JUST LIKE OLD TIMES

As if horse racing was not suffering enough, it now has another doping scandal which may cascade into numerous connected cases which the authorities will have to consider carefully how to 'manage' in the sense of releasing minimal information, or as it seems what the Irish authorities have done in this instance, released a full detailed report with inuendos as to who they think may be responsible.

Unless we are privileged to have access to all the investigations undertook to combat curruption in racing, both official and off record, then we can only form opinions from what comes out in the wash, allied to bits and pieces circulated by the rumor mill.

Horse and greyhound racing are unique when it comes to how discoveries of corrupt practices are managed. Neither sport would exist as we know it if punters decided to focus all of their betting activities on other sports - there indeed has been a steady stream of interest being switched to these other sports which has been damaging racing's finances for many years but, as of now, there is just about enough punters money to help keep the model afloat.

Cycle racing, whose glamour image has risen to levels close to that of Formula One, has arguably been the most plagued sport when it comes to drug cheating and the governing International Cycling Union have been clearly afraid to hang their dirty washing out for all to see as plenty of evidence exists a to suggest that on occasions they are themselves complicit in it.

Nevertheless, as there is no reliance on the general public speculating money on the outcome of whole races or stages of races, that sport, in a different league to horse racing in popularity in France, retains its mojo.

Returning to the equine sport; it's not really possible to measure with any degree of accuracy the damage done to punter participation when episodes such as that involving the doping of Viking Hoard with a sedative emerge into the open. There is a minority view that the affect on punter participation is negligible on the basis that many find the cheating and deceiving side of the sport fascinating, with some first becoming interested in the sport by this dark side, such engrossment borne out by how well Dick Francis novels have sold down the years.

Furthermore, you will bump into people who bet on horses who have no interest in ' horse A beat horse B by two lengths in receipt of 5 lb ', and are more interest in wanting to uncover some nugget for themselves where they believe a race is about to be fixed.

I do wonder how many passing in viewers of ITV racing, or those who write in letters expressing how racing has helped them keep sane during lock down, realise that Paul Nicholls once found himself as an innocent participant in one of the most shocking doping scandals in modern times.

Moreover, it is so hard to fathom just how much corruption was flooding national hunt racing during the 1980's. Jockeys being entertained and even invited on plush holidays by a figure alleged to be Britain's largest importer of illegal drugs, strange, incompetent rides, and horses being got at, which is were the then journeyman West Country based rider Nichols comes in.

I recall the 1988 festival very clearly, attending all three days - in what was a sustained golden era, continued on from the 1970's, and most certainly the last decade in which no one was prepared or could forsee a decline in the sport's popularity and the damage that would be inflicted by the growth of general sports betting.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup looked wide open with Nicholls partnering the David Barons trained Playschool, who had gone on a marked upward curve winning the Hennessy, the Welsh National, and the Vincent O'Brien Irish Gold Cup, where he proved without doubt that he was now a top class staying chaser. He was a horse with plenty to like. I'd seen him before in the flesh when he contested the Fred Withington Novice Chase at Cheltenham in December 1986, looking sure to figure when coming down three out in a race won by a certain Mr Frisk.

In the 1988 Gold Cup, Playschool started the 100/30 favorite in a 15 runner field that included the surprise French trained King George winner Nupsala, the 1985 winner Forgive 'n Forget, Playschool's 1987 Sun Alliance Chase conqueror Kildimo, past Grand National winner West Tip, soon to be Grand National winner Rhyme 'n Reason, and the much improved pair Charter Party and Cavvies Clown, whose stable companion Desert Orchid had run instead in the Champion Chase a day earlier when he finished runner up to the terrific Pearlyman.

Supporters of the favorite knew their fate early on - the returning Raceform comment by John Sharratt reading, " blnd 5th dropped rr 17th p.u. bef 20th". Timeform commented that, " the reliable, usually sound jumping Playschool was never moving or jumping with his usual fluency. "

The race eventually fell to the locally trained Charter Party, with tragedy striking when Forgive,n Forget was suddenly pulled up with a fatal injury when travelling supremely well, though he never did always find when coming off the bit.

Although a post race dope test on Playschool returned negative, and the Jockey Club, no doubt with potential harmful consequences to the image of the sport in mind, made a statement to the effect that they did not believe the horse had been doped, connections of the horse along with the wider racing fraternity, were adamant that the New Zealand bred gelding had been got at.

In fact, there is a wealth of evidence that points to such practices happening frequently until Dermot Browne was unmasked as being the 'needleman' who administered the same sedative Ace Promazine, that was given to Viking Hoard, when he carried out the misdeed on two favourites at the 1990 Doncaster St Leger meeting - Sheikh Mohammed's Norwich, and the Dick Hern trained Bravefoot who had been making news earlier in the season for being the first winner sired by Dancing Brave.

And it wasn't just doping - there were plenty of short prices turned over in some quite high profile contests where the market is strong that were the subject of dark rumours, with betting patterns often highlighting that all was not what it seemed   - it's no use even going into another can of worms opened long ago concerning the beaten favorite in the Cathcart, Raise An Argument, a race run just over an hour later from that Gold Cup - by Christ things were surreal then!

One footnote to the transgressions prevalent during that era concerns that 1985 Champion Hurdle when Browne was aboard the short priced favourite Brown's Gazette, when the gelding, in Timeform's words,    " lost considerable ground at the start by charging across the field almost at right angles to the direction he should have been taking, just as the tapes rose."

History tells us that Brown's Gazette eventually finished sixth, fourteen length behind See You Then. Weights and measures form had See You Then's winning performance behind that of Brown's Gazette's wide margin success from Desert Orchid and the yet to peak See You Then in the Christmas hurdle, with many observers feeling that the Monica Dickinson inmate was the 'moral' champion.

However, those with clear enough memories who remember that race vividly must have been left in some doubt whether Browne's Gazette would have won without the hullabaloo at the start, such was the impression See You Then left, by the way he quickened away from his rivals. To many, despite the unusual circumstances, he was a worthy winner and would go down as one of the greats when going on to win the race twice more.

Wonder will ITV racing be taking a look back at this era - it would be very relevant in light of the Viking Hoard incident along with the concerns expressed by Jim Bolger recently; but on the other hand it's not part of the image they wish to project for the sport so no doubt, similar to the BHA, they'd be glad if all memories of the dirty aspects of that era was lost in the archives for ever.

image taken from author's scrapbooks 

This track is from an other wordly album which was released in that that drought hit summer of 1976 when rumours were rife concerning illegal substances in connection with the striking success of the French raiders.