Racing Ahead Magazine April 2017 Vorige editie

BRING ON THE BIG ONE
The war of words between Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and the BHA’s senior handicapper Phil Smith has all the hallmarks of two boxers exchanging insults at the weigh-in during the tedious preliminaries before they climb into the ring. While sabre rattling has long been part of modern sport there was an undoubted edge to some of the comments attributed to O’Leary and his brother Eddie O’Leary, manager of his vast racing operation under the banner of Gigginstown House Stud, following the publication of the weights for this year’s Grand National. At the heart of the O’Leary’s fury was the belief that Smith had treated several of his horses unfairly in comparison to the way they are handicapped in Ireland. Resentment clearly runs deep with the O’Leary brothers who have openly questioned Smith’s impartiality and hinted at an anti-Irish bias.