her back and a slap to the soft of the neck I thought was the appropriate action.
"Obviously we're in a difficult position because there's a line there that you don't need to cross, I felt that I hadn't crossed it and that I needed to take some action to get her to pay attention to what she was doing. Otherwise if we don't do that the whole thing runs riot and you'll have horses everywhere."
Egan: Russell was genuinely remorseful
Regarding the decision to give Russell a caution, Egan said: "The panel have plenty of discretion as to what sort of a penalty they could issue. In this case based on the evidence that was given, they felt a caution was the appropriate penalty.
"Davy was genuinely remorseful - he's a very sympathetic horseman as we all know and he came across in that manner and with remorse at the hearing.
"I think a caution is a sufficient deterrent because I think the next time somebody comes in the circumstances may be different - every case is looked at on its merits - and the stewards/referrals committee have complete discretion as to what penalty should be issued.
"The penalty they impose will always fit the crime in their view and we had a very experienced committee in there this morning and their view was that a caution was an appropriate penalty."
Egan conceded the incident could have been dealt with quicker but added: "We had a number of things to do before we actually dealt with the case.
"The video was obviously the key piece of evidence but we also spoke to the trainer of the horse, Roger McGrath, who confirmed there were absolutely no ill-effects on the mare, as well as Davy.
"I do appreciate the vacuum gave an opportunity for the problem to get bigger and bigger but hopefully it's been dealt with fairly. The most important thing is that Davy has learned his lesson and I don't think he will do anything similar again."
The panel was made up of Con O'Mahony, Philip McLernon and Michael Doyle
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