The prospect that the Covid 19 crisis would provide racing with an uncontested shot at conjuring up interest from an untapped, fresh audience, is now diminishing through a combination of the massess gradually returning to work, those at home venturing outside to soak up the sun, not to mention the approaching return of football.
It now seems an age ago that we were monitoring markets by the day inviting us to speculate whether the Grand National meeting would go ahead. As hope of that faded, the focus then moved to whether the sport would resume by the first day of May.
Throughout this enforced sabbatical there has been spirited talk of how resilient racing is, that it possesses such a magnetic pull with audiences to be able to dust itself down and get back up and running while at the same time overcoming the inevitable short term funding problems that threaten to develop into a long term crisis.
Let it not be in any doubt that the restart cannot come soon enough but with hindsight the sport could of been up and running in late April when it would have been offered countless, sole attempts at auditioning to a potentially vast pool of viewers who were offered no other live sport to watch.
Mind you, I would have priced it up strongly in favour of them repeatedly fluffing their lines. It's a crying shame how the presentation of the sport has nosedived to basement level in which a casual viewer could be forgiven for believing that it's all about forced fun, false laughter, loud oscillating voices, females speaking the universal student language with raised intonations at the end of each sentence, males under thirty five obeying an unwritten law of sporting designer stubble or a trimmed beard, along with an overall agenda to simplify and devalue the sport that is meant to be holding court.
Many over a certain age remember how it was. And how the sport was presented to us in a gentle style that allowed the atmosphere of the build up to an important race to enter into the viewers living room. A healthy sport that did not require hype.
And thankfully for the many whose video collections accumulated over decades only to find them ruined by mould, the sterling work of those who have minded their collections better and transferred them to You Tube cannot be praised enough.
Two in particular, who come under the pseudonyms of espmadrid and Eddie Cr, have continued to give valuable service to the sport as they transfer their historic video archive for racing fans to enjoy free of charge.
We watch races that we sometimes have not seen since the actual day of the event but shamefully often forget to click on the thumbs up, so immersed we have been in having memories stirred.
Which brings things back to the wonderful old style presentation. Wednesday July 29th 1981 is famous for a Royal Wedding; to racing fans it was leg three of the To Agori Mou v King's Lake grudge match in the Sussex Stakes.
Eddie Cr has added an uploaded extended version of the race on You Tube. It begins as the runners are leaving the paddock and going out on to the course. Jimmy Lindley, calm and controlled - he could be no other way - discusses the runners.
There is no attempt by Lindley to try to be cute and invent an angle into the race. Nor did he drum up cheap excitement by playing up the bad feeling between the connections of the two main protagonists - King's Lake having beaten the Newmarket 2000 Guineas winner in the Irish equivalent, only to lose the race in the stewards room then be reinstated after an appeal, then to lose the rematch in the St James Palace Stakes when Greville Starkey gave Pat Eddery the two finger sign passing the line.
Though Lindley had strong links with the Guy Harwood yard from his riding days there was no bias towards To Agori Mou in the coverage. But he does makes some delightful horseman's observations about the colt, describing him as having, " nothing pretty about him, a real workman with a big, honest intelligent head."
We often use to hear them described as "common" heads and they have become much rarer, particularly in flat racing. Oddly enough, in that Henry Cecil book, this was the perceived changing trend that caused a controversial non ranking member of the team to experiment by altering the bridles on the inmates to fit a narrower head.
Apart from two betting shows read out off the stencil on screen, Lindley was in charge until John Hanmer took over when the runners reached the start, where he brought Lindley back in once or twice. Hanmer, while known to many in the general public for being part of the in running Grand National commentary for many years, was also Steve Cauthen's agent at the time in addition to being part of the team that do the 'close ups' for the official form book.
Similar to Lindley, he was not prone to outbursts of excitement, rather oozing calm, control and intelligence. One shudders to think how they would feel if required to fit in with a modern, presenting team. Having to hand over to the 'social stable' where no doubt on this day they would of found themselves surrounded by screaming attendees in mock wedding dresses and tiaras bought out of tat shops, along with others sporting rubber Prince Charles ears.
The field assembled was typical of a time when the jam was spread wider; nine runners, nine different owners, eight different trainers with the trainer of King's Lake, Vincent O'Brien, also running Last Fandango, who was there on his merits in the Sangster colours. The Maktoum's sole representative was Noalto in the Sheikh Mohammed colours. Little did we know the rate at which their involvement would suddenly escalate.
And finally over to the voice of racing for a faultless no thrills commentary. To Agori Mou looked likely to confirm the Ascot form as he took up the running approaching the furlong marker under Starkey with his distinctive, rythmical bobbing style, elbows pointed outwards. Alas under a patient Eddery ride, King's Lake got up on the inside to lead close home and win by a head with, we later discovered, his rider voicing a few revengeful expletives towards Starkey.
It could be pointed out that if a certain French trained colt named Northjet had not been withdrawn from the race following a late setback, then we would have discovered earlier who the real boss of this division was. For while To Agori Mou came out marginally ahead of King's Lake when they clashed for a fourth and final time in the Prix Jaques le Marois, it was of little relevance as Northjet trounced the pair of them. Still, it was a final twist that took nothing away from the entertainment the miler's division gave us that summer.
But most poignant of all is realising just how coverage from the BBC racing team, fronted by the inimitable Julian Wilson, with a small but top notch team who realised that if the product was so good, you let it do the speaking itself. Now, resuming next week, we not only have an inferior product but one presented to the public in a painfully demeaning style.
image reproduced under CC BT - SA 2.0
Many over a certain age remember how it was. And how the sport was presented to us in a gentle style that allowed the atmosphere of the build up to an important race to enter into the viewers living room. A healthy sport that did not require hype.
And thankfully for the many whose video collections accumulated over decades only to find them ruined by mould, the sterling work of those who have minded their collections better and transferred them to You Tube cannot be praised enough.
Two in particular, who come under the pseudonyms of espmadrid and Eddie Cr, have continued to give valuable service to the sport as they transfer their historic video archive for racing fans to enjoy free of charge.
We watch races that we sometimes have not seen since the actual day of the event but shamefully often forget to click on the thumbs up, so immersed we have been in having memories stirred.
Which brings things back to the wonderful old style presentation. Wednesday July 29th 1981 is famous for a Royal Wedding; to racing fans it was leg three of the To Agori Mou v King's Lake grudge match in the Sussex Stakes.
Eddie Cr has added an uploaded extended version of the race on You Tube. It begins as the runners are leaving the paddock and going out on to the course. Jimmy Lindley, calm and controlled - he could be no other way - discusses the runners.
There is no attempt by Lindley to try to be cute and invent an angle into the race. Nor did he drum up cheap excitement by playing up the bad feeling between the connections of the two main protagonists - King's Lake having beaten the Newmarket 2000 Guineas winner in the Irish equivalent, only to lose the race in the stewards room then be reinstated after an appeal, then to lose the rematch in the St James Palace Stakes when Greville Starkey gave Pat Eddery the two finger sign passing the line.
Though Lindley had strong links with the Guy Harwood yard from his riding days there was no bias towards To Agori Mou in the coverage. But he does makes some delightful horseman's observations about the colt, describing him as having, " nothing pretty about him, a real workman with a big, honest intelligent head."
We often use to hear them described as "common" heads and they have become much rarer, particularly in flat racing. Oddly enough, in that Henry Cecil book, this was the perceived changing trend that caused a controversial non ranking member of the team to experiment by altering the bridles on the inmates to fit a narrower head.
Apart from two betting shows read out off the stencil on screen, Lindley was in charge until John Hanmer took over when the runners reached the start, where he brought Lindley back in once or twice. Hanmer, while known to many in the general public for being part of the in running Grand National commentary for many years, was also Steve Cauthen's agent at the time in addition to being part of the team that do the 'close ups' for the official form book.
Similar to Lindley, he was not prone to outbursts of excitement, rather oozing calm, control and intelligence. One shudders to think how they would feel if required to fit in with a modern, presenting team. Having to hand over to the 'social stable' where no doubt on this day they would of found themselves surrounded by screaming attendees in mock wedding dresses and tiaras bought out of tat shops, along with others sporting rubber Prince Charles ears.
The field assembled was typical of a time when the jam was spread wider; nine runners, nine different owners, eight different trainers with the trainer of King's Lake, Vincent O'Brien, also running Last Fandango, who was there on his merits in the Sangster colours. The Maktoum's sole representative was Noalto in the Sheikh Mohammed colours. Little did we know the rate at which their involvement would suddenly escalate.
And finally over to the voice of racing for a faultless no thrills commentary. To Agori Mou looked likely to confirm the Ascot form as he took up the running approaching the furlong marker under Starkey with his distinctive, rythmical bobbing style, elbows pointed outwards. Alas under a patient Eddery ride, King's Lake got up on the inside to lead close home and win by a head with, we later discovered, his rider voicing a few revengeful expletives towards Starkey.
It could be pointed out that if a certain French trained colt named Northjet had not been withdrawn from the race following a late setback, then we would have discovered earlier who the real boss of this division was. For while To Agori Mou came out marginally ahead of King's Lake when they clashed for a fourth and final time in the Prix Jaques le Marois, it was of little relevance as Northjet trounced the pair of them. Still, it was a final twist that took nothing away from the entertainment the miler's division gave us that summer.
But most poignant of all is realising just how coverage from the BBC racing team, fronted by the inimitable Julian Wilson, with a small but top notch team who realised that if the product was so good, you let it do the speaking itself. Now, resuming next week, we not only have an inferior product but one presented to the public in a painfully demeaning style.
image reproduced under CC BT - SA 2.0
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