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The Gordon Elliott Photo Thread

Discussion in 'Horse Racing' started by Ste D, Feb 28, 2021.

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  1. stick

    stick Bumper King

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    This image will not be forgotten, it’s going to be rolled out again and again for years to come. I guarantee you that it will be seen on posters when the animal welfare groups congregate around Cheltenham and Aintree. For crying out loud have a look on the Daily Mail website and see how many times they are using it on their racing page.
    You can see from the comments on here that not everyone thinks the same in regards of respect for a dead animal.
     
    #201
  2. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    Good point, I was thinking more in employment rather than “criminality” but I would guess that those having reduced or exemptions for driving offences are probably under the totting up of minor offences rather than a major breach of law?

    If so, I would state that is a world away from a disrepute charge in a professional sport.
     
    #202
  3. rudebwoy

    rudebwoy Well-Known Member

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    The daily mail are hypocritical, they are fanning the flames of a story , I'm not defending elliot by any stretch , the man is a bully and possibly an abuser , the betting shop punters on the whole only care about their winnings, if a horse tragically dies during a race , you often hear cursing about a lost bet , those connected with the horses obviously feel totally the opposite .
    Surely it's hard to believe it's only elliot and the young jockey and his mates who show disregard for fallen animals , the industry has a problem, and as so much money is tied up in breeding etc , there will always be conflict of interest between welfare and profit . These particular people happen to have been caught on camera showing a very callous side to the business .
     
    #203
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  4. Gladness

    Gladness Member

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    "The daily mail are hypocritical, they are fanning the flames of a story , I'm not defending elliot by any stretch , the man is a bully and possibly an abuser , the betting shop punters on the whole only care about their winnings, if a horse tragically dies during a race , you often hear cursing about a lost bet , those connected with the horses obviously feel totally the opposite .
    Surely it's hard to believe it's only elliot and the young jockey and his mates who show disregard for fallen animals , the industry has a problem, and as so much money is tied up in breeding etc , there will always be conflict of interest between welfare and profit . These particular people happen to have been caught on camera showing a very callous side to the business ."

    So true, I am sure that this is occurring in some yards around the country.
     
    #204
  5. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    #205
  6. stick

    stick Bumper King

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    12 month ban, 6 months of that suspended starting March 9th
     
    #206
  7. OddDog

    OddDog Mild mannered janitor
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    So effectively a 2 month ban - not a lot of jumps racing after Punchestown.......... Galway festival I suppose. I can already imagine the O’Learys trying to squeeze the price ........
     
    #207
  8. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    BHA have said they’ll issue a statement this evening.

    Whatever the punishment dished out by IHRB there will have been unhappy people. Personally I think it should have been the full year, but there we go.
     
    #208
  9. stick

    stick Bumper King

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    Be interesting to see what transpires. How quickly can a new trainer be licensed to run out of that yard?
     
    #209
  10. Bustino74

    Bustino74 Thouroughbred Breed Enthusiast

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    Surely the sentence will be the way people in racing treat him from now on. Let's see how that pans out.
     
    #210
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  11. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    Article (pre the hearing announcement) by David Jennings at RP - again behind the paywall so am posting the text.


    When did the fight to repair the reputation of a sport descend into a fastest-finger-first race that threatens to destroy the human who caused the controversy?

    Did it happen around lunchtime on Monday, when a caller into Joe Duffy's Liveline, Ireland's most listened-to radio show, told its 404,000 daily listeners that the photo of Gordon Elliott "smacks of animal cruelty at the highest level"?

    Did it happen later that same day when the BHA decided to ban Elliott from having runners in Britain while the IHRB investigation was taking place? He had no entries for a fortnight anyway.

    Or perhaps it happened in another statement they released that evening which told his owners they were permitted to transfer their horses to a different trainer and that would grant them access to run in their jurisdiction.

    Did it happen the following day when Irish Field journalist Anne Marie Duff called Elliott "a d***head" in print? The headline of her comment piece read: "Strong punishment must be administered for act of stupidity."

    The one thing we can all agree on is that it was an act of stupidity, a senseless decision from someone who should know better, but what seemed to unite most this week were unprecedented levels of acrimony and outrage.

    Racing realised it needed to show revulsion in order to prove this image was an aberration, but that revulsion has been relentless and remorseless. It has seemingly lost sight of the fact that there is an actual person on the receiving end of the backlash; a fragile imitation of the artist formerly known as Gordon Elliott if my visit to Cullentra House was anything to go by. He was broken. That was Monday, when Envoi Allen was still there.

    It was the first time I have interviewed somebody during a car crash, before the airbags had been released. The pain was real; the scars still bleeding; the tears not contrived crocodile ones. They rolled down his cheeks as he tried to describe the discomfort he was experiencing. He was embarrassed by them, apologising each time he broke down.

    "When your world starts crumbling in front of you, it's a scary place to be," he quivered. But at what point should the crumbling stop? When his short-term future is in ruins? When his entire career is in ruins? Or when his whole life is in ruins?

    It appears some won't be satisfied unless it is the last of those three options. It baffles me to think some believe that is the punishment which fits this particular crime. Of course we need to try to repair the reputation of the sport we all love and adore, but that process should not involve ruining somebody's life.

    Let's get one thing straight. Gordon Elliott did not kill that horse. Morgan died of a heart aneurysm. Of course he was entitled to dignity after his premature death, but the perception that this particular image represents a wider picture of Cullentra House does not sit well with me.

    It is putting two and two together and getting seven. It happened, but it does not always happen.

    One sentence Keith Donoghue said on Wednesday stuck with me: "Unhappy horses don't win races, it's as simple as that." I agree.

    Envoi Allen would not have won 11 races in a row if he was unhappy. Tiger Roll would not have won a second Grand National on the 35th start of his career if he was unhappy. A total of 1,838 races would not have been won if those horses were unhappy. As a previous visitor to the stable said to me recently: "That place is like the Hilton for horses."

    Ruby Walsh said in last Sunday's Big Read: "I'm not particularly worried about the image of racing. Every sport has good and bad times. I think there are enough people with a willingness to show that we can go the right way and do the right things."

    Of course at the time of talking he had no idea that an image of Ireland's second best jumps trainer sitting on a dead horse was going to appear on social media so he would not have anticipated those bad times being as bad as they are right now.

    That willingness he was talking about, to show that we can go the right way and do the right things, is vitally important right now, but we must be conscious to not let that willingness dissolve into wickedness.

    I received a text on Tuesday which read: "I'd love to kill and hug Gordon at the same time." Those sentiments are understandable.

    Elliott did an indefensible thing. It was disgusting and left a sour taste in every mouth, but he has lost the best horse he has ever had. Somebody had to take his phone off him on Monday for fear of what he might see written about him. His face has been splashed everywhere. His reputation has been shattered.

    But he deserves a second chance to restore that reputation. We have all needed that second chance at some stage in our lives. Do not deprive him of that opportunity. We have no right to do so.

    Think before you talk or type. Your words have more impact than you realise.
     
    #211
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  12. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    Basically banned from
    3 festivals and that is it? Horses run from same yard, and funding from the races will no doubt return to the yard. Absolutely shambolic.
     
    #212
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  13. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    I’m not 100% sure of the licensing requirements in Ireland, but over here you need to attend 3 week long courses at the Racing School (I’ve done 2 of them :emoticon-0136-giggl), pass your NVQ Level 3 in Racehorse Care, attend an interview with a BHA panel and demonstrate that you have sufficient cash flow (min £10k in the bank).

    A lot of assistants here take their time and work their way through the key requirements (not least because it’s expensive to attend the courses) and don’t do the panel interview until they’re in a position to start up.

    So it will depend whether they have someone who is already at least part way through the process so that they can get on and complete before applying for the actual licence.

    Of course there are other set ups out there where the person whose name is on the licence bears no relation to who does the training :emoticon-0127-lipss Its pretty common knowledge that Olly Stevens didn’t want to train, it was his wife Hetta with the ambitions but they had young children and she couldn’t attend the courses. I’m also told another current trainer in the British ranks is just a frontman.
     
    #213
  14. Mick O'Toon

    Mick O'Toon Well-Known Member

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    Is it not 5 festivals ie Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown, Fairyhouse and Galway?
     
    #214
  15. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    Hetta is doing well pretraining isn’t she? Shame Olly was an utter cock.
     
    #215
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  16. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    True. I guess he will also miss Stratfords big day and that epic day at Worcester too.
     
    #216
  17. Steveo

    Steveo Well-Known Member

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    exactly
    That will be the real sentence for the scum bag
     
    #217
  18. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    As long as they’ve got the correct licence it’s pretty quick according to Nick Lucks podcast this week
     
    #218
  19. PNkt

    PNkt Well-Known Member

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    Yes I believe she still does all the Qatar horses.

    Olly was on one of the courses I did. Also had Philip Hide, Charlie Fellowes, Johnny Farrelly and, lord help us, Graham Bradley! Didn’t really socialise with any of them as I wasn’t living on site for the duration as I’m only 10 minutes down the road from the Racing School.
     
    #219
  20. NassauBoard

    NassauBoard Well-Known Member

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    He was a complete eejit in my book, and made one of my fundamentals for being involved with a racehorse. - never buy a share without meeting the trainer. Soon as I met him I knew I’d done wrong <laugh>
     
    #220
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