To get to the absolute peak of sport – or maybe anything in life – you have to be willing and/or able to operate on the edge or most likely go over it.
Though it will be of little succor to the people of Clare this week, there’s little doubt Nickie Quaid knew exactly what he was doing in ‘dealing with’ Peter Duggan and if he were on my team in the same scenario I’d expect him to do the exact same.
But here’s the thing, at what point does simply working the system end and crossing the line begin? In the context of what will follow hereafter, that pondering can be directed in any sporting way you like.
Could anybody honestly vouch, with 100% certainty, that there’s a single sport in the world that hasn’t been touched by Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) at some point?
Yes, even GAA. I have always suspected there was one match result in particular that had more to it than the rudiments of what went on between the lines. In the context of what you will read hereafter, if there was ever any doubt as to the idea of a two tier system in society permeating sport, the Brains Trust within Irish racing produced another pitiful trailer load of evidence to the affirmative.
That being Co Galway trainer Pat Kelly having his licence suspended “Until further notice”. Now, my understanding is the suspension relates to something to do with shortcomings in record keeping.
If such is the case, it merely underscores inclination that the power brokers always go after the small operators for what are mere trivialities while, if you’ve a ‘name’ certain matters can rapidly become invisible.
Two cases in point. A few years ago, Kilcock trainer David Broad – who, at the time, might have had a half dozen horses in training, was fined €3,000 under the convoluted non triers rule and had the horse suspended.
Then, our own trainer got fined the same amount, the horse (not ours) banned for 60 days and the jockey concerned getting an unexpected 21 day holiday.
Place that against a set of circumstances where: (a) Skulduggery is actually captured on camera taking place, (b) one of sport’s greatest ambassadors making rather serious allegations against other pillars thereof, and not a thing done about it.
And (c) one of the most venerated figures within the sport being blatantly found to have transgressed at the more serious end of the scale and while yes, a suspension was imposed in respective of same, it was akin to telling Santa Claus he couldn’t work in a heatwave.
So the mind boggles as to what was so egregrious in the view of the powerful so as to decree that Pat Kelly should be debarred from operating as a trainer for an indetermined period.
Now, Pat might be a small trainer but he has proven himself to be as good as any of the big operators having had Cheltenham winners – including the great Presenting Percy – for Philip J. Reynolds.
Racing is known as The Sport Of Kings – in other words, for the wealthy and in some cases famous. However, people like Pat Kelly and the Bowe family and the Bradstocks and Anthony Knott in the UK have repeatedly proven that anybody should be entitled to chase their dream.
The great pity is that governance within the sport doesn’t always guarantee a level playing field for everybody.
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