Play Aidan O’Brien: ‘People’s lives can be destroyed once things are put out there. That could happen in racing’
Aidan O’Brien insists that "people can’t be tearing apart the sport with no facts" as he launched a strong defence for doping controls in Irish racing.
Leading trainer Jim Bolger has had tongues wagging in the past year with several claims that drug cheats were the “number one problem in Irish racing” while also telling the Sunday Independent this summer that “there will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing”.
O'Brien, who served his training apprenticeship under Bolger, feels that the fallout of those comments have been "very damaging for racing and unnecessary" while he feels that Irish racing "shouldn’t be dragged through the mud" without factual evidence.
“It has all been very damaging for racing and unnecessary. The saying goes that loose lips sink ships, and we’ve all seen in life how rumours can damage people even if they are completely unfounded," O'Brien told the Racing Post in an explosive interview.
"People’s lives can be destroyed once things are put out there. That could happen in racing. People shouldn’t be talking out the side of their mouths. My thing would always be that nothing is ever hidden, but you can’t be listening to pub talk.
“I’m all for things to be written and discussed, but don’t try to expose stuff that’s not there. Speak the truth, and don’t be afraid to speak the truth, but people in Irish racing have worked too hard for 50 years to build its reputation as a racing jurisdiction that isn’t reliant on drugs.
“The IHRB (Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board) should keep checking and testing, because there will always be people who take chances, but the authorities have a responsibility to everyone to do the right thing and not be afraid to do it.
“As I say, people talking out the side of their mouths, and the way they are entertained then by those who don’t have the facts, that all has to stop. There are lots of people who rely on Irish racing to make a living – it shouldn’t be dragged through the mud.
“For everyone who breeds a horse, trains a horse, rides a horse or sells a horse, it has to stop. People can’t be tearing apart the sport with no facts. At the end of the day, reputation in every part of life is vital – it’s all any of us have.”
The Ballydoyle maestro also refuted any suggestions that doping is endemic within Irish racing while outlining how he, as well as sons Joseph and Donnacha, do not undertake any practice where there is risk of contaminating a horse.
“Again, I can only speak for us here, and for Joseph and Donnacha, and there is no such extreme they would go to. Like, we are a bit unique here in that we don’t even inject joints – we never have – yet that’s being done all over the world," O'Brien said.
"But if there is any risk that anything could contaminate a horse, we don’t do it, and we never have. Now, there are veterinary practices everywhere where they inject joints and give the horses so many days, but we have never done it.”
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