DROUGHTS, PAWNEESE AND VIREN

The Summer of 1976 was more memorable than most. The drought was the headliner in this part of the world, while the sporting audience watched in equal amounts of awe and suspicion as Lasse Viren returned to his best to repeat his Munich 1972 feat of taking the 5,000 and 10,000 metre events at the Montreal Olympics.

Led Zeppelin had released their seventh studio album 'Presence' earlier in the year. Not up to the scrutiny of the earlier releases but the final track, a sotto voce called Tea For One had a rhythm apt for a slow, balmy climate.

On the last weekend in July eleven runners lined up for the King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. There were ten different trainers and ten different owners. The only trainer doubly represented was the French based Argentinian Angel Penna and his owner Daniel Wildenstein.

Contrast this with today's race. Ten are due to run. John Gosden and Aiden O'Brien runners account for half of the field. Owner wise Godolphin and Magnier/Smith/Tabor also cover half the field. These patterns are the norm when we compare the 1970's with the present.

There was no Ballydoyle representative considered good enough for the line up in 1976.The jam was spread thinner and the yard had no control over their chief supplier of top class horses Northern Dancer. Stallion books were smaller and the peerless stallion's progeny were spread far and wide.You needed the wherewithal to rough it out in the bidding wars at the Keeneland Sales.

One year on Northern Dancer would bring success in the race for the yard through The Minstrel as he had done six years earlier with Nijinsky. There were far less Group One events in the calendar then and if you won a race like the King George it may be for the last and only time,even for the yards at the top.

The Epsom Derby winner Empery was absent from the 1976 running. We did not really need him anyway as he'd had his limitations exposed when third to fellow French trained colt Malacate at the Curragh. In any case trainer Maurice Zilber and owner Nelson Bunker Hunt had kept their best colt Youth for the French version which he duly won stamping a strong claim to being the best three year old middle distance colt in Europe.

Youth did make the trip over to Ascot and started favourite. Malacate lined up too along with the popular grey Bruni who had been one of the most impressive post war St Leger winners the previous year.The absence of an M V O'Brien representative enabled Ryan Price to snap up Piggott for Bruni. He was the best of the home contingent along with Peter Walwyn's Orange Bay who had been the most talented horse to come out of Italy in recent times. He ran in the Grundy colours.

Angel Penna fielded Pawneese  and Ashmore. Pawneese started second favourite. Like Enable she had galloped her rivals into submission in the Epsom Oaks. Penna had won the 1,000 Guineas earlier in the year with Flying Water and would in less than two months time win the St Leger with Crow. He had also won two Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe's in the previous four years, the 1974 running with one of the most famous race mares of all time Allez France.

Ridiculously, considering that no one dominated in this era and that Penna  had no more than his share of quality material to work with there was something of a Lasse Viren certainty about many of his runners in the big events.

The records show Pawneese with Yve St Martin aboard made all to beat Bruni and Orange Bay with Youth spoiling his chance by going wide at the final bend and adding fuel to the beliefs of  the clan who swore that Freddy Head was something of a clown. A myth born from his ride on Lyphard in the 1972 Epsom Derby.

The horse that finished a close fourth was the Guy Reed owned Dakota, trained by Sam Hall at Spigot Lodge. - as said, the jam was spread wider and thinner. That is undeniable and there is no counter argument to this.

Raceform Note Book's  reporter at Ascot, John Sharratt  wrote that the winner's effort 'was a superlative one that will be remembered with pleasure for a long time to come.'

Such words of recognition were used more sparingly then. The Raceform race readers earned respect in those days for their skills and insight. No close circuit replays to spoon feed them. Sharratt himself had been a WW2 pilot.

Returning to Penna.There is still something mysterious and fascinating hanging over his legacy. Less than two years after Pawneese's Ascot success he had upped sticks and was in North America. It is on record that when Peter Walwyn's staff went to pick up the Widenstein horses from the Argentinian they found them in a right mess with their mains and tails overgrown.

Many,many years later the Racing Post carried what was arguably the most interesting interview that it had ever published. It involved Maurice Zilber  reminiscing to Paul Haigh and speaking his mind on horses and racing personalities from his time. When asked about Penna his response was,'  Angel Penna was a very good trainer who discovered Bute and Lasix before the rest of us'.

Rumours did the rounds about many of the  French trainers then. And during the same year Francois Boutin's Trepan was disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance after passing the post first in both the Prince of Wales and the Eclipse. In the immediate years that followed the number of French trained runners in the UK fell notably.

These episodes and the accompanying gossip from the grapevine actually heighten interest in the sport. It's the Dick Francis angle in and there are no doubt many genuine racing fans who first took a liking to the sport from being intrigued by the tales and whispers. Racing needs all the publicity it can get and contrary to popular belief a bit of the right sort of scandal does not necessarily do the sport any harm!

A DISOLVING AND DISLOVING FAN BASE

For those not getting that old buzz from horse racing anymore they may accept that it's all just part of a natural course from over familiarity when your passions become dulled for an interest or hobby that was once an obsession. This could be the definitive answer if the same was happening with life long fans of other sports.

On the contrary though this does not appear to be a pattern surfacing in the other sporting spheres. The same dimmed feeling felt by fans towards their sport is not a recurring theme and neither is it prevalent with listless racing fans towards their second and third sports which they have also been lifelong fans of.

Golf for example is one of many rival sports were fan enthusiasm is as fervent as it's ever been.
The energy was palpable when I visited Royal Birkdale for the Wednesday practice.

For those of us who watch this sport week in week out on Sky Sports it's very rare that the stars come to your area. For all we know these characters, many with strange sounding names, could be a result of computer animation and may not even exist.It's really odd when you see them close up and have it confirmed that they are real beings.

Admittedly betting has grown massively on this sport but for those who pack the event and have a genuine love for it the blistered feet and salt air sunburn is worth enduring to see the marquee performers close up. There is no equivalent close to the action feel that racing can offer.

Many took advantage of the rule permitting photographs ( as per above) to be taken on practice days. Indeed I have often felt when I've attended play days at Opens in the past at Birkdale, Hoylake and Lytham, that I'd nothing to cement memories with the strict no photo rule in operation at all points of the course including none playing areas.

Making comparisons between Golf and Racing we can cite for the kudos of racing that a very real danger element exists. From the top of my head I can think of three jockeys who I have seen in the flesh riding and who have later died from injuries received from a fall during a race. Yet we don't seem to afford these men and woman the same level of respect as their equivalents in less dangerous sports.

Maybe this is because of racing being interwoven with betting and a certain degree of corruption that comes with it. And being cynical you could add that there are more dubious characters involved and a requirement across the board from the varying factions to fleece you of your money in as many ways possible and keep as much as they can for themselves.Sounds harsh but that is how many view horse racing.

Cricket is another sport that has been tainted by betting related incidents though it survives independently without it and the facility to bet on it damages rather than embellishes it. It has been undergoing a makeover for a while now. The tweaks and touch overs are still in process but this a sport in rude health that is simply taking action to maintain the present fan base and secure a future one.

The old timers may grimace at the T20 format. A boisterous crowd, not shy to air feelings and not slow in consuming ale and many without the concentration span to watch a day of a county game. But overall they behave themselves, create good healthy banter and most important of all as the TV cameras focus on them they are undeniably absorbed by what is happening out on the field.

Contrast this to a pop concert evening at a racecourse. For starters they are there for the pop concert and not the racing. They gather near the stage to get a prime position oblivious to the racing taking place wishing time by and hoping the next race is the last one. Even more pertinent is the sight of them still arriving as the last race is being run.

Racegoers needing a fast exit and escaping before the last race often meet head on with the concert goers on their way out. They would have had to endure a price hike for an additional service they will not be using. And as for the attendance stats well, these music lovers with bad taste will be classed as 'racegoers'.

There is nothing wrong with racecourses using their facilities for other events. But to allow a 'race meeting' to ride on the back of the other event and paint a false picture of  'racing fans'  visiting for the racing then stopping on to enjoy a concert is crafty and downright false.

Anyone turning up for a T20 crickets match will be watching the fare offered to them and many will have enjoyed themselves, will go again and will take a wider in interest in the sport. Those that could have in the past considered Test Cricket a bit too mundane for them may now just take a new born interest.

Say for example they have watched Yorkshire in the shortest form of the game and this during a gap without a test.Thus Root, Bairstow and Plunkett, could have been playing. They'll now see them same players on the TV in a test match. Interest is heightened and what had been such a bore for them now becomes an appealing distraction.

This is not happening in racing. There is no new fresh faced audience being smitten by the sport. The emerging generations are well represented among the crowds at Birkdale. When racing is laid bare no such parallel fan base exists and gimmick events such as pop concert nights do not serve the sport and merely paper over the cracks.

THE END OF THE RACING DAILY IS NIGH

' I still feel that any market with just one player is not going to be a healthy one' . These the words of the editor in chief of The Sportsman when the plug was pulled on the publication in October 2006.

The paper had only been introduced in March of that year, designed as a rival to the Racing Post. Many of us will know that it was Nell Gwyn day 1986 that the latter was introduced, a portrait of Sonic Lady's head on the front page. None of us have a clue what the content was on the front page of the first edition of The Sportsman.

The insistence from the relatively young editor in chief that if the backers had hung tough a bit longer the paper would have been a success cannot be given much credence. The paper was never in the correct mode to have established itself.

First impressions like a first track on an album or a first chapter in a book are hard to erase and what made The Sportsman  different from the Racing Post was an emphasis on sports betting in general with horse racing treated as just one of the most important of many different sports.

This was underscored on the run up to the first publication with prospective readers being told that they could look forward to reading views from the likes of Alan Brazil and Andy Gray. This was never going to tempt the bread and butter Racing Post customers to change or to even give the new publication a fair chance.

And if Alan Brazil was writing they'd certainly hope that it would be on footy matters as opposed to his adopted sport of horse racing. They'd seen enough of how knowledgeable some of these ex -players really are on their new sport such as Bryan Robson on Question of Sport looking blankly at Nashwan winning the King George, neither recognising the race or horse who was a strikingly familiar creature in appearance - I've never been a Rugby fan but even I could recognise Ellery Hanley on the field in an instant.

Rightly or wrongly we fear change and while the popularity in sports betting was already affecting racing at this time it was still a shock to the system to be told that the sport was not now justifiably worth a publication of its own.

For many this was reason enough not to entertain the new offering. In fact the only remnants I have from the publication are the DVD's such as the one containing past Grand Nationals, perhaps acknowledgement after all that despite the title they were putting racing first.

And for the expanding number of punters who prefer other sports to racing and who have demoted racing to just another sport in the betting pie, they have no requirement for a daily publication.

What cannot be doubted with the benefit of hindsight is that if we could have envisaged how stale the Racing Post would become we would have supported the new publication even if it ultimately had been in vain. We may have even half warmed to it it but even given the time that the financial backers weren't prepared to give, no amount of tinkering would have increased circulation to the target figures desired.

I recall having a drink on the walk to York racecourse on the day Septimus would win the Dante.The pub was packed with fans, plenty with The Sportsman though more with Racing Posts.I commented to someone reading the new publication that I didn't think there was much for those at the established daily to agonize over.

He was having none of it  and replied that he actually preferred The Sportsman though I did get the disguised impression the chap was becoming tired of the direction the Post was going in and it was merely a protest buy. I now wish I had done my little bit and bought a copy each day but it was on a hiding to nothing.

After reading the Post daily right from day one with the exception of the odd Bank Holiday or strike I ceased purchasing it a few years back. It's very much uninspiring stuff, does not serve the interests of the punters who are the lifeblood of the sport, and contains some bizarre offerings with Lee Mottershead's suggestion of Tour De France time trail competitions for horses in between races being the latest.

If we like racing we'll either go the paddock between races or watch a race on the TV from one of the other meetings, maybe having a drink at the same time whether soft or alcoholic. That routine should not be undone.

The Kindle has not killed off the paperback, 3D TV seems to have fizzled out, there is a resurgence in vinyl, so don't believe for one second that printed versions of newspapers have had their day. But with regards to a daily horse racing newspaper we are going from a one player market to an empty market. Sadly, racing is not popular enough anymore to justify a daily publication.

PANDERING TO THE DEAF

Animal liberation groups and all that. From the mainstream generally peaceful groups to the those that take direct action. We don't seem to read as much about them as we did in the past. And they don't get on the news as much either.  

The media don't find them that intriguing anymore and would rather afford space to other topics with the environmentalists and their concerns now becoming flavour of the day. Witness the recent airtime and newspaper space given to the Whale with the plastic waste inside. Perceived cruelty in horse racing will not have an audience engrossed on the same level.

During the 1970's ,1980's and into the 1990's the anti horse racing brigade and the strong 'link' they had with their showcase pet hate event the Grand National use to find their way into newspapers, TV and radio broadcasts. I even remember a couple of misguided working class housewives standing outside a betting office with a placard showing a horse with a broken leg getting into their local newspapers as well as some airtime on a local radio station.

On the day Synchronised would die in the Grand National I passed a handful of demonstrators holding a mini demonstration outside the racecourse before racing. A hippy female with a haughty voice was asking something like, ' how many horses are you going to watch being murdered today'.

Not unusual rhetoric for them but I could not help noticing that they all looked as though they had seen better days. In fact I doubt any of then were under fifty. Ironically they were probably hoping there would be some equine loss of life to justify their concerns.They got their wish.

Anyone reading the increasingly outlandish Racing Post this week could be forgiven for believing that we have an emerging generation that are vigilant to and monitor racing issues and that they will not become fully fledged converts unless changes are made.

Whether it was for controversy for the purpose of selling copies and an attempt to reinvigorate  a stale publication or whether it is heartfelt, Tom Kerr's  support for the whip being moved from UK horse racing has caused a stir.

It has undoubtedly polarised opinion though it is a subject that most of us are not qualified to comment on and very much one for the confines of the horseman's court. Genuine racing fans can have a valid opinion on a ride given to a horse that cannot be rebuked with a  'How many winners have you rode ?' But whips and their requirement and proper use of fall into a more complex category.

Common sense however will cast doubt  on whether  eighty odd stone of horse can feel pain inflicted by a weedy air cushioned whip. In fact Kerr conceded in his article that he does not believe the whip is cruel but that it is incompatible with the views of the younger generations. How does he arrive at this presumption?

Take a second to consider your workplace or pubs that you visit. Fact is apart from chatter concerning a day at one of the cult tracks like Chester, horse racing rarely gets discussed. No one is interested anymore. Even Grand National conversations are notably rarer than they once were. And if none of them are interested in horse racing anymore then items like the use of whips are never going to be of any concern to these people.They have more urgent issues to occupy themselves with.

Remember we live in a world where twenty four hour close up coverage of war and carnage are broadcast to our homes. Far too much horror for jockeys,whips and horses to be high up on the agendas of the multitudes.

What we appear to have is a ludicrous scenario whereby modernist dullards in positions of influence within racing have decided that the sport must alter its image for the purpose of holding on to a younger audience that does not exist and to attract fresh interest from a generation that are never going to be bitten by the racing bug.

And of those that do claim to have a problem with welfare issues with racehorses most will have their attention turned to Hamburg at the moment and some will even be among the protesters, both the peaceful and the rampant. They may own a St Pauli  T shirt, idolize their legends such as Andreas Baader, listen to the Stones, Amon Düül II  and Deep Purple, and may even live in a proper commune and paint strange pictures or build weird sculptures to sell for money for their essentials.

But with more pressing issues whips and horse racing for now at least will be far from their thoughts and any needless radical changes within the sport will be self inflicted by the egoistic from within and do nothing to increase its ebbing popularity.

TRADITIONALISTS BEWARE !

When is this expansion of German style Christmas Markets going to reach saturation point ? At the end of November they shoot up everywhere, cities, suburbs, large towns,small towns.They are not the real thing, far from it, and are as out of place as Germans playing Cricket on a Nuremberg village green, if they have village greens there.

Many feel the same way about this disturbing growth in All Weather racing in the UK. Non traditional surfaces may be fine in the USA, laid down as early as the 1800's as turf could not withstand meetings lasting weeks on end but to many here they are an unwelcome infringement.

Racing in the States was at its very peak in the 1970's with the scene graced by the likes of the incomparable Secretariat, Seattle Slew, the battles between Affirmed and Alydar, and the superb Spectacular Bid at the end of the decade. Remember when connections of the latter challenged the connections of Troy to a transatlantic match ?

We could watch from afar, a little envious but very appreciative and respectful. It was however their arm of the sport. It did not belong to us. We had our very own great champions in the same decade, notably Nijinsky. Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef. The 1970's on either side of the Atlantic has not been equaled since in popularity, appeal and quality offered by the flagship horses at the top of the tree.

It becomes even more worrying when you realise that we've had our own second rate brand of sand racing for 28 years in the UK now. And as these needless changes for the worse are augmented, it is done so with the younger generations in mind.

It's a sombre thought but for those that have now reached their forties this abomination is very much the norm. This sunk in when someone revealed to me the other week that he was planning a booze up for his fortieth and was considering an All Weather meeting at Newcastle. To the traditionalist that sounds like a visit to hell.

Arena Leisure seem to stand for and promote ordinariness. Much of their flat is cold,soulless, garbage to many. The tinny sounding '2017 Betfred  Northumberland Plate Festival' opened with 'Collingwood Insurance Beeswing Ladies Day', an evening that ended with a UB40 concert.

The Gosforth Park Cup was run on this card. Once a notable Northern sprint handicap in the calendar it has been neglected down the years, lost in a mass of similar races with  its prestige taking a knock similar to both the Queens Prize and Rosebery at Kempton. Running the race on sand is the final insult.

In contrast there was nothing much wrong with the 'Pitman's Derby'. It was the nearest thing we had to the Melbourne Cup and was won and contested by some popular equine characters, many hardy sorts with a touch of class like Tug Of War and Sergeant Cecil, to the classy and quirky like Ascot Gold Cup winner Celeric.

It has now been sacrificed in the name of so called commercial nous. As with the previous year yesterday's running was all a bit tame. Hannigan's horse building up a lead, the winner racing prominently all the way. It's just not for the UK.

We now have that ridiculously titled All Weather Champions Day at Lingfield. The offered fare does not remotely live up to the billing. Just look at the winners this year.

The 'Marathon Champion'  Winning Story has since finished fifth in the Ormonde and thirteenth of twenty sixth in the Queen Alexandra - a race you would think suitable for one who is a champ in the staying sphere.

The 'Fillies and Mares Champion'  Realtra has since been fourth in a poor Group 3 at Lingfield followed by a fifth in a Listed event at Musselburgh, while 'Sprint Champion' Kimberella  was third in a Group 3 at Newcastle yesterday.

The 'Mile Champion' Sovereign Debt has been the nearest thing to a star to emerge with popular victories in the Group 2 Sandown Mile and Group 3 Diomed. His star status is one of the cult variety only and he is far off from a being a 'champion', similar with the three year old ' champion' from the sprint category, Second Thoughts, who ran a good if distant second to Harry Angel at Haydock in his only race since.

The crowned ' Middle Distance Champion'  was Convey. He was sixth of seven on his only race since over in Sha Tin but its worth noting that in the previous two highest grade events he'd tackled, both at Group 2 level, he finished seventh of ten and last of six.

So there we have it. A celebration of mediocrity in a very dull and mediocre arm of the sport.

And if you want to stir up a further concern just consider the Arena Leisure have Doncaster (in picture) amongst their venues. This is a course that needs a bit of a boost. Most of the cards are unappealing and the St Leger just plods on, even if Camelot's participation did give it a short lived boost in esteem.

If common sense was given priority over the bank balances of shareholders then the fixtures would be reduced but quality of race increased. Of course this won't happen and it would be naive to think that the sanding over of this traditional venue has not been considered.

The oldest classic run on All Weather ! All sounds very gimmicky and something that the short term gainers might like. Absolute sacrilege of course but don't believe it could never happen in times of ill thought out and carelessly implemented change.