We are not through February yet already on the racing front there has been enough cheerless news to fit into a whole calendar year, invoking a gut feeling that there is more to come, in whatever shape and form it takes.
Recent events show that the BHA cannot be taken for granted to handle Brexit related tinkering without making a balls up here and there, and on a separate note we also have to be prepared for the planned gimmicks picking up momentum which are set to be introduced in an ill judged attempt to freshen interest in the sport, along with anything else they may be throw into the ring.
The sudden decision to bring the sport to a standstill in the UK, made by people who knew no more about handling equine influenza and who were less in number than those who cast doubt on the wisdom of the verdict, was one which would not have been made a week before the Newmarket Guineas fixture.
You just wonder whether they were still in concealed panic mode after the decision, made evidently after a Godolphin spending review, to cease Darley sponsorship of the Yorkshire Oaks, a race in as healthy a state than its ever been, and one the sponsors had supported for thirty years.
There exists no precedent of the Maktoum family doing this in the UK. It has caught a few off balance and who knows whether this is to be the start of a cut down in interests here. And by pulling the plug on their Irish Oaks sponsorship, many with vested interests are undoubtedly worried.
There is a suspicion that the top priority for the BHA was to safeguard as much as possible against the risk of an epidemic running into the turf flat season. That would upset the people who have the power to damage the health of the sport by taking their custom elsewhere.
Unlike the parochial sport of National Hunt racing, which is only truly significant in Britain, Ireland and France, it's a big world out there in flat racing. The UK has increasing competition from nations, many far away, where the sport is better run, more appreciated, and more rewarding.
Many worldwide racing industries have always shown great respect, grudgingly or not, to the foundations of our Flat race structure, but you sense those in charge of our own programme care and respect our own roots much less.
Returning to our jam packed with garbage, top heavy on weekend for quality fixture list, the recent break from racing was a time to reflect, to pick up on events that can be missed with so much to keep tabs on, and a reminder of times gone when it all ran along at a gentler pace, with good quality fare spaced put more evenly, and when you would monitor the Gold Cup and Champion Chase markets unfolding without having to consider whether your fancy for any one of these races was a 'Ryanair horse'.
No wonder interest is waning with many long term fans.
I have a work colleague who likens what the administrators and stakeholders are doing to racing to what has occurred in his beloved sport of football. Up until this season, the only home league matches he had missed in the past forty odd years were either through holidays, weddings or funerals,.
He lives three miles from the stadium of the team he supports, who are famous worldwide. He however feels that his support is not appreciated and that the owners of the club would happily replace him with some far away based glory seeking fan.
"They don't care how much effort and money you have put into the club " he tells me. "It's now all about Jeremy from Surrey, Cecil from Woking, Michael from Dublin, Klaus from Stuttgart, Jan from Oslo, Blaine from Atlanta , and Ying Yang from Bangkok."
In fact he is so livid about the situation that despite his team flirting with returning to success at the very top level, he takes his seat at the match not really caring about the result.
At one recent match against another famous name team, he walked out at halftime when his team had gained control after an early reversal. For the past three matches he has sold his ticket back to the club at a loss calculated on what the price would be based on what he pays for his season ticket.
When the ticket is sold back there is space to cite the reason why you will not be attending, to which he writes, " I can't be bothered."
Bizarrely, as well as intending to retain his season ticket for next season, he is also in the verge of purchasing a season ticket for a thriving team in a rival city and will pick and choose his matches to attend, selling tickets back to the clubs for the matches he does not fancy.
His defence is that he now feels he is at the stage where he does not support any club at all, but likes to watch footy. He adds that no one can object to him attending matches at this other club because in similar vain outsiders have taken hold at his club.
There is one particular Forum for fans of his club that he has been on for over ten years, continually being banned for upsetting what he terms as the 'distantly challenged'. It appears the Forum does not now allow any new registrations. Whether it be just to stop him continually re-registering is anyone's guess.
He likens his situation to racing fans who feel the sport has been hijacked by commercial decisions to target the boozing crowds, who spend, watch concerts and drink and drink, with little regard or respect for the sport.
As with Haydock Park on Saturday, a venue that is now an accident in slow motion, we are now used to reading of these incidents this policy brings and have no faith in the doublespeak coming from the courses about not tolerating this and that.
So, should we turn on racing like my colleague has turned on his own club ? Should we be celebrate racing being halted when an epidemic spreads, should we shrug and mutter ''so what '', if a course closes down, or a long standing trainer hands in his licence, and do we digest the figures of falling attendances and a fall in racing's share of the betting pie and rub our hands with glee ?
No matter how cynical many of us have become in our attitude towards the sport, we are probably not at that stage just yet. However patience is wearing thin and if we reach the stage when we covet our weekly Golf, Footy or Cricket fixes more than our racing one, with their multitude of betting opportunities on cleaner sports , then we may wean ourselves off a sport that was once a full obsession.
image by Stephencdickson creative commons license
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