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The Handicapping Appeals Body, Mr David Cleary (independent chair), Mr Noel Chance and Mr Anthony Byrne convened on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 to consider the Appeal of Thomas Dowling (Trainer) in relation to the decision of the IHRB Handicapper to raise the rating of Spirit Of Eagles by 19lbs following her win in the Royal County Optional Claiming Race at Fairyhouse on Thursday, 28 May 2026.
The committee considered the submissions from Mr Dowling as part of the Trainer’s appeal and the Handicappers observations from Mr Garry O’Gorman, IHRB Flat Handicapper.
Having considered the submissions and observations made by the appellant and the Handicapper in this appeal, the Handicapping Appeals Body dismissed the appeal.
The full written decision of the Handicapping Appeals Body, as issued to the parties on Wednesday, 17 June, is set out below.
“The Handicapping Appeals Body (the Panel) considered the submissions made by the appellant and the handicapper and, after doing so, agreed that Spirit of Eagles should be allotted a mark of 59, as given by the handicapper. Therefore the appeal was dismissed.
The Panel took the view that the case argued by the appellant for a rise in Spirit of Eagle's mark after her win in the claiming race at Fairyhouse in the region of 7lb or 8lb, rather than the 19lb rise made by the handicapper, was not supported by any evidence. The appellant states that 'handicapping the race through Gloriously Glam ”would not make sense' but that is clearly not what the handicapper has done (the handicapper points out that they have Gloriously Glam assessed as running 21lb below her mark).
The appellant's conclusion that the form of the claiming race in which Spirit of Eagles ran 'cannot be relied upon with much confidence' is justified, but the handicapper has to put an assessment on the race that in their view is fair to all participants. The handicapper cannot just ignore the race as if it had not happened.
The Panel noted the points made by the handicapper in his thorough response to the appeal. The Panel accepted the handicapper's view that most of the horses in the Fairyhouse race had performed well below their current rating and/or their recent level of form and that only the winner and the runner-up (Power Surge) had shown their form.
The Panel agreed that the handicapper's explanation of how he had arrived at the figure of 59 for Storm of Eagles, taking into account, among other things, the form of a similar race at Gowran Park in which Power Surge ran, and using time comparisons with other six-furlong races on the Fairyhouse card, demonstrated clearly the sound reasoning behind the assessment.
The Panel noted the handicapper's point that a rating of 59 is very much on the low side when it comes to assessing the winners of claiming races in this jurisdiction.
The Panel especially noted the handicapper's comment in his conclusion that they would be quick to amend Sprit of Eagle's mark as further evidence came to light. The Panel would expect the handicapper to honour that commitment, to avoid the appellant's having to have further recourse to the appeals process.”