A DISCREDITED TITLE

The Flat jockey's championship and the music charts seem to have lost their popularity throughout the same period of time. Remember when you would listen to the chart show on a Sunday night, watch Top of the Pops every Thursday and could reel off the number ones by rote. 

In the year I was born Scobie Breasley won the jockey's championship. From then until 1989 the roll of honour was made up of Lester Piggott,Willie Carson, Pat Eddery, Joe Mercer and Steve Cauthen. Just six jockey's names but all genuine top class riders,some legends all worthy of the esteem they were widely held in.

A fair indicator of who could be considered an indisputable top class jockey would be one with the ability to have held down and been successful in at least one job with an established big yard or owner. That is a contract that would regularly provide genuine classic and big race contenders. All six names comfortably pass the test.

With the advent of All Weather racing in 1989 it all gets a little foggy. The season was extended to the calendar year which increased the opportunities for the grafting journeyman to make their presence felt in the table. Good for them but perhaps not so for the prestige of the championship.

Going by the aforementioned criteria of the championship being won by a rider able to hold down a big job, 1990 to 1999 saw three new names claiming the title. Two of them, Dettori and Fallon thankfully fitted the seal of approval. Michael Roberts perhaps not as the Sheikh Mohamed contract only lasted a single year.

The decade also saw that long drawn out season in 1994 when Dettori and Jason Weaver built up final heady totals of 233 and 200 respectively. This will not happen again and to be honest it was hardly gripping as the result was in the bag some way out and Weaver's aim turned to reaching the double century. Furthermore it began and ended when most fans were in jump season mode.

In the seventeen years from 2000 to the present eight new names have been successful. Taking a cheap shot you could say there are all sorts of gaff track riff raff taking over. The All Weather fixture list has swelled so much during the turf season that even reverting the 'real' jockey's championship to the duration of the turf season still left the door wide open for the off meeting regulars.

Out of the eight names only Ryan Moore passes the test with certainty. The jury is still out on Silvestre de Sousa as he might get another go at a big job after being dispensed with by Godolphin. Richard Hughes (in picture) is a close call. His contract with Khalid Abdullah lasted seven years but not all of the trainers welcomed him on their horses and it was eventually whittled down leaving out some notable handlers.

The Hamdan job is overall below that level quality wise so Jim Crowley will not be considered, neither will Paul Hanagan who never looked fully comfortable moving base and riding on the Southern circuit. Jamie Spencer also falls below the elite and so too Kevin Darley and Seb Sanders.

I suppose you could say that the powers that be and their misguided initiatives have got the champions they deserve. Reminds of when David Duval came out with similar words when the rough at Carnoustie was artificially fortified for the Open Championship and they all moaned and had hissy fits leaving Paul Lawrie to put his name on the trophy 

From 2007  restrictions were placed on the number of meeting a jockey could ride at each week, reducing it to nine. There is no question that well-being issues were a big consideration but it would also be a touch naive to discount as an influencing factor the hope that it would tempt the top two or three big names to go full out for the title.

The most recent change to start the season at the Newmarket Guineas meeting and end it on British Champions Day was no doubt influenced by the increasing globalisation of the sport and a renewed attempt to stoke up interest from the very top by ensuring all riders would be fully available during that period.

This may or may not prove to be an enticement to Moore if not Dettori. The Italian is a enjoying a fruitful spell in the twilight years of his career but is too far behind in the table to challenge this season.  As for whether William Buick, James Doyle and Andrea Atzani now consider themselves in the elite bracket and a bit too precious to be chasing down a title only they will know.

If any of them have had their heads turned by the abridged championship season they will be counting on the industrious De Sousa to pick up an injury or a few suspensions for them to have a chance to chase the Brazilian down.

The jockey's championship has never been the most interesting or important aspect of the sport but there was a time when it added positively to the image, particularly for younger fans. When interest evaporates along with its prestige it is an another reminder that the popularity of the sport is waning.

NEW NAMES AND FACES BUT NOTHING MUCH ELSE

The build up and hype to the new look , sole terrestrial TV horse racing coverage in the United Kingdom dragged on for a long time. Who was staying, who was going. Who would be there on merit and who there through connection or by fitting the PC agenda.

The problem with taking a critical approach to those they hire to gas away to us is that having enthusiasm, long learned knowledge and love of the subject is not suffice if you lack the composure and dare I say looks to pass a screen test.

We waited to see what extra additions would be brought to the table, both in personnel and features.

Royal Ascot is the apt time for a mid-term report.

The Regulars:

Ed Chamberlin  -  I bumped into a long term racing fan the other week who remarked, ' What a smug git that Ed Chamberlin is. Wish we could return to the original C4 team '.

Not sure what to make of him. We know he is a proper racing enthusiast. But he does indeed sometimes give the impression that he thinks very highly of himself. Is he an improvement on Nick Luck ? Undecided on that one.

Matt Chapman - What worked OK in the studio is not working in roam mode. Was agent for Daryl Holland when that rider was at his peak so cannot be the bonehead that he portrays himself as and I would imagine he is a completely unrecognisable character in private than what we see. On the plus side he is not afraid to be critical and go against the flow.

Rishi Persad - Always expected him to be covering his favourite sport of Cricket by now. It seems very likely he was originally brought in to the old team to give representation from his ethnic background and send out the inclusive message though I doubt they themselves would believe they share much in common at all with the son of a barrister. Seems a cheerful bloke but has plenty to be cheerful about.

Olly Bell - Got the opportunities through his connections but does do the job fairly well.

Hayley Turner - Homely sort of character, no irritation level at all but whether she is suited to TV not so sure.

Francesca Cumani - an improvement on the self - important Claire Balding and another who does not irritate.

Mick Fitzgerald - Subject to more more threads on the Betfair Forum than anyone else.

Luke Harvey - Quite witty and a cross between Richard Pitman and John Francome .Would be better with a form book bud besides him to build up some rapport with.

Alice Plunkett - An extremely annoying individual who clearly fails to endear herself to the masses.

Brian Gleason - Many years ago the Beeb would bring in Tommy Stack for the jumping festivals. He slotted in perfectly alongside Julian Wilson. All very professional and orderly.

Gleason is adopting an extrovert role which is clearly not the real him and all very discordant. His interviews are poor too.This week in true Derek Thompson style he was fawning all over Sheikh Mohammed. Moments later he was being pushy with Wesley Ward.

Richard Hoiles - Established first rate race caller. We've known that for a long time.

The Weather Girl - Excess money in the spending budget. No need whatsoever.


The Presentation:

Misguided by consultants there is clearly an agenda to capture a new audience. They believed this was achievable but six months in the viewing figures returned are far from promising.

Unless you back-fit them to include ITV and not ITV 4 and just select racing days, they have under performed. The marginal improvement so far at Ascot this week is misleading as the Euro Championships were in full flow this time last year.

Some would have you believe that  terrestrial TV racing coverage had become stagnated and dull but trying quick fixes moulded in the false belief that a fresh,wide eyed audience were watching from their homes set things off in the wrong direction.

If audiences like a bit of what they see they will go and explore for themselves. In the day of the internet this is easier than ever before. It's not like you have to go to a local library and find a book on the history of the Epsom Derby.

Thus there is no need for any dumbing down to this imaginary new audience. Needlessly breaking up the flow to explain terms, customs and procedures to keep with this false belief that the sport has to change to capture the interest of the MTV generations.

Truth be told is that the sport itself has been losing it's appeal and is unable to attract a new flow of fans.Citing large attendances on Summer Saturdays at the 'cult' venues such as York and Chester is highly misleading. 

Admittedly they will fill the coffers of the said courses by paying the admission price, and spending on food and drink all day. But when they leave, sunburnt and worse for wear, most will not be betting regularly on horses. In fact for many the next bet they have on a horse will be on their next visit to a racetrack.

Racing may soon need to downsize and must protect its core audience and prevent it from dwindling any further. If new fans unexpectedly emerge then great, but it won't be down to any misguided 'initiative'. They like it or they don't.

After a reasonably promising start the new look terrestrial TV coverage is very much the same as the old. We can never have enough stable or stud visits, or archive footage of horses or trainer and jockey interviews from years gone by, but we don't need a large team with a disorganised feel that comply with an agenda that is on the wrong path.

SHOULD HANNON BE WORRIED ?

These are pivotal times for Richard Hannon junior. Next week may well determine how the rest of his year will play out. He will be striving to set a marker with high standards and expectations.  

As a side issue, he likewise has to once and for all shake off  the image of being the grinning, playboyish all been too easy for him category of trainer.

He took over at the helm of the Wiltshire set up after his father had enjoyed a terrific final few years with his name on the licence. You could once pigeonhole Hannon senior as a trainer with a scattergun modus operandi  who excelled with his two year olds and gave his apprentices and in-house riders more opportunities than most.

He was also the trainer of three 2,000 Guineas winners, with not as many good middle distance performers. The equine intake always did lean more towards speed orientated pedigrees.

The three Guineas winners had not been purchased from the top end of the market; he was never fortunate enough to have the type of owners with the resources available to bid for potential sales toppers. In most years his representatives in the Guineas trials who were deep down not considered talented enough to win the big one would be fully tuned up to take advantage of a good opportunity of early season Group race success.

In the last five years of his career he was given a better class of animal more often than ever before and was fortunate to have the likes of Canford Cliffs, Sky Lantern, Paco Boy, Olympic Glory, and Toronado, horses that he handled with aplomb.

In racing most sons step into their father's shoes when the situation is flagging, or at the very least winding down when compared with past times. Tim Easterby took over from his dad long after the heady days at Great Habton but at least not much was broke. Nicky Richards took over the leadership at Greystoke after the operation had downsized.Tim Fitzgerald did not have a chance running a set up that had collapsed fortune and numbers wise and even David Pipe inherited his position at a time when Paul Nicholls was establishing himself as the new number one.

It was the opposite with Hannon junior. When he stepped in from the assistant role he was gifted a yard with ready made top level performers and an exciting intake of juveniles. For all the many years the yard had been churning out the winners it would not be an exaggeration to state that it had never been in better shape. 

To put it mildly Hannon was on a hiding to nothing.

It could not have started better with a  2,000 Guineas success through Night of Thunder, and more top level successes with Olympic Glory, Toronado and Tiggy Wiggy. Given the healthy state the yard was in this more than satisfactory first season was entirely predictable.

2015 started with two bona fide classic hopefuls in Ivawood and Estidhkaar. Both made the Newmarket Guineas, Ivawood finished third but Estidhkaar despite starting the most fancied of the two disappointed. Despite Group 1 successes with Night of Thunder in the Lockinge and Pether's Moon in the Coronation Cup, the season could be considered only just about acceptable and some way short of what it had initially promised.

The same cannot be said for last year with just a sole success at the highest level and that coming with Ventura Storm in a Group 1 in name only at the San Siro. The overall winning tally of 173 was not alarmingly down on the 206 and 195 of the previous two years but the overall prize money earned had fallen significantly and there were more ordinary performers stabled in the yard than there had been for a number of years.

This was extra disappointing when taking into account that there had been a recent variation in strategy whereby they had begun to take things a wee more steadily with more of the juveniles than ever before, not wanting to risk emptying the tank and compromise their three year old careers.

Of course with a horse like Mehmas this was not going to be possible but for the yard overall this does not seem to be reaping benefits. Indeed, considering the numbers involved they began this year with top class three year old prospects surprisingly thin on the ground.

Royal Ascot week is going to be a very important one for Richard Hannon junior. It is not inconceivable that  Barney Roy could improve enough to end the season as the best miler around. But on Tuesday he needs to win or at the very least run Churchill very close in the St James Palace. If not then Barney Roy's hopes will have to be reigned in and revised.

The yard is predictably strongly represented in the two year old events and more than one of these youngsters is going to have to come out of the week promising top level success in the future.Later on in the season a handful of his slower developing juveniles will be expected to put in a claim as serious potential contenders for the big events in 2018.

It's not easy for anyone trying to compete with Ballydoyle but there are plenty of candidates for being best of the rest. Hannon junior presently sits a little way off the top of this mini table and he has to find a way to restore the yard to a strength similar to when he took over from his father.

There is no crisis, not even a real slump just yet but a good year is needed again soon if he is to make himself his own man and not take the yard in the wrong direction.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO GODOLPHIN ?

No one takes kindly to being lectured to and told what is good them, what they should appreciate and how their cynicism is is merely jealousy without any solid basis. Worse still when the recipients of these smug sermons have no stage where they can broadcast their response.

With horse racing this was once a real scenario. Remember when realisation set in that flat racing was being absorbed by the Maktoums. It was 1985, Steve Cauthen would come hovering from the sky into the raceourses in that beige coloured helicopter, the cumbersome,silly looking hand held phones were appearing, Arthur Scargill, Heysel and the news that next year there would be a new racing daily to rival the grey, overpriced Sporting Life.

Although this news was welcoming it was washing thin that the Maktoums were all for the spirit of competition and fully testing and exposing their stars. Shareef Dancer had seen to that, he had been their first real superstar when quickening like a champion of champions when beating both the Epsom and French Derby winners at the Curragh two years earlier.

We never caught site of him again. He was declared to run in the Benson and Hedges but was withdrawn in the morning. Rumours spread that he was considered too precious to risk. That they kept him wrapped up in cotton wool and did not want to destroy the legend of him. As it turned out they were wasting their time anyway as despite given the best chances possible of success at stud he under performed. There is no legacy from him.

Still, we were reminded by the likes of Brough Scott how lucky we were to have the Maktoums and that we owed them more than they owed us. How lost we would be if they upped sticks and moved their empire to another part of the globe. Of course, the fact that their presence might deter others from entering the sport, that their infinitive resources might just hasten the dispersal of traditional owner breeder stock were never discussed critically by racing journalists whether on the TV or in writing.

Too many had their heads in the troughs. Same with the training ranks. Those who were not the chosen ones would never question that the Maktoum involvement may not be benefiting the sport as much as the sycophants made out. Most kept quiet and hoped that they might just get that lucky telephone call one day.

The ones bold enough to have a moan about how frustrating it was to get beaten in a Catterick or Redcar maiden by a blue blooded Maktoum horse from one of the big southern yards knew that they never had the profile to get on the payroll in the first place.

Of those with the freedom of the press airwaves, Scott was arguably the Maktoums greatest supporter. He of course played a big involvement in the introduction of the Racing Post. It was a big love in, if disapproval existed from any quarter it would be kept inside a locked box. This was easy to maintain for those that controlled the racing airwaves and publications.

Bad publicity for the family would be handled constructively. A story did once get out about a couple of bloodstock agents connected to them going on a bender and trashing their hotel. No names were printed but it would not have been difficult to compile a short list.

Remember, there existed no platform available for anyone to respond then . No internet forums or You Tube, Facebook ect; merely the letters pages in the racing papers which were obviously not going to print any dissent.

How times have changed. The emergence of sports betting to an extent whereby racing has now become just one of many daily opportunities to wager could not have been predicted. Interest in the sport of horse racing has fallen. The response to someone finger wagging on the television screen and reminding you how worse off 'we' would be without some plutocrats investment in the sport would be met with a zombie like stare.

The attitude now is  'so what I'd rather bet on the cricket, tennis,rugger, footy or golf anyway'. Dissent too can be voiced on horse racing forums, one having become so notorious that complaints are often made from members of the racing community, lawyers supposedly scan it, thin skinned members of the racing media have their names starred out if you try to type them.

So to these eruptions of the last couple of weeks within the Godolphin camp. There has been many rainy days and Mondays for a number of years now. That midas touch seems to have been lost where they would take charge of established charges from another yard, whether it be already Maktoum owned or acquired from outsiders, and perform wonders by taking the animal up a further level.

Daylami was a prime example. A high class miler with Alain Royer Dupre, Godolphin stepped in, purchased him from the Aga Khan and turned him into an exhilarating middle distance performer. It would not be a bad call to say that the day he won the King George in the wow manner he did was the pinnacle moment of the Godolphin operation. More so than Dubai Millenium's  Dubai World Cup.

Then there was Swain. He might as well have had a 'plodder alert' sign attached to him. Andre Fabre had actually run him twice over 1m 6f but to his credit he did get him into the frame in two Arcs though he looked decidedly one paced on each occasion. When he moved to Godolphin some thought the Ascot Gold Cup could be a feasible target. Instead, after the customary winter in Dubai he came back and built himself a profile no one would have envisaged. King George's, Irish Champion Stakes, going close in the Breeders Cup Classic.

Those days all now seem a long time gone .When examining how the overall performance of the operation has dropped off the most accurate barometer is to look at the Group One events in Great Britain, France and Ireland. A Group One in these three countries is more likely to field a genuine top class field than any of the other nations.

Looking at time windows there was an eleven year period from the beginning of 1995 to the end of 2005 when the operation was in its zenith. It began in the era of Halling and ended in the era of Shamardal. During this period Godophin had 75 Group One successes in the three aforementioned countries.

If we look at the next eleven year time period from the beginning of 2006 to the end of 2016, successes at the same level in the same three countries had fallen to 32. Lame excuses are indeed just that, from lack of access to the best of Galileo's progeny to the quality of staff and work riders as rather oddly cited by Saeed Bin Suroor. There can be no credible excuses for this dramatic decline.

What we have now is a scrambled organisation with internal strife, airing dirty washing in public, poor returns on investment and no signs that they will return to the heyday of old.

A BETTING MEDIUM MORE THAN A SPORT ?

‘Racing is not a proper sport’ a football obsessed work colleague once told me. ‘It’s all about betting and the other sports aren't’.

However harsh those words may sound the statement is undeniably true. I  hesitated, then responded by pointing out that there are many fans who will visit the paddock at the races to get close to these magnificent thoroughbreds that make the sport so unique .Others with an equally keen interest in the human participants will loiter around the weighing room autograph hunting. To all these it involves far more than a bet.

I gave an example of a pal of mine who once approached Aiden O’Brien on a Dante day at York to obtain his autograph. That same person once cut out a headline page and picture of Jodami and sent it to Peter Beaumont and never even had the manners to include the return postage.The trainer kindly signed the article and posted it back
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I remember myself as a teenager in the 1970’s scurrying along excitedly besides the likes of  Pat Eddery, Willie Carson and Greville Starkey while they signed my racecards.

‘So my friend ‘, I replied to this person who had just made this severe but accurate statement about my sport, ‘ It’s  about more than just betting’, to which the response was ,‘ But that's not the norm. It's only a small minority of you. You don't count in the grand scheme of things'.

It was a debate I could not win. The powers that be that run football and cricket see betting and all that it brings with it as an unwanted ally of their product. For many of them the trouble that it brings is not worth betting linked sponsorship in sports where sponsors are aplenty.

For racing betting is the lifeblood of the sport. Without the stream of revenue from it racing would cease to exist as we know it. 

I once read a post on a popular racing forum by someone from the point to point community. He was of the opinion that the future of racing was safe, that point to point meetings have healthy attendances with strong representation from the younger generation.

Unfortunately such a community does not represent a snapshot of anything near the larger populace. For racing to survive on its present tier the sport has to be able to compete with football, cricket and the other televised sports. Its share of the betting pie is diminishing year on year.

A further deterrent for the emerging generations is that it offers no tribal appeal. Well, perhaps you could cite the Irish at Cheltenham or the Brits at Longchamp but this is not the same as your own football , rugby  or cricket team.

Not surprisingly given the venue's record on poor innovations and disastrous changes,  Haydock Park  tried the tribal theme in an attempt to get new blood interested and fill its coffers for the day. This came in the ridiculous form of  jockeys wearing the colours of football teams. Needless to say it did not wash.

For someone choosing a sport to follow a potential winning attribute for racing is that it escapes the omnipresent existence of football. Creating a false sameness between the sports will turn people off. The established racegoers have indeed boycotted these events for years.

Another point is that a racing stable does not have a catchment area that it represents.There may be the infrequent occasion where a big race winner is paraded through a local village but the yard will not have a travelling support or believe the runners represent them. This may sound daft but for younger generations sports that offer a sense of belonging appeal most.

This brings me back to the colleague who lectured me on the status of 'my' sport. He is a long,long standing season ticket holder at a very famous English Premiership Club. Because he lives only three miles away from the stadium he believes he  has more of a right to support 'his' club than what he terms 'glory seekers' who travel many miles to  'attach ' themselves to the club.

He is continually barred from forums for supporters of his club and it got to a point on one forum that his use of the term 'Out of Towners' had him immediately removed. He then reappeared under a different username and invented the wind up  'distancely challenged' which again had him chopped once they eventually caught on what the expression meant and interpreted it as an insult.

His posts caused some of the most nasty responses I have read on a forum that is intended for posters who are part of the same tribe. Whether people should get so infuriated by someone telling them that they should support a club nearer to them, or are less of a supporter than someone else is questionable. It does nevertheless demonstrate the importance of belonging and being part of a clan which many seek in following a sport.

Racing cannot offer them that. You never for example hear of someone who lives in Six Mile Bottom claiming because of location that they are a bigger John Gosden fan than someone residing in Newcastle Upon Tyne. This is because unlike in football, cricket or rugby, John Gosden is not representing the people of his local area.

Racing needs to drop this futile idea that it can gain lost ground on the big team sports by inventing non-existent comparisons and instead concentrate on the strengths of its own traditional format which never did need any real tampering with in the first place.

THE DIMINISHING EPSOM DERBY

From 1977 to 2017, 40 years have passed. In horse racing, once a set in stone sport with its future secure and safe, there would be relatively little change compared to other major sports in that window of time.But we live now in a climate where trends, patterns, ways of life change constantly and quickly. And the well being of horse racing does not sit comfortable alongside this chaos.

A good starting point for monitor the health of a sport is to look at the biggest showcase events of all. We had the Epsom Derby yesterday if anyone noticed. Going in to the 1977 Derby the race had indeed long lost its claim to being the 'biggest sporting event in the world', a spurious claim made on crowd attendance, chiefly on Epsom Downs where the figures at best were a guess.

But it still had that something, had a Wednesday slot and the stage to itself, had plenty of press coverage in the build up to the event with a generous amount of newspaper space afforded to it in the Sunday papers preceding the race.

It also had Lester Piggott. A household name for the right reasons.We don't have his equivalent now - in fact the only flat rider the general public are familiar with is Frankie Dettori and that is mainly down to the exuberance that he portrays to the public, whether real or pretend. He does flying dismounts, smiles, laughs, appears in adverts , looks into the camera and plays the funny guy. They may know that he once rode many winners on a single day and made some people rich.

Going into yesterday's race hardly anyone with no interest in the sport will have heard of Ryan Moore. And none of them at all will have known who William Buick or James Doyle are. They may now on the other hand know that Padraig Beggy is a ' world class jockey' as described by Aidan O'Brien. If they delved further they have have then become rather confused at discovering that he had only ridden three winners in the past year.

And what of the balance of power ownership wise. Well, we know you ain't going to get rags to riches purchases like what could happen for a Grand National or Cheltenham Gold Cup, but it's always more reassuring to see a spread through the ownership ranks.

The 1977 Derby field had 22 runners. apart from M V O'Brien training three, The Minstrel, Be My Guest and Valinsky, the rest of the 19 runners had separate trainers. All the runners were in separate ownership.

Fast forward to 2017 we had four owned by Godolphin and six connected to Magnier/Tabor/Smith, Trainer wise O'Brien and Gosden where responsible for 11 of the  18 runners.

Try explaining this to a new face curious about the sport if you can find one. It must sound like something not too dissimilar to a Tour De France format,Team O'Brien and Team Gosden just like Team Sky. Not something that endears itself to a part interested onlooker.

And the Saturday slot which some believe to be a success ,to have breathed new life into the race. Well, was anyone  able to find it ?

Despite there being no Grand Prix practice, a session which in itself is more popular than horse racing, there was still a mouth watering Champion's League final in Cardiff to look forward to. Yesterday the upcoming match would have been  discussed in bars up and down the country during the afternoon, punters just as likely to be discussing their footy bet than their Epsom one. Some good Cricket, rugger in the morning, French Open Tennis too.

Racing cannot hold court and has become subservient to other sports. When the God that is the English Premiership is in season, racing has to set off times for feature events that don't clash with live play even though the large majority of the  footy 'audience ' are only watching people sitting in a studio who themselves are watching the action on a screen.

40 years ago Lester Piggott and The Minstrel chased down and caught Willie Carson and Hot Grove in an unforgettable renewal. It was a  captivating occasion and anyone watching the sport for the first time would have come away thinking that this game was agreeable at worst.

Yesterday's race looked at best an ordinary renewal. It would hardly have won over any real new fans and I would go so far to say that for a larger percentage of the public than ever before, the race silently and invisibly passed them by.