Trainer Aidan O'Brien spoke to the Racing Post this week about the riding interference rules in Ireland, specifically calling out jockey Shane Foley for his ride in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown last month. Foley was aboard No Speak Alexander, and switched left to impede O'Brien's trainee Mother Earth. The jockey was given a five-day ban for interference, but O'Brien believed the ban should have been much longer.
“It shouldn't have happened,” O'Brien told the Racing Post. “There aren't many countries in the world where you could get away with that and not get a month's ban because to me that is dangerous riding. If the jockeys are allowed to do those things and are not given severe penalties, it will keep happening.”
Specifically, O'Brien blamed the Irish Horse Racing Board for not taking a stand against unsafe riding.
“It's worse in Ireland than anywhere else and it's letting Irish racing down,” O'Brien explained. “We had the whole world watching Leopardstown and it puts people off backing horses or following racing. I'm not just talking about the big days, I'm talking about every day. You have to be consistent.”
Read more at the Racing Post.
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