One would struggle to pinpoint a period during the last half century in which UK horse racing was under siege like it is now by a myriad of real threats to its health, even its existence.
You are spoilt for choice for delving into each lingering peril but top of the list at the moment has to be the prospect of bookmakers being forced to impose affordibility checks with a view to restricting punters to maximum monthly loss limits - a situation that could not be made up as this is a ruthless game where the bookmakers natural instinct is to turn the punter upside now and shake him until his pockets are emptied.
Against the checks, Parliament will be taking into consideration submissions by representatives of the racing industrywho quite rightly believe that restrictions will result in a massive black hole in racing's finances.
Let's face it, only a small minority will be willing to allow bookmakers to view personal information including bank statements and wage slips. The result will be a mass emigration to using online black market firms, both home and abroad. It's a trend that has happened in other countries with monopolised systems which result in too much state take out, or where mass affordability checks have seen maximum stakes limited. Across the whole gambling spectrum some countries even estimate that something approaching two thirds of wagers are now placed on the black market.
No doubt anyone playing in these murky waters would be advised to still use the big high street firms for those potential life changing multiple wagers popular at the big festivals and on Saturdays. It's not just the bigger limits, it would also be removing the angst that an unregulated firm would welch in the face of a big pay out, and the over the counter stakes for such bets for the majority are not going to be large enough to trigger any proposed affordability check.
Nevertheless. for normal single bets, the liklehood is that the black market would be fairly reliable given the increase in competition. And the potential financial damage to UK horse racing would be catastrophic if, as likely, punters are asked to provide non essential, private information to a firm of bookmakers.
It will certainly test the rickety assertion of some that racing can survive without punter's money. The courses which are not able to attract the summer cult attendees, or are neither grand enough in status to hold the major festival meetings, would struggle to survive and will be lost to the sport. UK racing would be left with a small number of showcase venues, reliant on these cult attendees paying large entry fees that in many cases will try and be justified by the inclusion of a concert, with the purchasing of over priced food and drink throughout the day built into the profit forecasts.
To what may sound appealing to the casual none serious racing fan attendee, will be the stuff of nightmares to those who are finding it hard to come to terms with the grim fact that racecourses now increasingly pertain much more to other interests than the racing itself. In fact, it would not be unreasonable to envisage a situation where as the weekend approaches, York, Chester and Haydock, are all advertising aggressively for competing audiences, the gimmick of one venue trying to outdo the gimmicks offered by the other two, or the aged, croakey voiced singer at one course, proclaimed as the real thing and therefore better than a younger more vibrant Abba tribute band at another.
At the other end of the country, a similar tussle for the paying attendees could be playing out between Newbury, Salisbury and Sandown, the onus on the ingredient in the adverts that would lure in the undecided. Stuff the fact that one track may have a card chokker full of high class thoroughbreds, while another may be littered with 0- 80 handicaps, an amateur riders event, and a maiden auction juvenile. It will sadly matter not anymore for the horse racing will be secondary.
The warning signs were there many years ago - maybe not as far back as the 1980's when the evening meetings at the Newmarket July course would play host after racing to the likes of Suzi Quatro and Tom Jones. It seemed harmless at the time and certainly no threat to the core sport on offer.
But once we moved into the noughties the whole ball game had changed with a realisation by many venues that for the emerging generations, the racing itself was not enough of a lure.This did not hit home with me until approximately twenty years back when I paid an inflated entry fee for a run of the mill evening Aintree card that included an after race concert by Peter Andre, who I honestly would not recognise in a photo never mind being able to name a single tune of his. As I left during the running of the last event, a considerable numbers of 'racegoers' were still arriving in anticipation of the billed main attraction of the night.
Times have moved on and fixtures with non racing 'extras' topping the bill occur throughout the week during the summer months. Once the consequences of affordibility checks take hold they will become the norm as a smaller number of operating venues than ever before compete for the new audience brand.
And not to forget that a twin threat may yet emerge to consolidate the impact of these measures. For in a financial climate in which the chancery seeks to claw back as much back into the coffers as possible, it would not come as the greatest shock if a return to the days of taxing the punter were under consideration.
Make no mistake there are owners and trainers who blindly overestimate the value of their product and who believe that the punter should be paying more into the game.They really should be careful what they wish for.
This was released the day before Henry Cecil first hit the big time with Wolver Hollow in the Eclipse. Not even a full glass empty person could have predicted that half a century on the sport would be struggling as all the other major sports thrive and survive. And you definitely could not have envisaged how music would be all washed up fifty years on. It would not be unreasonable to claim that along with Bohemian Rhapsody, this was the greatest UK chart number one ever.
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