Legendary Irish jockey and three time Epsom Derby winner, Mick Kinane, has claimed that the Animal Rights protests, which regularly happen prior to both flat racings blue riband, and the Aintree grand national, would not take place here in Ireland.
Speaking about the Derby odds at https://www.boylesports.com/sports/horse-racing, he said, “The difference between the UK and Ireland is in the culture. There are a lot of rural jobs that depend on horses here, directly or indirectly there are about 30,000 people whose lives depend on them.
“It wouldn’t be too long ago that everybody had a pony or a horse, so we’re not that far removed from the horse, whereas the UK is so vast and so big that not everybody will be touched by horses, but they’d be touched by social media rather than the actual horse itself.
“All horses are highly volatile at the best of times, whether they are two-year-olds or eight-year-olds, they are not the easiest to handle and people have to understand that they’re not pets. They require specialist care and very professional people to look after them – protestors don’t take this into account and it’s up to racing to educate and focus people’s attention on the welfare of horses.
“For the first time, we’ve seen racing stand up for itself. I’ve felt that it’s previously been pandering too much to social media rather than educate people about how well horses are looked after. If we looked after our fellow humans as well as we look after horses then we would be in a better world. That’s a real positive that has come out of it, that racing is starting to stand up for itself.”
Kinane also paid tribute to jockey Frankie Dettori, who rides in his last Derby tomorrow, saying, “The fairy tale farewell has been going Frankie’s way so far. Arrest looks like a St Ledger horse when he was beaten in Saint-Cloud, France, by Dubai Mile last year on heavy ground and it does look as if he likes a bit of ease in the ground.
“Frankie is going to be looking to give him a soft ride so that he can get him to open up and lengthen when he needs to at an early stage, he has to get into a good position.
“Arrest definitely has the stamina to do well, it’s just a question as to whether he has the speed for the early part of the race on the fast ground – all his best form is on heavy ground. Frankie will move on and go forward when he thinks it’s the right time.
“There are very few jockey greats – but Frankie Dettori is one of them
“There have been a lot of good jockeys that have ridden horses, but there are very few greats – and Frankie is one of them. “
