On the 23rd of February 2022 the license of Dalby based trainer David Reynolds was suspended indefinitely until the hearing of serious criminal charges against him, and his seeming inevitable sentence that appears likely may involve a term of imprisonment.
Reynolds was given seven days to amend the bona fides and to arrange a transfer to another trainer (to be approved by the QRIC) of the horses currently in his stable.
The trainer WAS NOT granted approval to nominate his horses afresh for races, or to accept to race with the horses, and under the terms of racing rule 267(a) Reynolds MUST NOT during the period of his suspension nominate a horse for a race, official trial or jump-out.
On the 24th of February 2022 – the very day after his license was suspended – David Reynolds lodged acceptances in his own name for a number of horses that were still under his care and control to race at the Thangool TAB meeting the following Monday. Reynolds also lodged the declaration of riders form for these horses electronically in his own name.
We are told that the acceptances and declarations of jockeys made by David Reynolds were approved by a QRIC Steward name Clayton Warren, but that Mr Warren was over-ruled by his boss, newly appointed Chief Steward in Rockhampton Ben Cooke, a young rising star in the integrity field and reportedly a stickler for the rules, which of course is a good thing.
It appears that then issue was then escalated to the office of the QLD Chief Steward of Thoroughbred Racing Mr Peter Chadwick, who determined for reasons known only to himself that Reynolds acceptances to race and declaration of riders for the horses still under his control and care would be accepted by the QRIC, despite the fact of the prohibition under the rules that prevented the suspended trainer from doing so.*
It is worth noting that David Reynolds own in whole or part three of the seven horses entered and accepted to run at Thangool – Zakheera, Bobbybouche and Red Nebula – but does not have any direct ownership interest in the other 4 horses he accepted with.
The day after this occurred, Reynolds moved out of his stables, and a trainer named Gavin Dempsey moved in.
None of the horses ‘formerly’ trained by Reynolds moved an inch.
It is worth noting that David Reynolds finished 6th in the Country Trainers Premiership last season with 21 winners and earnings of $176,625; trained 4 provincial winners of $72 275; and landed the Battle of the Bush final at Eagle Farm with his galloper Rather Salubrious, finishing the season with city earnings of $140 600.
Gavin Dempsey finished 94th in the Premiership, with 4 winners and stakes of $30 185. Dempsey trained no provincial or city winners at all.
Common sense would dictate that it is very unlikely that all of the horses in one of the leading country stables would be transferred to a battling bush trainer who had been scrabbling around the bottom of the premiership for two decades, and had trained just 18 winners in 23 years.
In these circumstances it would appear near certain that Reynolds continues to train his horses, whether surreptitiously or by remote control, and that he remains responsible for decisions made about the horses, despite the limitations placed on him under the rules by his suspension.
It is to be hoped that the QRIC Chief Steward is far more vigilant in enforcing the rules than he was when he ruled last week that Reynolds acceptances and rider declarations would be approved.
I for one will not be holding my breath.
* The rules do not specifically mention prohibitions on suspended trainers lodging acceptances or riders, however the broader restrictions on any training activities or involvement in the training or preparation of race horses adequately addresses the issue.
A further issue in the Reynolds case is that under the rules he is permitted in the mounting yard when horses he owns are racing. Given the particular circumstances of the criminal charges that he faces this is totally unacceptable, and a safety risk to others. The QRIC needs to act by invoking its extraordinary powers to prevent this from occurring.