There was a poignant celebration in Wellington, Florida at the weekend when Bertram Allen won the $75,000 1.55m Adequan WEF Challenge Cup Round 5.

Allen was aboard Irish Sport Horse Pacino Amiro (ISH), the 2012 gelding by Pacino (BWP) out of Carnone Dancing Queen (ISH). The combination won in a blazing time of 38.89 seconds from a starting field of 54 competitors (12 in the jump-off).

Bred by Donegal’s Simon Scott and owned by Aiden McGrory, the victory as bright as it was, also comes as a bitter sweet reminder of what we lost ten years ago this week when Clem McMahon’s mighty stallion and international show jumper Pacino was tragically lost to incurable kidney failure at only nine years old.

As Pacino Amiro and Allen are flying the flag for Ireland, they also fly it for a much-admired performer who never quite got the chance to fulfill his potential.

Pacino’s stamp is clear to see though, as we watch his offspring reach the very top of the sport, and with 150 mares covered in his short lifetime, I have a feeling there will be more stars to come.

Whipping up a storm

Switching sports, it’s hard to open a racing paper or social media page without the controversy of the new whip rules heading up debate. For Ireland in particular, there is reason to worry about the English whip rule changes which came into effect on Monday.

With Cheltenham just a matter of weeks away, the Irish Jockeys Association secretary Andrew Coonan told Mark Boylan of The Irish Field: “To ask a rider to change their riding style, whether they be a jockey, event rider or show jumper, is a difficult thing to do. To ask them to do that in the space of a month is almost asking the impossible.

“We see in the UK that they’ve had a bedding-in period since just after Christmas and riders still haven’t fully been able to adjust. It creates significant disadvantage for Irish riders going to Cheltenham.”

Under the British Horseracing Authority’s new regulations, use of the whip above shoulder height will be prohibited and the number of strikes reduced to a maximum of six times in a flat race and seven in a jumps race (down from seven and eight respectively).

The BHA met with Irish jockeys at the recent Dublin Racing Festival, but according to experienced National Hunt jockey Sean Flanagan, there failed to be clarity, saying: “To us as Irish riders, it feels as though it’s still very vague as to exactly what the rules are.”

Timing is an issue here and the confusion over the whip in the run up to and during one of the world’s biggest racing events could be harmful. If there’s confusion, mistakes will be made and mistakes translates into annual whip breach statistics, which could cast an unnecessary negative light on racing.

BHA officials and Irish jockeys will meet again on 8 March to discuss the issue, and in the meantime will send videos to the Irish Jockeys Association for Irish riders to study what constitutes a breach of the rules. Let’s hope clarity follows and Cheltenham doesn’t have this controversy dulling its shine.