The turf | 1 October 2008

An old friend in journalism, well aware that he was prone to conspiracy theories, especially where his own career was concerned, used to say to me, ‘Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean the bastards aren’t out to get me.’ So were the authorities out to get Aidan O’Brien when they convicted him and jockey Colm O’Donoghue of team tactics in the recent Juddmonte International, won by Duke of Marmalade?

I ask because some of the best-respected voices in racing have suggested that the motivation for the action against O’Brien was jealousy, because English trainers are having a comparatively poor season while O’Brien and his Ballydoyle team have already secured a phenomenal 20 Group One successes this season. Others have suggested that, while racing has been receiving enough bad publicity down at the lower end, the authorities should not have further besmirched its face by suggesting that there was something dodgy about one of the best races in the calendar, especially when it was almost certainly won by the best horse contesting it.