Turf Club defends its handling of Ted Walsh Foxrock case

The Turf Club's chief executive believes the credibility of racing's regulatory body hasn't been affected by the outcome of the 'Foxrock' controversy which on Thursday resulted in trainer and TV pundit Ted Walsh being cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the running and riding of the horse he trains at Punchestown last December.

Video evidence

In a case reopened by the

Turf Club

on the back of fresh video evidence, Walsh appeared before a referrals committee hearing last month in relation to how Foxrock appeared to be wearing both front shoes immediately after the Punchestown race yet at a stewards enquiry that day it was reported those shoes had been lost during the race.

The committee’s report concluded it had been faced with a choice of two scenarios. One was that the horse lost its shoes during a short period after the race.

The other was that the shoes were deliberately removed by the trainer and his assistants in the same period in order to mislead a steward’s enquiry.

The report wound up fully exonerating Walsh.

The Turf Club's judgment in re-opening the case on what appeared to be largely circumstantial evidence has been criticised but that criticism has been rejected by chief executive Denis Egan.

“The referrals committee reports says there was an answerable case and that we were correct to take the case, based on the responses Ted gave to us in January,” he said.

“So I don’t believe the Turf Club’s credibility has been damaged in any way.”