​I find it very sad that a sport that in the main is conducted in a sporting manner should find itself hauled over the coals in The Sunday Times due to someone, allegedly, behaving in a most ungentlemanly way towards a female colleague. Also, the B.H.A. should take some responsibility for the slagging the sport is receiving over this matter as they have, for whatever reason, dragged their heels rather than dealing with Bryony Frost’s complaint in a speedy and efficient manner.
The Sunday Times article was as a result of a leak from within the B.H.A., so someone thought it was time the investigation was brought out into the open, especially as they had already sanctioned Robbie Dunne for ‘conduct prejudicial to the integrity or good reputation of the sport’, which makes one assume that he has a case to answer. Allegations of bullying and harassment could even lead to matters going higher than the B.H.A.
When this matter first came to light, which was last January, I thought Robbie Dunne condemned himself by reportedly saying to a journalist ‘that what goes on in the weighing room should stay in the weighing room’, a sentiment that several retired jockeys agreed with.
Reading between the lines, and what was reported in The Sunday Times, this whole sorry tale might have started as straight jealousy, if not some form of rejection. I have no personal knowledge of either of the combatants in this case. Bryony is more often in front of a camera, though less so since she made her allegations to the B.H.A., and because of that one feels one knows her more than we actually do. She comes across as honest, happy and in love with horses and being a jockey. She is the first to accept that she is incredibly fortunate to get put on good horses with obvious chances of winning important races and the last to suggest she is an exceptionally gifted rider, which she must be for Paul Nicholls to employ her as second jockey to his stable of stars. She is intelligent and a gift to the sport and to lose her in any way over this case will verge on a small tragedy. Remember the eloquence and passion after she won the Ryanair, a tour de force of affection and admiration for her mount that had Francesca Cumani in tears. Another example of Bryony’s unique personality.
She is a singular character. Perhaps a Marmite character. I don’t know. She seems to be very well-liked at Ditcheat and is very much family orientated. The images she uses to explain how she rides is so different from any jockey who has come before her. When she talks about listening to her mount’s breathing and heart-rate during a race it becomes abundantly clear that she possesses a natural affinity with horses. Bryony is Bryony, she is not a clone of anyone else. I doubt if nightclubs and all-night drinking sessions have ever figured in her life.
Why Robbie Dunne has a problem with her is for him, and him alone, to explain. If half the allegations made against him are true, he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. If half the allegations are true, he deserves to lose his riders’ licence. Of course, he is a jockey coming towards the end of his career and, of course, he has never achieved the level of success that has come Frost’s way in the comparatively short time she has been riding.
What is highlighted by all of this, and something the senior jockeys in the weighing room must address between them, though an official code of conduct is in the offing, is that the tacit code of silence amongst jockeys must end. ‘What occurs in the weighing room should stay in the weighing room’ is many steps out-of-date. Modern society just does not allow a band of brothers to initiate their own rules, their own moral code.
Bryony Frost has demonstrated great bravery in going to the B.H.A. over what she believes is bullying and harassment. This is not only for her, I suggest, safeguarding her own personal liberty but in bringing this into the cold light of day she is most likely allowing protection for other female riders and younger, perhaps vulnerable, jockeys first entering the sanctity and mystery of the weighing room. She’ll be less liked over this and some jockeys may be antagonistic towards her, especially if Robbie Dunne loses his licence. Long-term, though, she may just have done the sport a great service and never again will a jockey be able to hide behind the obnoxious maxim ‘what goes on in the weighing room should stay in the weighing room’.

​Am I alone in believing the Nanny State is closing in on us all? Oisin Murphy must quietly believe so. Not that he would say so publicly, he’s too polite and conscious of his status as our Champion flat jockey. In so many ways Oisin is a credit to the sport. Yet three-times in a comparatively short period of time he has fallen foul of the B.H.A.’s drink and drugs rules. The drug failure was in France, of course, where questions are often asked about the reliability of their testing regime, and I suspect he got away lightly, certainly by comparison with his fellow jockeys who also inhaled one too many times. With so many jockeys falling foul of the drug rule it is about time the B.H.A. stopped being lenient and brought in more severe punishments, albeit in alignment with the help and guidance required to prevent further transgressions. 
The alcohol limit for jockeys does veer on the draconian, in my opinion. It’s not like jockeys are presenting themselves in the weighing room rolling drunk and singing sea-shanties at the top of their voices. And as Oisin said in his statement of contrition, he was below the limit for driving, as if that was any form of defence. The rules are the rules and Oisin knew the rules when he imbibed whatever he imbibed the evening before. Of course, the amount of alcohol in his system was very small beer, teeny-weeny, in fact, and would not have impacted upon his riding. It was, though, thoroughly unprofessional of him and might give the impression to observers that he has a drink problem.
This is the second time this season he has been stood down by the stewards for failing a breath test and the minor punishment that resulted from the Salisbury incident will doubtless be multiplied many times on this occasion. Not that it will have any influence on the jockeys’ championship. He will either win it or throw it away based on what happens on the racecourse. I rather think he will win it, though whether he deserves to win it I’m not so sure. He’s worked equally as hard as William Buick, there is no denying it, yet Buick has kept his nose clean and not subjected the sport to any damning headlines, enough, to my mind, to make him, this season, a more deserving champion.
Someone, a friend, someone he trusts, Matt Chapman, perhaps, needs to take Oisin to one side and advise him to give up alcohol during the British flat season. In fact, to be safe he should sign the pledge for the length of time he is a jockey. Different people react differently to alcohol; some people just keep alcohol in their system for longer than other people. I don’t know if Buick drinks alcohol but if he does, he could have consumed the same amount as Oisin on Thursday evening and got up in the morning as fresh as a daisy and in no danger of failing a B.H.A. breath test. The type and amount of food taken with alcohol can also affect how much alcohol remains in the system the following day.
And, of course, now the stewards are aware that Oisin ‘has an alcohol problem’ they are more likely to target him, if only as an incentive to persuade him to keep himself clean. My fear for Oisin is that unless he addresses the problem now, while he is young and at the top of his game, the taste for alcohol may consume him as it has so many of the jockeys who have gone before him.
I like Oisin. He is a brilliant role-model for the sport. He goes out of his way to engage with young people and to promote the sport. But out of the saddle he is a happy young man? I know little about his personal life. I hope he has steadying influences around him. I wish him a loving girlfriend and a happy home-life and contentment away from the racecourse. When he first appeared on the scene, I believe he was known for being cocky and having watched a stewards’ inquiry in which they were both involved in, Ryan Moore gave the impression of having a poor opinion of him. Hopefully that has changed. That Oisin has changed.
He is too talented a rider to risk throwing away, if not his career, his reputation, especially when the margin between being over and under the alcohol limit is so small. Take the pledge, Oisin. It didn’t bring any detriment to A.P. McCoy’s life, did it?
Oh, just as an aside. Are stewards routinely breathalysed? If alcohol can impair the judgement of jockeys, surely it can impair the decisions of stewards?

​The Qatar Prix de l’Arc Triomphe is a race for champions. The Arc winner is always a champion, at least that is what Brough Scott and the other I.T.V. presenters promised us in the lead up to the 100th running of the race. There was Adayar and Hurricane Lane, Tarnawa and Snowfall, there was all the way from Japan Chrono Genesis and Deep Bond. All champions-elect, all proven top-flight racehorses. There were differing opinions as to who the winner would be, though Kevin Blake being Kevin Blake he came down in favour of an outsider not even considered to be one of the champions-elect. Ed Chamberlain gasped when he asked for Kevin Blake’s selection and heard in reply Sealiway.
I’m not sure the German raider Torquator Tasso was even mentioned. You couldn’t blame anyone overlooking him, after all, wasn’t he beaten quite recently by one of Sir Mark Prescott’s, a mare not thought of the class required to even be entered in such a prestigious race?
But that is the glorious uncertainty of horse racing; one of the reasons we love it so much. Experts are not really bubbling with expertise, more awash with opinion gained from long hours with their noses in the form-book and their ears cocked in the direction of the grapevine. Your opinion, or even mine, is just as likely to prevail as any of the Racing Post’s top tipsters.
For instance, I did not think Adayar would be effective in heavy ground, long striding horses rarely are, at least in my opinion. So, one for me there. I was of the opinion that Snowfall hadn’t beaten anything of note this season and I remain convinced she is over-rated. I was confident that Hurricane Lane was the best of the three-year-olds and that is now confirmed in the form-book.
Did I completely dismiss Torquator Tasso? Of course. I hadn’t heard of the jockey, trainer or owner, nor, if I am honest, the horse either. German racing skirts around my panorama, again giving evidence of my ignorance. It was, though, a thoroughly deserved victory, with no real excuses for any of the other runners. As someone who finds joy in outsiders winning big races, the Arc this year was memorable and beautiful. I am sure the bookmakers are of the same opinion.
I am too lazy to do the research but these past two seasons, especially the past eighteen-months, have seen so many trainers and jockeys break into the limelight with initial successes in Group 1’s. Amazingly, this, too, was Rene Piechulek’s first Group 1. Equally, it was the trainer, Marcel Weiss’s first Group 1. Covid may be the greatest threat to all our individual freedoms – don’t get me started – but it has proved a godsent opportunity for the unsung of our sport. Long may it continue, the successes of the unsung, I mean, not the other thing.

Much was written last jumps season, especially during the months of March and April, about the dominance of the Irish and the poverty of English trained winners in the major races. Similar overtures of dire warning must be going on in France right now as French trainers had as good an Arc meeting as the English had at the Cheltenham Festival. On Saturday all the Group races went to English trained horses and on Sunday they only fared a little better winning the Marcel Boussac and Prix de I’Opera. The scoreboard was as embarrassing for the French as it was for the home trainers at the Chelteham Festival. 9 Group races went overseas, 1 to Germany, 1 to Ireland and 7 to England.
Finally, I hope the connections of Stradivarius hold fire on the decision whether to retire the old boy. John Gosden has told us so many times that Stradivarius prefers good ground and that soft ground does not play to his strength, which is his finishing kick. I was surprised he ran at Longchamp, given they have taken him out of races this season due to soft ground. Trueshan versus Stradivarius in the Ascot Gold Cup (already praying for good to good-to-soft underfoot conditions) would be a race to savour. Frankie versus Holly. Gosden versus the dual licence King Alan. Defeat at Royal Ascot, if he were to be defeated, and yes it will be time to say goodbye. But not at Longchamp in the churning mud. Let him be retired, Bjorn, at a racecourse and venue and in front of an audience who appreciate him for the champion he truly is, to honour him with a fitting and memorable farewell.