MONEY makes the world go around. So sang Liza Minnelli in the musical Cabaret, and how right she was. On the other hand, lack of money is a curse and causes trouble of all kinds.

The proposal by the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association to have owners’ bills paid through Horse Racing Ireland is meeting with some initial opposition. However, the proposal is necessitated by the fact that so many trainers in Ireland are struggling to make ends meet, and some of this pressure is coming from the non- or late-payment of bills. What is a trainer to do?

As in many such situations in life, measures like these are proposed because the few spoil it for the many. Any trainer will tell you that they have many loyal owners who never let them down. Trainers at the top of the pile can be choosy about the owners they take on, knowing how reliable they are. Trainers with less profile sometimes have to take chances.

It takes just a few bad apples to spoil the barrel and it is to insure against these owners getting away with non-payment of bills that the trainers are forced to seek some secure method of making sure they get paid. While good owners might feel that they don’t need to become part of such a regime, with consultation and negotiation between both bodies I am certain a formula can be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction. Paramount in any agreement would be the need for absolute discretion and security about the arrangements between individual owners and trainers. If this is achieved then owners would surely have no worries about paying their accounts through a third-party body. Keeping the sport and business afloat is key in this issue and the money which emanates in the first instance from owners can then more securely trickle down to everyone who works in the sector.

APPOINTMENT

Recent staff changes within The Irish Field see Caitriona Murphy vacate her role with Irish Horse World, our sport horse section and she is joining our sister paper, the Irish Farmers’ Journal. We wish her well.

We are delighted to say that Isabel Hurley is to become the new editor of Irish Horse World with immediate effect. Isabel has a long association with the paper and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role. Under her guidance she aims to provide the highest quality of news, reports and coverage of all equestrian events.