'We're not asking for much' - stable staff protest over Kilbeggan water charges

The body representing Ireland's stable staff has hit out at Kilbeggan racecourse after a protest was staged on Friday evening when no free bottled water was provided in the stable yard.

Action from disgruntled stable staff forced a 22-minute delay to the third race, leading to further delays of 18, 16 and 14 minutes for the races that followed.

Irish Stable Staff Association chief executive Bernard Caldwell said racecourse manager Paddy Dunican initially refused to provide free water in the stable yard. Caldwell says that Dunican informed stable staff they could instead purchase water at a subsidised rate of €1.50 a bottle in the canteen.

This was viewed as unacceptable by the stable staff organisation on a warm night for grooms, who must walk "half a mile" from the stable yard to the parade ring with their runners.

"The manager said if they wanted it, they could buy it from the canteen but he wouldn't provide water for the stable staff for free," said Caldwell.

Bernard Caldwell: 'The manager at Kilbeggan isn't cooperative in a lot of ways and if this happens again, we'll do the same again'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"The walk from the stable yard to the parade ring is half a mile at Kilbeggan. We walk in long grass, it's very tiring on a hot day. The manager at Kilbeggan sees this and doesn't want to know about it.

"We spoke with trainers and the stewards about the situation, and the manager was called in to the stewards over the issue. When his attitude towards this was to not provide water, I rang back the stewards and told them we were protesting.

"There was a threat that racing would be called off and all of the grooms stood together down in the stable yard, walking the horses around.

"After about 20 or 25 minutes, word came through that water would be sent down. When it arrived, horses were led up to the track."

Caldwell insisted staff have no desire to disrupt racing unnecessarily but warned that protests could happen again if the situation fails to improve at future meetings.

"It's an unfortunate thing to happen," he said.

Kilbeggan: saw multiple races delayed on Friday night due to a stable staff protestCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"We don't want to disturb racing or anything like that, but it has to be realised that there could be a health and safety issue down here in terms of water.

"The manager at Kilbeggan wasn't cooperative and if this happens again, we'll do the same again. He said the water was subsidised at €1.50 a bottle, but I don't know where he's buying it to have that as the subsidised fee.

"We've shown tonight that we're a strong organisation and if the gun is put to our heads, we're united as a group. Everybody pulls together. I compliment the staff on their stance tonight.

"There are a lot of elderly trainers who we feel sorry for having to leave their horses at the stable yard and walk up, but there's no sympathy at Kilbeggan. It's one of the few tracks in Ireland we've had problems with. We're not asking for much."

Kilbeggan officials also came under fire in 2014 when Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey David Casey posted a picture on Twitter highlighting how the track was charging riders €0.10 to buy individual biscuits, such as digestives and custard creams.

Efforts from the Racing Post to reach Paddy Dunican for comment were unsuccessful.

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