The British Horseracing Authority has welcomed comments by Denis Egan, the chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), which “clarified … that Denise Foster is now entirely responsible for the training of horses” at Cullentra House stables during Gordon Elliott’s six-month suspension.
Elliott’s licence was suspended by the IHRB’s referrals committee six days ago after a picture emerged on social media of him posing astride a dead horse on his gallops in 2019. Foster, who previously trained a small string of horses nearby in County Meath, took over responsibility for Cullentra House on Tuesday, but without any conditions attached to her licence regarding Elliott’s role, if any, in day-to-day operations.
A statement on Elliott’s Twitter account on Saturday said he would be “available to assist [Foster] as she requires”. Though swiftly deleted, it led to speculation that Elliott could remain in effective charge of the 300-horse stable before the Cheltenham Festival next week, when Cullentra House will field a large team of runners. Those concerns diminished, however, when Egan told the Racing Post that Foster “is fully responsible for everything that takes place at the yard” and that “Gordon is not supposed to be involved in training”.
Despite Foster’s lack of experience with such a large string – and the fact that Elliott has a house at the yard – the IHRB anticipates that her level of involvement will be similar to that of leading trainers Henry de Bromhead and Willie Mullins, who took over the training of several horses from Cullentra House shortly after the image of Elliott emerged. This would mean that Elliott is available to answer questions about specific horses, but “in relation to the day-to-day training, [Foster] is responsible for everything that goes on up there and she’s given a commitment to that effect”.
While it remains unclear if the IHRB has communicated this formally to its British counterpart, a BHA spokesperson said on Thursday: “We welcome the comments from the IHRB chief executive which have clarified the position to make clear that Denise Foster is now entirely responsible for the training of horses based at Cullentra.
“As the licensing authority, it is now for the IHRB to enforce the suspension in line with the outcome of last Friday’s hearing which placed the sanction clearly on Mr Elliott. Assurances have also been provided that Gordon Elliott Racing will not be promoted at Cheltenham or other courses in Great Britain whilst in the care of Denise Foster.”
The IHRB, meanwhile, also published further details on Thursday of a referrals committee hearing on Wednesday into the case of Rob James, an amateur rider who steered Elliott’s Native Milan to victory at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. A video of James briefly climbing on to a horse which had died next to a gallop emerged two days after the picture of Elliott started to circulate on social media.
James, who lost his riders’ licence for four months with a further eight months suspended at Wednesday’s hearing, told the panel that he was 22 at the time of the incident in August 2016 and riding work for the trainer Colin Bowe. He had been asked to assist with the removal of the horse, Three Hail Marys, which had died of a heart attack while exercising, and that a “senior member of staff” encouraged him to jump on the horse.
Lingfield Park 12.30 Stopnsearch 1.00 Caribeno 1.30 Rafiki 2.05 Going Places (nap) 2.40 Say It As It Is 3.15 Axel Jacklin 3.50 Martineo
Sandown 1.55 Song Of The Hunter 2.30 Dostal Phil (nb) 3.05 Lecale’s Article 3.40 Frero Banbou 4.15 Bard Of Brittany 4.45 Sexy Lot
Leicester 2.20 Espoir De Romay 2.55 Monsieur Lecoq 3.30 Lots Of Luck 4.05 Cobra Commander 4.35 Colonel Keating 5.10 Tango De Juilly
Wolverhampton 4.10 Miracle Garden 4.40 Andre Amar 5.15 Kath’s Toyboy 5.45 Twice Adaay 6.15 Sea The Shells 6.45 Sky Bright 7.15 Star Ascending 7.45 Dawn Treader 8.15 Katheefa
Being “young and naive”, James said that he “reacted to the peer pressure and did so for a couple of seconds before patting the mare as he got off her”. This, he added, “was an attempt to show some respect having immediately realised what he had done”. James also told the panel that while it was “a stupid act”, it was “not one that he would try to defend as that would only add insult to injury but he did immediately recognise his wrongdoing”.
Colin Tizzard, who enjoyed the biggest success of a hugely successful career when Native River won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2018, said on Thursday that he expects to hand over his licence to his son, Joe, at the end of the season.
“Joe will be on the licence soon,” Tizzard said. “I don’t fancy [a joint licence for] Colin and Joe. I’m 65 [and] it won’t change anything, I’ll still argue with him every morning. He deserves to go on as you don’t want to go on too late in life.
“He is doing a good job and [retirement] was always going to be 65. I’ve got other things I wouldn’t mind doing. I don’t want to wake up every morning worrying about horses all the time. He should be on [the licence] by next season. It won’t change one iota as Joe is doing more and more. He deserves to have his name at the top.”
Friday’s best bets
Dostal Phil (2.30) and Sexy Lot (4.45) make plenty of appeal as Sandown’s Imperial Cup meeting gets underway on Friday, as both can be marked up on their latest efforts and have obvious chances on earlier form.
The best bet of the day, though, may be Going Places (2.05) on the all-weather card at Lingfield, for the in-form team of Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle.
Trainer and jockey have teamed up for five wins from nine so far in March, and Going Places ran well to finish third last time despite racing freely throughout. He is lightly-raced for a five-year-old and a mark of 89 could prove to be lenient if Doyle can get him to settle a little better.
Cobra Commander (4.05) and Star Ascending (7.15) make most appeal at Leicester and Wolverhampton respectively.
