It was described by one of his closest supporters as a grievous lapse of judgement and that was on the gentler scale of the reaction to racehorse trainer Gordon Elliott amid a storm of protest over a photograph of him astride a dead horse on the gallops at his stables in County Meath.
The photograph, which can be found easily by searching on the internet but which we will not republish, began circulating on Saturday and exploded into a media frenzy throughout yesterday as people inside and outside the sport struggled to comprehend how it could have entered his mind to think it was OK.
Michael O’Leary of Ryanair, the owner whose Maroon and White colours have been most synonymous with Elliott’s success over 15 years said that “We accept that the photograph was a grievous but momentary lapse of judgement from Gordon, and not in keeping with our 15-year experience of his concern for and attention to the welfare of our horses.
“We all make mistakes, and what is important is that we learn from them and ensure we do not repeat them. We accept Gordon’s profound, sincere and unreserved apology, and we will continue to support him and his team at Cullentra as they work to recover from this deeply regrettable incident.”
There are of course times and incidents that anyone would rather had not happened and Elliott said in his statement that this will never happen again. But sometimes you have to wonder how it could ever have happened in the first place.
Disbelief
That sense of disbelief prompted some to suggest to Elliott that he deny it had happened and that the picture was photoshopped, but he was smart enough to know that was not going to fly, even in a world where deep fake technology is real and present.
There really can be no excuse for the pose and today it is not overstating things to suggest that his career is in the balance.
Horse Racing Ireland yesterday issued a statement which read that “Horse Racing Ireland unreservedly condemns the disturbing photograph that appeared on social media at the weekend.”
“This image does not reflect the care, attention and respect that racehorses receive, and does a disservice to the thousands of people who look after their horses on a daily basis. Horse Racing Ireland notes and supports the Irish Horserace Regulatory Body investigation into the circumstances around the photograph.”
Betfair, who have been partners with Elliott and were building up to have a campaign around his strong presence at this month’s Cheltenham Festival immediately dropped him as a brand ambassador.
Banned
Last night the British Horseracing Authority issued a statement saying that they “will not allow the Irish trainer Gordon Elliott to racehorses in Britain whilst the Irish authorities investigate an image that appeared on social media over the weekend.”
“The trainer admitted the photo was genuine and apologised for his actions.”
“The BHA, which regulates racing in Britain, will use powers under its own rules to refuse to allow horses trained by Mr Elliott to race in Britain pending consideration of the outcome of the Irish investigation.”
“The action taken by the BHA recognises that Mr Elliott is licensed in Ireland, whose regulatory body, the IHRB, is carrying out its own investigation.”
“However, Mr Elliott has entered horses to race in Britain, from which point the British Rules of Racing apply to him.”
“The decision to refuse to allow horses trained by Mr Elliott to run in Britain is, therefore, an interim decision which the BHA regards as proportionate in these circumstances.”
Elliott has been one of Ireland’s most successful trainers at Cheltenham and has a talented team ready to race two weeks from today. They will still be allowed but they will have to be transferred to run in the name of another trainer.
A different beat
Elliott has always stood out as marching to a different beat in racing. Most other trainers are steeped in family history with the sport, while he came into it without any previous connection.
That persona of the outsider has stood to him and there are some who will question why a photograph taken a number of years ago is only beginning to circulate now. Has he upset somebody within the sport or was there some reason other than a twist of fate that it should surface?
Justice in the regulatory sense will run its course.
In the court of public opinion though his name will forever be blackened by whatever it is that went through his mind on the day he sat down on Morgan, a seven-year-old horse who had won four races for Gigginstown Stud, and who had died that morning of a heart aneurism.
Tiger Woods and even Mike Tyson have come back from being damned in the same court but with them, there was always the fallback that they were out of control when committing the acts that led to their breaches of trust. That is where Elliott’s self-admitted “indefensible moment of madness” differs from theirs.
Sport for Business Partners
