THE THREATS COME FROM THOSE WITHIN

Marathon steeplechase races, to some they are capable of throwing up the most ugly of sights and go hand in hand with flailing whips on horses barely able to keep up a gallop. To others, they are unique and are at the far end of the racing spectrum but have plenty to offer as an entertainment, challenge and spectacle.

And anyone believing that tampering with these races by reducing field sizes, number of obstacles jumped, or reducing the distance will not be the start of a decline down a slippery slope is kidding themselves.

In similar vein to the part neutering of the Grand National, something that puts racing itself with its back to the wall whereby it will be unable to yield any further to this grossly over estimated number that form the sport's opponents if and when bad luck causes a catastrophic renewal, racing has alerted the world that it has an issue with staying chases and is making amendments to them.

This would be the walls of the house beginning to bear cracks that will end ultimately with the structure caving in altogether. In a fast changing environment no one should take for granted that the future of National Hunt racing is secure.

In a world without this discipline, many would turn their backs on the sport from the first week in November to the last week in March. There are other more interesting subjects to occupy the mind than watching horses run around on sand all winter.

Yet, you could be forgiven for believing this is what many people wish for within the sport itself if you listen to and read what is being said by those who should know better and would be advised to think a little before throwing their two bob's worth in.  It shows that the dangers to the sport exist from the modernists within, not these imaginary angry masses on the outside.

Comments have been made saying how unedifying the visual impression is of horses finishing legless in testing conditions.These observations are made as though it is similar to amateur runners near to collapse in the London Marathon, while a more accurate comparison would be those professional athletes finishing in the places behind Brendan Foster with their tanks empty.

We all have our favourite niche marathon horses from down the years. Peaty Sandy in the mud at Newcastle, or the day he won the Welsh Grand National. Jumped around Aintree but could only finish a staying on sixth. Or Jolly's Clump, winning the Brook Bond Oxo over four mile plus at Warwick and for a while going to the head of the ante- post market for the Liverpool race. He finished unplaced behind Rag Trade and was never seen again.

Then the many great renewals of the Grand National itself, a race that became public property and was in great shape until racing picked up a guilt complex about the event, snatched it back, and changed it beyond recognition of the truly great test it once was. It's still the most hard fought, competitive handicap in the sport, but not the Grand National that gave us butterflies in the stomach.

Anyone harbouring doubts as to whether horses can enjoy these long distance races should watch a replay of this year's Midlands National and focus on the runner up Ms Parfois , and ask whether they are they able to convince themselves that the mare is not relishing the action, racing with enthusiasm and looking for the next fence. She finished very tired but ran her heart out and she'll be back show that she hasn't been soured by the experience, - which makes her trainer's comments in siding with the reformists all the more baffling.

Then there is the Welsh Grand National. An institution in itself. This fine race has thrown up some cracking moments to cherish. Future Gold Cup winners like Cool Ground, Burrough Hill Lad , Master Oats, Synchronised and Native River, along with three future Grand National winners successful in the past twenty five years. Then that breathtaking one in a million  performance from Carvill's Hill, and two successive year's victories from the sparse in appearance Bonanza Boy, another Pipe acquisition that the Pond House team worked wonders with.

This is a race often run in testing conditions but is a valuable part of not just the Christmas programme but of the whole season and the sport would be poorer if they started to mess with this event.

There exists hundreds of testaments to show how hardy, enthusiastic and willing many of these equine characters are. Take the admirable Drumlargan, who was in embroiled in one of the most publicised and lengthy whip offence bans in the history of the sport.

A tough as nails gelding, who in his novice hurdle year started favourite for the 1980 Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle run in heavy ground. Partnered by Tommy Ryan, who the previous day had received a £50 fine for his use of the whip in the Stayers Hurdle, Drumlargan was about to go to the front over the last flight when making a bad error. Gathered up, he was chasing down the outsider Farmer when he veered towards the exit chute. Taking corrective action, Ryan hit the horse with the whip a number of times across the face and down the neck. Drumlargan responded willingly, eventually winning the race by two lengths, but received at least another blow after crossing the line.

I came across the Sporting Life  report of the race in my old scrapbook and it makes interesting reading. Curiously, perhaps not believing what he had seen or under instruction not to report the incident to it's full detrimental effect at a time when the anti-racing brigade far outnumbered those of today, the writer stated the horse was hit  "down his neck and on his quarters"  and as was more commonplace when using the whips of old, there were visible weal marks on the horse. The writer, referring to trainer Eddie O'Grady, observed that, "in his opinion some horses mark very easily and that these blows do not always hurt."

To show where he stood on the issue the writer then added his own opinion with a, "some horses do mark easier than others, but to say they are not hurt by such treatment is rubbish."

Curiously, it was reported," as Ryan returned to the winners's enclosure three stewards were waiting for him ",  which conjures up all sorts of images, whether it be the committee in Selwyn Froggatt, to 1950's FBI type characters sporting Fedora hats.

In the Timeform Chasers & Hurdlers 1979/80 Annual, the organisation's chief essay writer got into the debate. He cited Brough Scott's quote in the Sunday Times that the offence  "offended anyone who hates seeing a racehorse treated like a wretched Spanish donkey late for  market", and John Oaksey's view that the riding was a " disgrace to an honourable profession".

The case was referred to the Jockey Club disciplinary committee who imposed a three month suspension on Ryan. Reigning Irish champion jockey Joe Byrne also received the same length of suspension for  similar offences. The Timeform essay writer pointed out that there was no such hullabaloo at Piggott's 'pitiless' use of the whip when wining the Epsom Derby on Roberto, and The Minstrel.

What we do know now with hindsight is that Drumlargan went on to have a long successful career over fences, which lasted into his teens, in which he always showed a preference for testing, tiring ground. He won a Whitbread Gold Cup, was third behind Burrough Hill Lad and Brown Chamberlin in the 1984 Cheltenham Gold Cup, ran in a few Grand Nationals, but  broke a  blood vessels when near the head of the market in 1985.

This Drumlargan case occurred when the anti-racing brigade were in their pomp, at a time when global warming, and dirty oceans with it's threatened marine life, could not have been predicted to cause grand panic on the scale it is now doing.

Hopefully, Aintree 2019 will be covered by the racing broadcasters in a manner that strongly sends the message out that this is a sport that has no apologies to make. If those who think this is the wrong approach to take, they should venture out into the real world and mix with the general populace. They would find to their surprise the image of the sport from a welfare angle is far, far less of an issue, than the struggle it faces in competing against sports that now receive more televised time and are more popular than ever before.

A RARE GOOD WEEK FOR THE SPORT

Even those of us who can see that horse racing on these isles is faced with an uphill battle to halt a further decline in its position alongside rival sports, it would be pretty mean not to take a time out and concede that it has been one hell of a good week for the sport.

To start by getting the negatives out of the way, we again are able to cite many examples of how many races at the festival, including key championship contests, were diluted by the choice on offer, not to mention the truly diabolical planned review of the future of the four miler, which was a tremendous, 'in the spirit of the game ' spectacle.

Many of us became bitten by the bug during the 1970's when it was not unusual to have mudbath festivals,  fields strung out with many unable to complete the course, horses with tails tied, and jockeys with unrecognisable silks. It makes a change from horses sprinting up the hill, a visual impression that defies the fact that festivals run on ground described as 'good' produce more fatalities.

But overall on the week, the pluses undoubtedly outnumbered the negatives.

Switch the clock back to November 1984 when Jayne Thompson suffered fatal injuries from a first flight fall in a hurdle race at Catterick. The future of female jockeys in National Hunt racing, put into gear properly by Lorna Vincent in the 1970's, was at a crossroads.

In response to Jayne Thompson's death John Francome was quoted saying he did not think that ladies should be allowed to participate in this sphere of the game. To support his argument he pointed out that while during a fall a male rider would naturally roll up to protect the crotch area, the girls do not make a shape and land like a rag doll. 

In the next few years Gee Armytage came on the scene and enjoyed success at the Cheltenham Festival. Since then the girls have become increasingly stylish and competitive to the point where their sex is now not an issue.

Furthermore, the modern day jockettes are in the main fine ambassadors for the game. Someone questioning the ins and outs of the sport, whether it be integrity or equine welfare would sit up, listen and respect what Bryony Frost is telling them far more so than a BHA spokesperson or smug TV presenter.

At present, many people with clout within the sport are imagining that there is a large world out there watching and monitoring the sport, seeking to put an end to it on account of perceived cruelty.

Those outside the bubble, who belong to the general populace, know this is entire nonsense. Considering that last year there were six fatalities at the festival, a higher than expected number considering the ground was soft, there was no notable outside resentment as this year's staging drew nearer, even accounting for the availability of social media which can make a grievance appear to have bigger support than is the case.

If this had been 1979 instead of 2019, there would have been a congregation of hippies outside the course carrying placards, blowing whistles, and in contrast to what they would claim they stand for, they would no doubt of been hoping for a few grim incidents on track to add weight to their cause.

Indeed, apart from the back stabbing BBC who may or may not wish they hadn't washed their hands of the sport, the life ending injury to Sir Erec did not receive the coverage it might have done in past times. Ted Walsh's ' Man up'  tweet, along with the general, ' it's a dangerous sport, this happens, we have get on with it '  response from the racing media was for once the correct approach to take and does not appear to have been met by any notable outcry.

And if in the unlikely circumstances there exists a vast number out there who are cynical of the sport on welfare issues, they may just reconsider their opinions after listening to the thoughts of the modern set of lady riders, most of whom are PR savvy with personable facades.

Racing has in the past thirty years picked up the habit of kowtowing to rival sports that have less depth, history and components, but which have been the benefactors of modern broadcasting and first class presentation.

Indeed, there is a woefully misguided drive to copycat aspects of these other sports with the already much discussed barmy ideas soon to become reality.

So another realisation from the present high standing of the lady riders in the British Isles that needs to be trumpeted aloud, is that out of the major sports, racing is the only one where the girls compete on equal terms. Only the other equine sports of show jumping and three day eventing are similar in this sense.

While watching a first class cricket match on television during the summer, I was a little miffed to hear a female commentator proclaim that a drive through the covers was ' Sarah Tayloresque '.It was made as though the girl's cricket game is comparable with the mens. Anyone who has tried to sit through a ladies cricket match can only come to the conclusion that it is a load of garbage.

Sky's cricket coverage is generally performed to the highest standard with a terrific team of presenters, some who are involved in those fascinating workshops that they show pre-match or during intervals.

However, lately there have been female presenters joining the team, many who have played the ladies game, and are placed on an equal pedestal to the men. Similar to the football coverage, the studio team now seems to always include a token female, often accompanied by a caption that they have won so many FA Cups and league titles.

As with the cricket, ladies football is dire to watch. Put it this way, if it was so popular why does it have to ride on the back of the men's sport to survive ? When we pay for Sky do we have the options of having our bill reduced for forsaking these sports ?

Of course not, they are forced on to us, being part of the cricket and football packages that we pay for. They would never be marketed individually as hardly anyone would pay for them. They are not popular enough to stand strong alone.

Of the ladies sports only athletics and tennis would be able to stand alongside the male versions. Both are immensely and universally popular, watchable, and there is that aura of glamour attached to the ladies tennis.

The only other ladies sport that enough people may one day be prepared to pay for alone would be the Golf. Speaking to people who play the sport, while they are unable to comprehend with the levels of performance that the men are able to achieve, they say they can share and relate to how the ladies play the game.

Thankfully, such arguments are not relevant to racing, as exemplified in no better way than ever before last week. It is a major plus point that should be utilised to the full. It also testament to why it is a sport that needs no interference from the diversity freaks. And that is something it should be very proud of.

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THEY NEED TO GET REAL

There is no sport like racing where those on the inside are so out of touch to the realities in the real world outside their bubble, from where you have a fully focused view of the in house disputes and can spot the futility of some of the ideas proposed.

In a week that should have seen the countdown to Cheltenham without any unwelcome distractions, we are instead left rather baffled by exchangeable finger pointing at who is to blame over low prize money levels, militancy, refusals to tow the line, and back stabbing.

But most astounding of all is the fact that most of those within cannot spot the crux of the real problem.

For they can talk all they want in heated tones about Arc's initial refusal to put the level of funding in to release money from the levy, can criticise what they refer to as Government pandering to the sweeties by limiting the maximum stakes on FOBTS to £2 rather than some halfway house compromise, and can stamp their feet about getting the dirty end of the stick.

The core of the problem however, is that the popularity of racing is continuing to fall to such a level that many LBO's cannot exist from what was once their solid staple diet, and are in the process of going under once the staking per spin on the FOBTS is restricted.

That the show had come to rely on a short term, unsustainable method of funding, that was situated on unstable foundations, reveals the mess it is in. The emphasis should always have centred on a racing product promoted properly and able to draw in sustained levels of money from betting.

Instead, the show is at a crossroads where bookmakers have been paying increasing amounts for media rights, while at the same time horse race betting's proportion of the betting pie has been steadily falling.

The large bookmaking firms whose foundations for their empires were built from horse racing profits are at the point where they could survive without it.

Across the country, horse race betting now accounts for less than 50% of the total business, while for those who bet through android devices, football is now the most bet on sport indicating that this will be the case with the under thirties.

We know this is so without having to see any figures.

For some reason, the producers of the Morning Show thought it apt on Saturday morning to provide a platform for a deadly serious debate on the subject between Martin Cruddace and David Easterby.

As it was sandwiched between the usual dumbed down trivialities that make up most of the programme, it did not go down well and God knows what a casual viewer would have made of it all.

It was brief, tit for tat, without any flow. What was an eyebrow raiser though, was Easterby's analogy where he termed the trainers, owners and jockeys as ' the performers ', which is not the case in the normal sense.

Trainer's are self employed, owners are in indulging in a hobby in which a small minority are shrewd enough to be able to make it a profitable business, while the riders are sportsmen, and similar to other sports have made it on ability but are always susceptible to losing their jobs or being demoted in the face of more competent peers.

Then four days later we witnessed the latest industrial action day at Lingfield and Fontwell. Small fields in which Lingfield still saw more horses turning up than racegoers.

One attendee interviewed recalled how buoyant the Greyhound scene once was in the capital before it was completely decimated, and expressed his hope that racing would not be going in that direction. Just a humble racegoer but he was eerily on the ball.

Then the warts and all interview with trainer Jo Davis who by her own admission is struggling and been on the verge many times of winding up. She is one of the many holding on in the hope that she will stumble upon the horse that that will put her on the map.

Nevertheless, unlike many others, she accepts that she is not forced to train and that what she does could be viewed from the outside as an indulgence.The fact she ran horses at Fontwell, defying what she claims as intimidation and bullying shows the sport in a dreadful light.

Wildcat Strikes, Morning Stars, Red Army Faction T Shirts, do not sit comfortably with the conservative world of horse racing and many inward looking characters are making themselves look a bit silly.

We are often reminded that there exists a racing pyramid with the more populated, lower levels forming the base of the structure which is the vital component.

However, it's a vicinity that has become too populated with too many horses in training. The programme on the floor of the basement caters for horses so poor that they should really be racing on the ' flapping' circuit.

There is not enough money in the pot to preserve a fixture list with so many opportunities for this level of animal. And let's be truthful, they are hardly the stuff to make a show that would pull in new fans to the sport.

While many of us still look back in awe of the excitement generated in the 1970's in North America by those three Triple Crown winners followed by Spectacular Bid, the sport there is a different ball game, containing races run at full pelt at the start. The only similarity with our dull All Weather scene is that the surface is the same colour. It just ain't the same sport.

It had been suggested that the way profits are currently generated from the sport for the sport, a cut in fixtures would be suicidal. But there is only so much money to go around. So surely by having no more than two meetings on a weekday afternoon, with breathing space in between races and the lowest rated handicaps on the flat 0- 75's, there would if properly promoted, be something to digest and enjoy.

A new solid hardcore of regular punters may emerge in large numbers and the money generated be higher than that from double the meetings where races will fly pass in a flash leaving many to leave the game alone altogether.

After all, there is choice, with racing competing for it's share of the betting pie against sports that are better managed, more popular, and more professionally and shrewdly broadcast that they've left racing in it's wake.

The last couple of days we've had terrific coverage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational from 2pm, a choice of international cricket matches, plenty of live footy, along with other attractions. Just a normal midweek but it's testament that in all but the showcase racing weeks, the sport will be put on the back burner by an increasing number of punters.
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