General Chat

[Rhinestone_Cowboy]

Whats inappropriate is people making the situation about them, which is what liams attempting to do. One upmanship at its finest are we supposed to just turn a blind eye to someone acting the goat

The image is bad, but your a hypocrite if you dont share the same heartache when a horse falls and dies and tell a forum your struggling and ready to quit the game.

with more group thinking like that, national hunt racing is over

People should be free to express their emotions on this issue on here without being labelled a ‘drama queen’

[Splinterboy82]

Was thinking late last night when the story broke, if it was a few years ago I assume it was when Olly Murphy was still his assistant.....wonder if any knock-on effect to him? Probably not but thought crossed my mind

[Diamond Geezer]

....news that Brazilian variant of Covid has been found in Gloucestershire is more bad news.

SOUTH Gloucestershire which is virtually in Bristol

[Carnage at Taunton]

I don’t want to seem insensitive here, and I really do appreciate the bad image it casts on the sport (to those who need little excuse) but what really offends people here? Genuine question. It’s insensitive to the owners, but why are we so effected by it? He hasn’t hurt or injured the horse personally, just made a bad call by sitting on the horse. People have done a lot worse and received smaller punishments compared to what people are calling for on here/Twitter.

Cant speak for others, but i am effected by it because i care about my favourite sport and most of all i care about the horses that give me so much pleasure within this sport,
To be honest i cannot think of much worse than situations like this, where the horse that gives the sport its name is treated with such disrespect.
Cruelty or appearing to be cruel just cannot have a place in this sport. And anyone causing this, however meant, needs to be dealt with accordingly.
Banned for life would be my take on it.
May seem harsh to some, but the welfare of the sport and reputation of the sport are far more important than any one person.
We just cannot be seen to do anything else imo.

[ryanh97]

Someone connected to the Charles Byrnes stable doped a horse to levels that could have killed him and put the jockey at serious risk, yet I don't think this got a mention on the forum.

That was several orders of magnitude worse than what Gordon has done. Charles is free to continue training in 6 months but Gordon is being hung out to dry.

We've probably all made serious errors of judgement in our lives, some of the things I've done would have made national headlines if I was in public view, but I think this has to be seen for what it is - a massive error of judgement.

He's knocking on the door of being champion trainer in Ireland and that doesn't happen if there's a animal welfare issue in his stable. He's just been an idiot, a complete idiot.

I'd like to see him fined and put on Luck on Sunday to apologise.

He will probably lose horses and powerful owners over this and that'll be punishment enough in my view.

Do you think a fine will quite be enough in the court of public opinion FM? I don't and unfortunately that is what needs to be handled now.

[Jrow]

People should be free to express their emotions on this issue on here without being labelled a ‘drama queen’

Quite right

Just as much as people should be free to point out when someone is being overly sensitive and overly dramatic. Which is what he was being

[Rhinestone_Cowboy]

Quite right

Just as much as people should be free to point out when someone is being overly sensitive and overly dramatic. Which is what he was being

Who are you to point out if somebody is being overly sensitive then calling them a name for being so? You don’t have to agree with his or anyone’s perception and you are free to express your own, and if somebody called you a name for doing so I’d defend you also

[charlie]

It's clearly a deplorable photo and appallingly bad taste from someone who should know better, but I don't think he'll be banned, nor do I think the punishment will be too severe. There's no animal cruelty involved which is where the weight of a ban/suspension would have come from - and I think the biggest punishment will be on his reputation (and rightly bloody so!)

Plenty will never forgive him, I imagine owners will be removing horses as we speak and he'll generally pay the price regardless of what happens officially. It's really embarrassing in a sickening way. My worry is mainstream media will try and depict all trainers as cruel or not caring for animal welfare which is so far from the truth. The actions of one don't reflect the many, but tell that to outfits like the daily fucking mail.

The bit I cant get my head around is the grin and the peace sign - he should really be ashamed of himself.

Might lump Energumene Marsh NRNB

[Stormez]

When should we expect the authorities to respond publicly to his apology?

[Faugheen_Machine]

Do you think a fine will quite be enough in the court of public opinion FM? I don't and unfortunately that is what needs to be handled now.

I think it should be but I do understand that everyone has different levels of sensitivity towards these issues.

It was in bad taste but I don't think it's the worst thing to ever happen. It's a split second decision that he got badly wrong. Howard Johnson and Charles Byrnes are at the other end of the scale for me.

It'll be trial by social media though. You only need to read the comments on there too see how poisonous people can be.

[DenmanSacre]

It is a shocking image but I don't believe it's an animal welfare issue. Jockeys turning up pissed or coked up is a much more serious issue, as is the Charles Byrnes case and these will get a lot less air time than Gordon.

It seems there may be more to come out as well.

[Quevega]

The punishment has to be of impact to Elliot alone. IMO.
So it's tricky what the authorities can do.
And the owners have their own decisions to make.

[ComplyOrDie]

It's clearly a deplorable photo and appallingly bad taste from someone who should know better, but I don't think he'll be banned, nor do I think the punishment will be too severe. There's no animal cruelty involved which is where the weight of a ban/suspension would have come from - and I think the biggest punishment will be on his reputation (and rightly bloody so!)

I'm not condoning his stupidity, because that is exactly what it is, but if we start banning a trainer because he sat on one of his dead horses (however horrific that sounds and looks) then it won't be long before further questions will be asked, like how it's OK for a human to sit on a live horse, and ride it full pelt over extreme distances? (As if enough questions are not already asked!).

I've already seen a couple of posts from animal lovers that suggest as much. Trying to twist it, basically.

It's a slippery slope, not just for Gordon Elliott and the IRHB but also for horse racing in general.

Horses die on gallops, out in fields, on horse race tracks, all year round, having a photo with one is extremely insensitive, especially as these are in his 'care', and I can easily see why the immediate reaction is to 'throw the book at him', but ultimately there is no proof to suggest he actually killed that animal (I'm not suggesting he did either), and if that's the case any trainer that trains a horse that dies on the gallops is also liable. Or how about a jockey who rides a horse that dies whilst being ridden, are they liable? As I said, it's a slippery slope.

[charlie]

I think it should be but I do understand that everyone has different levels of sensitivity towards these issues.

It was in bad taste but I don't think it's the worst thing to ever happen. It's a split second decision that he got badly wrong. Howard Johnson and Charles Byrnes are at the other end of the scale for me.

It'll be trial by social media though. You only need to read the comments on there too see how poisonous people can be.

I agree FM. It was terrible taste and it makes him look like a complete and utter dickhead, but I wouldn't be one of these people fist clenched to the heavens screaming 'why god, why'. Ultimately, he's done a terrible thing that will be a massive stain on his character which will follow him for the rest of his career, and rightly so, but from a punishment point of view he isn't cheating, nor was he being cruel. Heavily drugging a horse and risking the life of the horse, jockey and all the others in a race is IMO far worse than what Gordon did, but that's just my opinion. This wider issue is this image with drag racing through the mud which is terrible for the game

[Jrow]

Who are you to point out if somebody is being overly sensitive then calling them a name for being so? You don’t have to agree with his or anyone’s perception and you are free to express your own, and if somebody called you a name for doing so I’d defend you also

Should we all self censor now then?

Is offence not given, but taken?

Im posting my view of the situation, which is what freedom of opinion is all about. Its my opinion and just that, which concludes he was being a drama queen. If someone thinks differently, well thats fine because thats their view of the situation, we dont all have to agree and we dont all have to take offence by the words drama queen.

We live in a world now where people are scared to express their views and opinions for being criticised by and ostracised by the group