Grand National-winning trainer Richard Newland has suggested banning Irish-trained horses from UK races, after their recent dominance at Cheltenham.
Irish trainers won 18 of the 27 races at the recent festival, with Willie Mullins accounting for eight of those on his own, leaving British trainers aghast at how one-sided Cheltenham has become.
Newland, whose horse Pineau de De Re won the 2014 Grand National at Aintree, has now called for a radical and somewhat Brexit-y solution, to ensure greater success for British horses on the race track.
In a column for the Racing TV website, Newland refers to statement issued over the weekend by Julie Harrington, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), in which she said that "the Irish domination of the Grade 1 races this week has illustrated that the issue is becoming more pronounced and more damaging for the sport on both sides of the Irish Sea."
Harrington also pointed to a "lack of transparency," and Newland connected this to a recent BHA initiative in which Irish horses are tested jointly with the BHA, rather than the Irish regulatory alone.
This, according to Newland, "suggests a lack of trust in the Irish anti-doping approach, and maybe reflects the 'lack of transparency' that Julie refers to in her statement."
'British Horse Racing Chief Claims Irish Cheltenham Dominance Is 'Damaging' The Sport'
😬https://t.co/fPtF7BjO8g— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 17, 2024
Richard Newland calls for ban on Irish horses in the UK
Newland goes on to suggest that it's time to make Irish ineligible for "the majority of UK races," adding that he would personally have a blanket ban for all races.
"But if we allow the to race in the UK once a year," he writes. "Maybe let them be at the Cheltenham festival with perhaps one runner allowed per trainer in each race - not coming over every Saturday and winning everything."
Attendance figures at Cheltenham were down this year, leaving British horse racing figures sweating over a drop in interest due to the success of Irish-based horses.
Newland's suggestion is definitely a radical one and feels like sour grapes towards the booming Irish horse racing industry.
What next? Ireland getting banned from the Six Nations? Katie Taylor no longer being allowed to fight? John Kiely's all-conquering Limerick side being asked to down hurls?
Perhaps British horse racing should get its own house in order instead of gazing enviously across the Irish Sea.
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