General Chat

[ComplyOrDie]

That's a tricky one

[ryanh97]

You think he's going to do that after all of this?

Tough question. Did I think he'd use a dead horse as a bench and then come out with some nonsense story about taking a phone call? No I didn't.

The point is, racing needs to be seen to not be giving him the chance to.

[MTR]

BBC journalist Laura Scott reporting Betfair have dropped Gordon Elliot.

Exclusive: Betfair to discontinue association with Gordon Elliott "with immediate effect". Spokesman said although Elliott "deeply regrets" + apologised for his "poor judgement" his actions are "completely at odds" with values of Betfair + its employees. More on @BBCSport soon.

https://twitter.com/laurascott__/status/1366318433932042240?s=21

[FaugheenTheMachine]

Saw a very good point from James Knight on twitter this morning. Whenever the likes of PETA etc try to get racing banned we’ve always been able to say how well racehorses are looked after at stables, now they can just literally pull this photo out every time
Once the mainstream media get fully hold of the story I really do think he’s in bother; not expecting a life ban or anything but can’t see anyway on this earth he’s allowed to train horses for Cheltenham, Aintree etc.

[BigChaang]

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.

This is pretty much what i think about it Faugheen . And i agree with you . And that's all i'm going to say about the whole thing .,
At least until the whole story and Truth is Told.

[Big Bucks]

Saw a very good point from James Knight on twitter this morning. Whenever the likes of PETA etc try to get racing banned we’ve always been able to say how well racehorses are looked after at stables, now they can just literally pull this photo out every time
Once the mainstream media get fully hold of the story I really do think he’s in bother; not expecting a life ban or anything but can’t see anyway on this earth he’s allowed to train horses for Cheltenham, Aintree etc.

Do you believe that any horse he has trained won't be allowed to run at the fez? Sorry if have picked you up wrong but surely that's a double blow to owners and connections with this image and now hit with that!

Or allowed to run under a different trainer?

[Madmoose]

Do you believe that any horse he has trained won't be allowed to run at the fez? Sorry if have picked you up wrong but surely that's a double blow to owners and connections with this image and now hit with that!

Or allowed to run under a different trainer?

Could it not be under the assist trainer?

[FaugheenTheMachine]

Do you believe that any horse he has trained won't be allowed to run at the fez? Sorry if have picked you up wrong but surely that's a double blow to owners and connections with this image and now hit with that!

Or allowed to run under a different trainer?

Yer different trainer sorry Bucks. Not under his name basically

[Hurdles or chasing]

People can mention the Charles Burns case and how it's worse but in the social media age we live in people have a tiny amount of patience to read a story nothing spreads quicker and has more of an impact than an image or video.

Fat prick of a trainer sitting on a dead horse smiling with the peace sign up will get clicks and shares and that's what news outlets want these days. 2 weeks before Cheltenham and all.

He's some idiot and so is the prick who took the picture and made it into a joke.

[MTR]

People can mention the Charles Burns case and how it's worse but in the social media age we live in people have a tiny amount of patience to read a story nothing spreads quicker and has more of an impact than an image or video.

Fat prick of a trainer sitting on a dead horse smiling with the peace sign up will get clicks and shares and that's what news outlets want these days. 2 weeks before Cheltenham and all.

He's some idiot and so is the prick who took the picture and made it into a joke.

Spot on, Jamie Carragher another that springs to mind, he spat in a little girls face and is doing just fine now. Odd world.

[ToniC]

Awful image and only he and the people who were there know the full context of what was happening at the time and how this picture came about. It does look utterly despicable though, and if I owned a horse I wouldn't send him to Elliott's after seeing this. I'm guessing he'll be suspended now. They can't have him banging out winners while he is being investigated, especially at Cheltenham. But I don't think it's fair for the owners (if they don't move on), stable staff and ultimately the horses not to be able to carry on for the foreseeable so surely someone steps in for the short term.
I think a key factor in the what happens next debate will be from the investigation. If they find that there is more to this, for instance a culture of disrespect to the horses, or even abuse, then surely the yard is heavily sanctioned or closed down. If it's an isolated incident it's up to the authorities what they deem as appropriate consequences for Elliott.

The rules don’t allow for him to be banned from having runners whilst the case is under investigation, appeals, etc.

[Vautour]

People can mention the Charles Burns case and how it's worse but in the social media age we live in people have a tiny amount of patience to read a story nothing spreads quicker and has more of an impact than an image or video.

Fat prick of a trainer sitting on a dead horse smiling with the peace sign up will get clicks and shares and that's what news outlets want these days. 2 weeks before Cheltenham and all.

He's some idiot and so is the prick who took the picture and made it into a joke.

It’s why we shouldn’t listen to twitter - a cesspit of ignorance.

[Altior]

He's messed up, will deserve to lose a few top horses and get a short ban/fine and then we should move on. Owners are free to not send him horses, that should be enough punishment for him long term. People make mistakes, we're lucky a lot of ours weren't photographed and made viral.

I'm not defending Gordon, he's a clown who should know better but it's not like he killed the horse.

Funny how the BHA are all noise about this but have always held faith in the man keeping the flat scene afloat despite being one of the biggest scumbags in power.

It's a sad situation for NH racing though, Twitter is deplorable at the moment and there's more ammo now for them. If the book is thrown at him, there's a lot of jobs lost in Cullentra and Irish racing in general.

[Moby123]

Probably an unpopular view this.
When I first read GE's description of the photo, I scoffed. As I assume 99.9% of folk did, but on reflection I have at least some doubt now in my mind. He could be largely telling the truth.
If you were posing for a "humorous" pic on a dead horse would you be thinking hang on this will be even funnier if it looks as if I'm on my phone? Probably not.
So assume he has actually sat down to take a call (bad taste as that is). If someone shouts across at him, then indicating "give me 2 minutes I'm on the phone" wouldn't be the weirdest response, and how would you indicate that to someone without speaking? Exactly as in the picture if you're like me.

As I said this view may not be popular but it's possibly not as cut and dried as the vast majority are assuming.

[Quevega]

Probably an unpopular view this.
When I first read GE's description of the photo, I scoffed. As I assume 99.9% of folk did, but on reflection I have at least some doubt now in my mind. He could be largely telling the truth.
If you were posing for a "humorous" pic on a dead horse would you be thinking hang on this will be even funnier if it looks as if I'm on my phone? Probably not.
So assume he has actually sat down to take a call (bad taste as that is). If someone shouts across at him, then indicating "give me 2 minutes I'm on the phone" wouldn't be the weirdest response, and how would you indicate that to someone without speaking? Exactly as in the picture if you're like me.

As I said this view may not be popular but it's possibly not as cut and dried as the vast majority are assuming.

I agree that his explanation is plausable.
But it doesn't matter really, does it ?

Betfair have thrown him under the bus pretty early too.
He could do with someone (like a leading owner) coming out in support pretty sharpish, otherwise it'll be like dominoes.

The problem for anyone showing support is they would need assurances that this is the only thing that is going to come to light.