Alizarine disqualified over identification issue

There was drama on day two of the Galway Festival after a Jessica Harrington-trained winner was disqualified following an identity mix-up.

Newcomer Alizarine ran out a cosy winner Colm Quinn BMW Irish Fillies Maiden, producing a fine burst of acceleration to see off 5-4 favourite Twinkle by a length and three-quarters in second.

However, around 25 minutes after the race, an objection was lodged into the identity of Alizarine, with the stewards eventually awarding the race to Twinkle. A Harrington-trained runner later on the card, the three-year-old Aurora Princess, was subsequently withdrawn by order of the stewards.

Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board communications manager Niall Cronin said in a statement: “All horses are checked on arrival. Alizarine is in Galway, she arrived here with the rest of Mrs Harrington’s runners, Aurora Princess also being one of them.

“Mrs Harrington didn’t saddle the runners for that race herself but subsequently has accepted full responsibility for what has happened.

“In the inquiry itself she expressed the similarity between the two fillies. I think she referred to them as being almost identical, she may have even said that they were like twins.

“When the winner of race two arrived back to be checked again by the IHRB officials, prior to the winner alright being announced, the filly could not be positively identified.

“Further examination by the IHRB veterinary officer confirmed that the filly was indeed Aurora Princess so an objective was lodged by the veterinary officer.

“The stewards enquired into the matter and Mrs Harrington accepted that the wrong filly had run. She held her hands up and accepted full responsibility.

“The stewards, using their power under 262 (iv) c, disqualified Alizarine.

“It’s an unfortunate incident. Because of the time restraints on a raceday the matter has been referred on to allow for a full investigation.”

Below is the stewards' report:

Following the running of this race, the Stewards met to consider an objection by the IHRB Veterinary Officer Ms Nicola O'Connor under Rule 262(iv)(c) into the identity of the winner Alizarine (GB), trained by Mrs John Harrington. Ms O'Connor stated that the winner's microchip number was read by Brendan Daly, IHRB Security Officer, before the animal departed the winners enclosure. She was informed by Mr Daly that he was unable to establish the identity of the animal based on the reading on his scanner. Ms O'Connor subsequently carried out an identity check on the filly presented to the sampling unit as Alizarine (GB) and found that the microchip number on her e-scanner did not correspond to that of Alizarine(GB). Ms O'Connor identified the microchip number as being that of Aurora Princess, a runner in the fifth race, also trained by Mrs John Harrington. Ms O'Connor confirmed that all runners today were identified with an e-scanner on their arrival at the racecourse. She confirmed that Alizarine (GB) was identified in her stable when this error was established and had not run in the second race. Ms O'Connor informed the Stewards that the identity of both horses were confirmed in the presence of Mr Niall Amond, head travelling man and Authorised representative for the trainer. In her evidence, Mrs John Harrington accepted the full facts as given by the IHRB Veterinary Officer and informed the Stewards that Mr Amond had acted in her absence as she had only arrived in the parade ring prior to this race. She accepted full responsibility for the error and advised the Stewards that both Alizarine (GB) and Aurora Princess were bay fillies with very similar markings. Having considered all the evidence, the Stewards upheld the objection. As the horse Alizarine (GB) did not run in this race, that horse was deemed to be unplaced under Rule 266 and the horse purported to be Alizarine (GB) was disqualified. The amended result now reads:

1st Twinkle (5/4f)

2nd Radiyka (6/4)

3rd Past Time (14/1)