Saturday’s Ebor victory for Magical Zoe at York coincided with Ryan Moore reaching 50 winners in Ireland this season at the Curragh and despite that the hot weekend topic was how the Willie Mullins-trained Arctic Fly won a chase at Killarney despite appearing not to jump one of the fences.
The Paul Townend-ridden mare ultimately won a Beginners contest at the Kerry track on Saturday by a head from the 14/1 outsider Ballywilliam Boy.
However, the focus of attention quickly went back to the second fence in the race when Arctic Fly ducked left and looked to crash through a gap between the wing of the fence and a birch upright protruding from the obstacle.
It was a hairy moment for the champion jockey who quickly reported to the stewards that Arctic Fly had jumped left. An enquiry was held where Townend said he had no warning Arctic Fly was going to jump left. He also said he was satisfied he’d taken the correct course and that he was “inconvenienced” by the mistake.
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The stewards concluded Arctic Fly had remained on the correct side of the bundle of birch at the start of the wing – which was obvious – and jumped inside the wing of the fence which was equally so. They took no further action, an option that wasn’t obvious at all to many at the track
On-course bookmaker Derek Baker commented to irishracing.com: “It is very hard to understand how they don’t reverse it, considering the horse definitely didn’t jump the fence and jumped to the left-hand-side of it.
“What are the rules – do you not have to jump a fence and still hold on to a race? In the betting ring, nobody could believe the decision wasn’t reversed and we were sure the second horse would be given the race.”
On Sunday, an IHRB spokesman had nothing to add to the stewards’ decision and said: “The race day stewards reviewed the incident, looked at the footage and made their decision.”
However, he pointed to the relevant Regulation Nine referenced by the Killarney stewards which states: “When dolls or spurs are being used, they will be used in conjunction with a bundle of birch on one end and this bundle of birch will be used to determine the correct course.”
It’s not the first controversial stewards’ decision at Killarney involving a Townend-ridden horse. Last year the Mullins-trained Saldier was allowed keep a race despite jumping into his rival Vina Ardanza at the final fence. The latter subsequently got the race on appeal.
That looked a relatively straightforward interpretation of the rules compared to this latest incident which appears to contain a significant grey area as to whether the winner followed a correct course by jumping the fence.
In other news, Ryan Moore’s superb strike rate in Ireland this season continued at the Curragh where a four-timer from four rides saw him reach a half-century there. The tally comes from just 129 rides and includes Los Angeles’s Irish Derby victory.
The English jockey’s four-timer included an eventual Debutante Stakes success for Bedtime Story that hardly chimed with her prohibitive 1/16 odds. Moore had to use the whip four times on the unbeaten daughter of Frankel who had just half a length in hand of her stable companion Exactly at the line.
In contrast, Henri Matisse was much visually impressive in the Group Two Futurity, quickening impressively from Hotazhell despite still showing clear sings of inexperience in the closing stages.
Aidan O’Brien pointed to the Moyglare at the Irish Champions Festival for Bedtime Story’s next start, a target that was perhaps a contributing factor in a performance that had none of the ‘wow factor’ of her Royal Ascot romp in the Chesham.
“We didn’t want to go too fast today as it was a prep for the next day. She has a lot of speed early and Ryan was lovely on her as we didn’t want to empty her out today,” he explained.
The National Stakes on the same Champions Festival programme is next for Henri Matisse who is three from three so far in his career.
Magical Zoe is as low as 14/1 in some lists for the Melbourne Cup after guaranteeing herself a spot in the Flemington highlight by landing the Ebor for trainer Henry de Bromhead. A trip Down Under is being considered by connections after the well-supported 11/2 favourite scored in style at York under Billy Lee.
