We know that away from a handful of showcase fixtures the French racetracks pull in a mere trickle of racegoers, but you were still left a little downbeat to hear Joffrey Huet failing to provide any encouragement that things would change anytime soon when interviewed at Auteuil for Attheraces on Sunday.
The present health of French racing was not the intended subject of the interview. It was on discussing his role in purchasing Cyrname for his current connections, Huet spoke of the lack of atmosphere at the Gallic tracks compared with the British ones.
It doesn't seem anything like the twenty years ago that John Hammond, lapping up the plaudits of the racing media for his exploits with the brilliant Montjieu, observed that the horse would hardly be known in France as it's all about cyclists and football players.
This is something we should be worried about. European racing is still arguably the best in the world and when one of the three nations that dominate it operate in half empty and silent arenas, you cannot view it as a dilemma independent from the others.
Some say that the Parisian tracks have suffered right from the beginning of the long established custom for the masses to travel out to the provinces for relaxing weekends. Even if any truth exists in this it cannot be cited as the reason for present day lack of engagement with the sport.
What seems more likely is that similar to Britain, the emerging generations in France are smitten with the in vogue sports that you are likely to find reference to within a few minutes of switching on the television. Therefore you would expect, like here, betting on horses would be in a steady, continuous decline.
But surprisingly, for the time being at least, this is not the case. Pari Mutuel betting on horses has made a small recovery. Whether in the long term this will prove to be a blip, no one really knows. It is certainly hard to believe that there is an emerging generation of the French populace that are endearing themselves to wagering on the racing game in greater numbers than the one before.
Returning to last weekend, the Altior v Cyrname clash was stirred up by sections of the media as something that was reaching out and touching those outside of racing's fanbase. Such nonsense is spouted without any supporting evidence whatsoever.
This is not to downplay the build up to the duel,which did not disappoint. But the fascination was for those in the racing domain. In the present day of hundreds of channels TV, X Boxes and Internet, the racing game can sail along on the horizon, out of sight and mind.
Compare this to to an eagerly awaited steeplechasing clash from yesteryear. Boxing Day 1975, Captain Christy v Bula in the King George V1Chase.
From the yard of Arkle's rider Pat Taafe, Captain Christy had triumphed in the 1974 Cheltenham Gold Cup while still a novice, then had consolidated his status by winning the Kempton race at the end of that year. He had formerly been a classy hurdler, good enough to finish third in the Champion Hurdle.
Bula had been out of the top drawer over hurdles, taking the Cheltenham crown twice. He was now promising to become the first horse ever to win both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. He had been third to his inferior Ten Up in the latter earlier that year when disadvantaged by the quagmire underfoot, so bad that the remaining races had to be abandoned.
There was another angle to the 1975 King George Chase. Bula hailed from the powerhouse yard of Fred Winter. In the 1974 running Captain Christy had prevented one of the most popular chasers of any era, Bula's stable companion Pendil, from completing a King George hatrick.
The countdown to the race had spacious write ups in the Sunday newspapers five days earlier. This was when the sport was afforded more prominence and everyone under a roof read a Sunday newspaper.
Tom Forrest wrote, " Never before have they clashed without something going haywire for one, or both of them. This time, their latest races show both in blinding form. Now we should know which is the master."
A field of seven lined up but but the expected duel materialised into a rout with Captain Christy, under the relatively inexperienced Gerry Newman, jumping off on front, building up an early advantage, then drawing further away from halfway to beat his main rival by thirty lengths, with the future winner Royal Marshall 11, in third.
Irrespective what we are told by the broadcasting media, who don't seem to understand that repeating spin will not turn it into reality, these showcase events do not have anything near the same percentage of the population counting the days down as in generations past.
Moreover, despite the achievements of the wonderful mare Enable over the past few seasons, none of her races, and not even those of the supreme Frankel, had the same build up as the days drew nearer than that Nashwan v Indian Skimmer v Warning, Eclipse in 1989.
In the following few years after that race took place, sports betting exploded outwards, changing the whole betting scene, with racing 's dominance being eaten away at to the point were the emerging generations can bet without it.
France may for now, have managed to halt this downward spiral but betting on horses on the other side of the channel had never been on comparable levels to here, thus believing the decline can stemmed here is stretching hopes.
It is also worth noting that Japan's signature race, the Japan Cup, pulled in a crowd of approximately 80,000 last week. Sounds fantastic, but when you compare it with the 180,000 that turned up in the flesh in relatively recent times, then it is an issue for concern.
What can be said with near certainty, is that since the end of WW2 the worldwide racing scene has never had so many dark clouds forming in the backdrop as it does right now.
Image from Pixabay
But surprisingly, for the time being at least, this is not the case. Pari Mutuel betting on horses has made a small recovery. Whether in the long term this will prove to be a blip, no one really knows. It is certainly hard to believe that there is an emerging generation of the French populace that are endearing themselves to wagering on the racing game in greater numbers than the one before.
Returning to last weekend, the Altior v Cyrname clash was stirred up by sections of the media as something that was reaching out and touching those outside of racing's fanbase. Such nonsense is spouted without any supporting evidence whatsoever.
This is not to downplay the build up to the duel,which did not disappoint. But the fascination was for those in the racing domain. In the present day of hundreds of channels TV, X Boxes and Internet, the racing game can sail along on the horizon, out of sight and mind.
Compare this to to an eagerly awaited steeplechasing clash from yesteryear. Boxing Day 1975, Captain Christy v Bula in the King George V1Chase.
From the yard of Arkle's rider Pat Taafe, Captain Christy had triumphed in the 1974 Cheltenham Gold Cup while still a novice, then had consolidated his status by winning the Kempton race at the end of that year. He had formerly been a classy hurdler, good enough to finish third in the Champion Hurdle.
Bula had been out of the top drawer over hurdles, taking the Cheltenham crown twice. He was now promising to become the first horse ever to win both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. He had been third to his inferior Ten Up in the latter earlier that year when disadvantaged by the quagmire underfoot, so bad that the remaining races had to be abandoned.
There was another angle to the 1975 King George Chase. Bula hailed from the powerhouse yard of Fred Winter. In the 1974 running Captain Christy had prevented one of the most popular chasers of any era, Bula's stable companion Pendil, from completing a King George hatrick.
The countdown to the race had spacious write ups in the Sunday newspapers five days earlier. This was when the sport was afforded more prominence and everyone under a roof read a Sunday newspaper.
Tom Forrest wrote, " Never before have they clashed without something going haywire for one, or both of them. This time, their latest races show both in blinding form. Now we should know which is the master."
A field of seven lined up but but the expected duel materialised into a rout with Captain Christy, under the relatively inexperienced Gerry Newman, jumping off on front, building up an early advantage, then drawing further away from halfway to beat his main rival by thirty lengths, with the future winner Royal Marshall 11, in third.
Irrespective what we are told by the broadcasting media, who don't seem to understand that repeating spin will not turn it into reality, these showcase events do not have anything near the same percentage of the population counting the days down as in generations past.
Moreover, despite the achievements of the wonderful mare Enable over the past few seasons, none of her races, and not even those of the supreme Frankel, had the same build up as the days drew nearer than that Nashwan v Indian Skimmer v Warning, Eclipse in 1989.
In the following few years after that race took place, sports betting exploded outwards, changing the whole betting scene, with racing 's dominance being eaten away at to the point were the emerging generations can bet without it.
France may for now, have managed to halt this downward spiral but betting on horses on the other side of the channel had never been on comparable levels to here, thus believing the decline can stemmed here is stretching hopes.
It is also worth noting that Japan's signature race, the Japan Cup, pulled in a crowd of approximately 80,000 last week. Sounds fantastic, but when you compare it with the 180,000 that turned up in the flesh in relatively recent times, then it is an issue for concern.
What can be said with near certainty, is that since the end of WW2 the worldwide racing scene has never had so many dark clouds forming in the backdrop as it does right now.
Image from Pixabay
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