IT IS not clear what Michael O’Leary has got planned over Christmas.
Perhaps, he’s playing Santa at the Pilots’ Benevolent Fund Christmas party or baking mince pies to hand out to happy travellers at Dublin Airport.
If that’s not on his festive agenda and he’s fed up with going cold turkey with the in-laws then there has to be a fair chance he’ll fetch up at your local theatre as the Gigginstown Stud boss has become racing’s number one pantomime villain.
The airline billionaire was at it again last week. First, he continued his gentle nudging of the handicapper three months before it’s revealed what weight Tiger Roll would have to carry if he goes for a third straight Grand National victory.
It seems strange to write ‘if’ with the chance of such a historic win in sight but O’Leary is adamant Tiger Roll, who has since undergone surgery to remove a bone chip in a joint, won’t be turning up at Aintree if he’s not happy with his allotted weight.
Calling his star’s position as Britain and Ireland’s fourth best staying chaser on official ratings as a load of ‘stuff and nonsense’, or a words to that effect, he claimed he wasn’t trying to negotiate with the handicapper.
Of course, he’s right. It takes two people to engage in negotiations and the BHA’s form boffins are unlikely to enter into any of those before the weights are revealed at the annual lunch in February.
If that didn’t get O’Leary enough of the attention he clearly loves, he went on to explain why he hasn’t used Tiger Roll’s regular jockey Davy Russell on many of his stars this season.
Then he promptly put Russell up on top novice chase prospect Battleoverdoyen in the Grade 2 Florida Pearl Chase at Punchestown on Sunday.
Battleoverdoyen remains unbeaten over fences as he puts in a a brave performance to land the Liam & Valerie Brennan Memorial Florida Pearl Novice Chase pic.twitter.com/wNOTzZMnJv
— Punchestown (@punchestownrace) November 17, 2019
O’Leary’s words are often best taken with a pinch of salt but his latest revelations are surely best treated with a sprinkling that would keep a chip shop going for at least 12 months.
This kind of talk, fuelled by his airline’s fares having more extras than your average backstreet massage parlour, put O’Leary up there with the wicked stepmothers to some ears.
But surely his status as one of the true bad guys can’t go any further than that. It’s, perhaps, not really relevant to point out how much cash he pumps into the sport but how much duller it would be without the likes of O’Leary?
All sport is meant to be fun. You wouldn’t think it sometimes when footballers, managers and supporters are all screaming at the ref, assistant ref and video ref but that has to be the ultimate aim.
O’Leary’s outlandish statements might irritate the grey shades of the humourless but he adds colour to every debate regardless of which side of the fence you sit.
That’s why the audience loves to hate but boring it certainly is not. What is tedious is the stony silence from some of the biggest names in racing.
Luckily most jockeys, trainers and owners get it. To promote racing in the face of huge competition from other sports they have to play ball for the future of the game.
There’s always an exception. Presenting Percy spent much of last season among the favourites for the Gold Cup despite him being spotted as often as his near-namesake the Scarlet Pimpernel.
When racing fans craved an update on the dual Festival winner his trainer Pat Kelly kept his long-standing vow of silence.
It did ante-post punters no favours but some seemed to revel in this secrecy, loving the mystery surrounding one of the most popular jumps horses.
Kelly’s behaviour and his contempt for racing’s supporters makes him one of the real baddies.
By comparison, O’Leary is just a bit of a Widow Twankey.
