I'm a vexed long suffering racing enthusiast watching the slow demise of the sport in the UK
Friday, 8 March 2019
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.
image in public domain
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