TRAINER James McAuley says the continued growth of rapeseed near his Co Dublin yard has prompted him to cease training, with no plans to return with a licence any time soon.

A number of trainers have spoken publicly in recent years about the threat posed to their horses by neighbouring fields of the crop, which typically is in bloom from late April to August. Some handlers have even relocated as a result of the crop that impacts equine wellbeing.

McAuley trained close to 70 winners in the last three years and was a regular fixture at Dundalk’s winter series. In fact, Ireland’s only all-weather venue was the scene of 37 winners for the Hilltop Stables trainer since the beginning of 2021.

Speaking to The Irish Field this week, McAuley said: “We’ve sold our horses on. We got rapeseed again beside us and we couldn’t face into it all again. We had the unfortunate incident where some of our horses got out onto the road a couple of years ago and then we had to deal with rapeseed both last year and this year. It was hard to carry on with that happening.

“Rapeseed is a real problem. We staggered on through it last year but it’s depressing for you and your staff to be dealing with the impact of it. You’re wondering whether you should be working your horses, finding horses who have burst [blood vessels] and it’s a case of bringing them up and down to the salt room trying to get them sorted out.”

Changing lanes

Hilltop Stables was built by McAuley’s uncle, Jim Gough, who took great enjoyment from the family’s successes on the track. McAuley has now taken a step back from the equine industry to focus on a role in the Viking Lodge Hotel in Dublin, a city centre business Gough is involved in.

“It’s allowing me to have a little more free time to spend with the kids, getting to see them grow up,” said McAuley.

“Other trainers have obviously had issues with rapeseed too; it just drives you mad. To be fair, the Irish Equine Centre has been doing massive surveys on the issue. They were out with us all last year and I think they have got some government funding to do research on the topic.

“The Irish Equine Centre has been putting real effort into testing how far this can be carried through the air from where the crop is growing.”