In his column in today's Sunday Tribune, Walsh says that the jockeys' treatment at the hands of the racing authorities meant they were "made to feel like bold schoolboys". "It just confirmed my opinion that the Irish Turf Club is an institution that's still stuck in the stone age."

The jockeys . . . Walsh, Barry Geraghty, Paul Carbery, Shay Barry, Andrew McNamara, Robert Power, Davy Russell, Adrian Lane, Denis O'Regan and Paddy Flood . . . had been fined 200 each after a hurdle race at Galway in which none of them was willing to make the running at the outset. All 10 runners walked the opening 60 yards or thereabouts before Darby Wall . . . ridden by McNamara . . . finally took up the lead. The stewards found the jockeys to have "acted in a manner prejudicial to the good image of Irish racing, " and handed down the fines. The jockeys' appeals to the Irish Turf Club came to nothing.

"We hadn't broken any rule of race riding, " Walsh writes.

"And we'd obeyed the starter's orders but these stewards were irate about the manner in which we'd started the race.

"It's how we were treated on both occasions that has us all so annoyed. We were basically made to feel as though we were wrong at the start of the race and that we had wasted everyone's time by appealing the decision. It was like the stewards and the Turf Club were talking to a group of bold schoolboys. I felt there was a complete lack of respect."

Walsh also takes issue with the charge itself. "Prejudicial to the good image of Irish racing? Says who? There were no complaints from any of the owners or trainers. The racing public are never slow to let you know if they think they've been short-changed but not one said a word to me or any of the lads. The media didn't even give out. There was a discussion on RTE television the following Sunday between Robert Hall, Donn McClean and Ger Lyons, and they came down 2-1 in our favour.

"There was no public outcry. No bookmakers complained. The assistant handicapper Andrew Shaw actually came with us to the appeal and said that from a handicapping point of view, the race was perfect. Each horse ran on its merits."