The Turf Club has confirmed that it will be referring trainer Declan Queally and rider Barry John Foley to the Referrals Committee to answer fresh charges over the running of Cloudy Morning at Gowran Park on March 11th.

Sent off at 25/1 the horse finished a modest second to the odds-on favourite General Principle and just in front of the only other finisher, Turnofthesun.

Today the Turf Club published the official report on last Monday’s Appeals Body hearing which saw Queally and Foley cleared of breaching a subsection of the newly-worded Rule 212, commonly referred to as the ‘non-triers rule’. Queally had been fined €2,000 and Foley banned for five days.

Also on Monday trainer Matthew Smith and Andrew Lynch went before the Appeals Body to contest similar penalties over the running and riding of the third-placed Turninthesun in the same Gowran Park race. Smith won his appeal but Lynch’s five-day ban was not lifted and the horse remains suspended for 42 days.

Both the official releases are published below and a further update will be published in The Irish Field next weekend.

B.J. Foley (Rider)/Declan Queally (Trainer)/Cloudy Morning Appeals Gowran Park, 11th March 2017

The Appeals Body (Division One) Joseph Finnegan (in the Chair), N.B. Wachman and Peter N. Reynolds met at the Turf Club, The Curragh, Co Kildare on Monday, 27th March 2017 to consider the appeals of B.J. Foley, Rider and Declan Queally, Trainer against the decision of the Stewards at Gowran Park on 11th March 2017.

On the day, following the running of the HPR Fleet Management Beginners Steeplechase, the Stewards found there was a breach of Rule 212A(ii) and fined Declan Queally €2,000, Cloudy Morning was suspended for 42 days and B.J. Foley was suspended for 5 race days and ordered to forfeit his riding fee. Appeals were lodged by both parties.

The grounds of appeal were “inter alia that B.J. Foley made reasonable and adequate effort to ensure the horse obtained his best possible placing in circumstances where his horse was unable to keep up with the early gallop of two significantly superior horses but was getting in position to deliver a challenge, if good enough, when making a bad mistake at the third last.

Furthermore B.J. Foley cajoled, coaxed and encouraged Cloudy Morning, who is known to be a difficult ride, through the race and succeeded in getting him to finish in second place.”

Evidence was heard from B.J. Foley, Declan Queally and Michael Grassick (Chief Executive Irish Racehorse Trainers Association). Film of the race at Gowran Park on 11th March 2017 was viewed, as was the horse’s previous performances at Wexford on 30th October and 22nd November 2016.

The Appeals Body also reviewed the transcript of evidence from the original enquiry at Gowran Park on 11th March 2017.

In his evidence B.J. Foley initially outlined his riding experience. He then referred to Cloudy Morning and said he had schooled and ridden work on the horse prior to his run at Thurles on 9th February 2017.

He described Cloudy Morning as a quirky horse who wears a visor and who can lose interest in a race. He said he was pleased with the horse’s run at Thurles but the horse did not run as well at Navan on his previous run which he attributed to changed tactics, as he had tried to make the running on the horse but this did not work out well. As a result the horse got tired in the straight. He described the ground as being heavy at Navan which was similar to the ground at Gowran Park.

Mr Foley said his instructions were to drop in on the horse and get him to travel and finish in the best possible placing without hitting the horse. He noted there were two highly rated horses in the race. In relation to the race itself, he said that General Principle and Dicosimo made the running and that they went very quick early on. He said Cloudy Morning travelled and jumped well but that he did not take the horse out of his comfort zone during the race.

After the fall of Dicosimo he felt he could win the race if General Principle fell in the latter stages of the race but unless that occurred he felt that second was the best possible placing he could attain. Prior to the race he was hoping his mount would finish third, as the two favourites had a far higher rating than Cloudy Morning.

With regard to winning the race, Mr Foley said he never thought he could win the race at any stage but that he would have used his stick after the last fence if required.

Mr Foley described how he rode the horse during the race and said it would not have been wise to chase the leader (General Principle) at an early stage on the heavy ground. He reiterated that he rode the horse to keep him in his comfort zone and if he went any faster the horse would not have travelled. He said he gave his horse a chance of winning at the fourth last fence and that he was as close to the winner at the third last as he was at the finishing line.

When put to Mr Foley by Shay Quinn, on behalf of the Turf Club, that he could not see where Mr Foley made a genuine attempt to obtain from the horse timely, real and substantial efforts and that he was more concerned at finishing second than chasing the leader, Mr Foley replied by saying he did not chase the horse for the horse’s welfare and for his own welfare.

He said the horse did not run on at Navan when he was bullied during that race. He said he would not have obtained his best possible placing if he had chased the winner.

Mr Foley also referred to the horse’s inferior rating over hurdles of 111 as compared to the winner’s rating over fences of 144. He said that Cloudy Morning had won low grade handicap hurdles off low ratings but that he was not competitive over hurdles off his new rating of 111.

In summing up his evidence, Mr Foley said that if he went earlier on his mount, he would have jeopardised finishing second and he also pointed out a mistake the horse made at the third last fence which cost him 4 to 5 lengths. He said his horse ran above himself in the race at Gowran Park.

In his evidence Declan Queally said he had 14 to 15 horses in training and he decided at Christmas to switch Cloudy Morning to fences. He said he only ran the horse in Gowran Park to win prizemoney. Mr Queally confirmed that the instructions from Navan were changed and the best way of getting prizemoney was to “fool him along”.

He said he was delighted the horse finished second and that he was never going to beat the winner. In response to queries from Shay Quinn, Mr Queally said he had no problem running the horse regularly as he is a tough campaigner. He said he ran the horse at Gowran Park because there was a shortage of 3 mile chases for beginners.

He accepted that B.J. Foley could have used his whip after jumping the last fence but it would have been pointless to use the whip any earlier. In his evidence Michael Grassick referred to the way the horse was ridden and said that he was being held on to, so as he would get to the finish.

He referred to the bad mistake at the third last fence which took the horse out of his comfort zone and that Cloudy Morning had finished closer to the winner than he should have on the book.

In view of the evidence presented, the Appeals Body found the offence was not made out to affirm the findings of the Stewards at Gowran Park and as a result allowed the appeals. The case was presented by Cliodhna Guy, Solicitor and Shay Quinn, Stewards Secretary. B.J. Foley and Declan Queally were represented by Kevin Power, Maurice Power Solicitors, Kilmallock, Co Limerick.

Andrew Lynch (Rider)/Matthew Smith (Trainer)/Theturnofthesun Appeals Gowran Park, 11th March 2017

The Appeals Body (Division One), Joseph Finnegan (in the Chair), N.B. Wachman and Peter N. Reynolds met at the Turf Club, The Curragh, Co Kildare on Monday, 27th March 2017 to consider the appeals of Andrew Lynch, Rider and Matthew Smith, Trainer, against the decision of the Stewards at Gowran Park on 11th March 2017.

On the day, following the running of the HPR Fleet Management Beginners Steeplechase, the Stewards found there was a breach of Rule 212A(ii) and fined Matthew Smith €2,000, Theturnofthesun was suspended for 42 days and Andrew Lynch was suspended for 5 race days and ordered to forfeit his riding fee. Appeals were lodged by both parties.

Andrew Lynch’s grounds of appeal was that he did not breach Rule 212 and at all stages his instructions and his own objective, when riding the horse, Theturnofthesun, was to obtain his best possible placing and to use all reasonable and permissible measures to do so.

Matthew Smith’s grounds of appeal was that he was not in breach of Rule 212 and at all stages prior to the race and when instructing the rider, it was his intention and the intention of his father, owner of the horse, that the horse should win or obtain the best possible placing and that his rider should take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure that he did so.

Evidence was heard from Michael Coultard, former head of racing product at Betfair Exchange, Andrew Lynch, Matthew Smith and Andrew Shaw, National Hunt Handicapper.

Film of the race was viewed, as was footage of the horse’s previous run at Navan on 19th February 2017. The Appeals Body also considered a transcript of the enquiry held at Gowran Park on 11th March 2017.

In his evidence Michael Courtard provided information on the betting transactions in running on Betfair. He said the horse’s odds shortened from 64/1 before the race to just over 6/1 at the third last fence. He said that backed up the fact that the rider gave it an excellent ride to get within 6 lengths of the leader at that time.

In his evidence Andrew Lynch said he had schooled Theturnofthesun that morning prior to the horse running at Gowran Park and that it was his first run over fences. He said the horse was in good form and schooled well. He said the plan was to jump off with the leaders but he was unable to match the leaders’ pace with the result that he settled in. He said he took the horse out to the middle of the track during the race for better ground.

In relation to the way he rode the horse, he said he tried to squeeze the horse along on a number of occasions without taking him out of his comfort zone. He referred to the fall of Dicosimo at the last fence on the first circuit and that his horse subsequently guessed at the same fence and made a mistake. This impacted on the way he jumped at later fences. He said he had two choices at that point namely to chase the leader or sit and try to finish in the best possible position. He felt if he chased the leader he would have given Cloudy Morning a lead.

He referred to the ground which the horse had made up between the fifth and third last fences where he went from 11 strides behind the leader to 4 strides. He thought he would finish second in the race at that point.

Mr Lynch then referred to the Navan race and stated that Theturnofthesun tired in the race and did not find much when the stick was used. He also said it was longest trip that the horse had run over.

Mr Lynch referred to the effort made by his mount from the third last fence to the finishing line and said the horse would not have finished second if he had used the stick. He said he gave him a slap down the neck but there was no response and he felt the horse was doing his best. He was thrilled at how close he got to Cloudy Morning and the winner and said the made reason he didn’t finish second was that Cloudy Morning was quicker away from the last fence than he was. He also said he did not think that with a more vigorous ride, he would have finished in front of Cloudy Morning.

In response to questions from Shay Quinn, on behalf of the Turf Club, Mr Lynch said that his riding of his horse between the last fence and the finishing line was as strong as he could ride under the circumstances and said that he was squeezing and pushing the horse along.

In his evidence, Matthew Smith referred to the horse’s run at Navan and said it was his first run back after a break. He said the horse had schooled over fences on a number of occasions and that he was fit and well schooled for the Gowran Park race.

Mr Smith referred to the instructions given to Andrew Lynch which were to jump him off, get around safely and try your best. He said he thought the horse jumped novicey in places and that he was happy with the ride towards the third last, where his horse had closed to within 6 to 8 lengths to the leader.

Mr Smith said he thought Andrew Lynch was doing everything he could on the horse after that and said he was happy the horse got as close as he did to a 111 rated hurdler, as his horse was a maiden over hurdles. He felt the horse resented the use of the stick when he ran at Navan and that he did not think that a more aggressive ride he would have been second. As such it was his view that he would have probably tired sooner if this occurred.

In response to questions from Shay Quinn who referred to the fact that the whip was used on the horse eight times at Navan when ridden by Mr Smith’s brother, Mr Smith said his brother did not make any observation that the horse resisted the whip but in his view he didn’t like it.

Mr Smith accepted that Andrew Lynch had ridden at his strongest from the last fence to the finishing line with the exception of using his stick on the horse.

In his evidence Andrew Shaw referred to the respective ratings of the various horses running in the race and said that ratings can vary between hurdles and fences. He said he would have expected Cloudy Morning to finish in front of Theturnofthesun based on their hurdles ratings but such ratings did not always transfer exactly to steeplechasing.

He said he would like to see both horses running again prior to giving them a final handicap mark, as it was hard to evaluate their performance based on the way the winner won. Mr Shaw also gave examples of where hurdles and chase ratings for two specific horses can be radically different.

Having considered the evidence, the Appeals Body noted that the issue before them essentially concerns the riding of the horse from the last fence to the finishing line.

They accepted that both horses crossed the last fence in close proximity to each other but that Cloudy Morning got away from the last fence quicker. They noted that Theturnofthesun had narrowed the gap with Cloudy Morning to a half a length at the finishing line.

Having examined the matter carefully, the Appeals Body were satisfied that with a more energetic ride by Andrew Lynch, who they described as an experienced jockey, Theturnofthesun might have finished second, but that this was irrelevant as insufficient effort was made in their opinion.

They accepted the finding of the Stewards that Andrew Lynch was not seen to make a genuine attempt to obtain from the horse timely, real and substantial efforts to achieve the best possible place and in the circumstances they dismissed his appeal and ordered the forfeiture of his deposit.

In relation to Matthew Smith, they noted that having given the instructions to the rider, what occurred thereafter was out of the trainer’s hands, particularly what occurred from the last fence to the winning post. In the circumstances they were not satisfied that Matthew Smith was not guilty of any rule breach and allowed his appeal.

In relation to Theturnofthesun, the Appeals Body confirmed the suspension of 42 days under the provisions of Rule 212 C (d).

Having considered submissions on penalty in relation to Andrew Lynch, they noted that the penalties imposed by the Stewards were at the lowest end and therefore decided they would not interfere with that penalty and Mr Lynch’s ban of 5 race days remains in place (30th March and 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th April 2017).

The case was presented by Cliodhna Guy, Solicitor and Shay Quinn, Stewards Secretary. Andrew Lynch and Matthew Smith were represented by Andrew Coonan, Coonan Cawley Solicitors, Naas, Co Kildare.