Not seeing the wood for the trees can be an occupational hazard for racing professionals. But sometimes the sport doesn’t only look myopic but just plain bizarre. Like when JP McManus’s horse Puturhandstogether won Sunday’s €600,000 Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh.
Not surprisingly for a race billed as Europe’s richest handicap, a maximum field of 30 runners was declared. Puturhandstogether wasn’t one of them. He was the second of three reserves, there to replace any runners that might drop out.
Reserves keep numbers up to ensure a more attractive betting proposition. It’s entirely possible to argue for their use in a midweek 0-70 handicap where so many have a stake in driving betting turnover. It’s even worthwhile sometimes to turn a blind eye to the inherent flaws in such a system.
But for a race as prominent as Europe’s richest handicap, using reserves on race day was a piece of non
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