There can never have been a time when the general media in the UK have treated the sport of horse racing with such cold indifference as they do so now.
Whether it be the amount of space apportioned for racecards and articles in the daily newspapers in relation to the other sports, or whether it be the carelessly prepared newspieces on general sports programmes, it is pretty clear that the game is treated with scant regard.
Late on Boxing Day afternoon, Sky News showed a few, sewn together seconds of the King George V1 Chase, with the narrative giving a general viewer the impression that the destination of the prize may have been changed when Clan Des Obeaux jumped across Cyrname three fences from home. The fact that Sky Racing don't cover Kempton should surely not preclude the news desk asking one of the Sky Racing team to pen the script for them.
As bought by the hand newspaper sales decline across the board, with the young adult populations choosing which news items to search for online, horse racing will be one of the big losers. For unlike with printed copy where an article connected with one of the sports that have not waned might be on the opposite page to a racecard that cannot avoid the eye, the new generations can happily exist while being oblivious to the sport.
As an example, this past week they would have searched and found the football related news on their tablets and phones, maybe the cricket and rugby too. But what else ? A group having a chat would be unlikely to encourage the others to look up a story about the King George unless it was connected with the Alex Ferguson link. But undoubtedly, they would have been enthusing over the progress made by Fallon Sherrock in the World Darts Championships.
It blew any racing related story out of the water, but was still secondary to the likes of football and cricket news, but not by far.
There are time windows in which racing should really make a push to get through to the passive. International breaks in the football season form such opportunities as the popularity of international football in the UK compared to the Premiership - even the Championship - has rarely been so far behind.
Boxing Day 2019 was another opportunity begging to be taken advantage of. Amazon had full rights to the Premiership Football on one of it's traditionally anticipated days, yet the multitudes already paying Sky and BT would not have been prepared to add in the expense of yet another pay channel, or have even have been bothered to take up the trial and cancel offer if they knew that one was available.
So it was left to horse racing, on one of it's showcase days staging one of the showcase races of the season, to make a concerted effort to draw in viewers. With the cricket winding up just as the racing was beginning and the darts not restarting until the following day, horse racing had the stage to itself yet it did little to advertise itself. There wasn't even an Opening Show !
As the curtains are drawn on a year and a decade, racing has never since WW2 had so many uncertainties hanging over it. As the 1970's reached its conclusion, it would not be taking a stab in the dark to make predictions for the following ten years, with many foreseeing a rapid expansion of international competition.
Now you struggle to predict what will happen in a timespan of a single year such is the variability of how horse racing issues disrupt, destabalise and instill worry amongst the many different factions, some deeply involved in the sport but at loggerheads with one another, others wanting to gatecrash and do harm with their blinkered, beatnik beliefs.
One of the pressing issues where the aggrieved tend to skirt their preferred solution is what we are told is the lack of prize money in the middle to lower ranks. Most of the owners, seconded by the trainers, who claim that they deserve more reward for playing their part in keeping the bread and butter everyday fare going, want what they see as a shortfall to come from punters.
As this is not realistically going to involve bookmakers taking a further cut in what they feel are decreasing profit margins, these owners would like it to come direct from the punter via a levy on every bet placed. A return to a tax on stake, or taken from winnings.
For racing fans, the only benefit from the colossal rise in betting on other sports is that they cannot be taken for granted anymore. A levy on each racing bet incurred by the punter ? No problem, plenty of fish in the sea regarding sports to bet on. Stuff you racing !
Owning horses outright or in small number partnerships is a privelige, a costly one for most who will get little if any return for their outlay and continued monthly expense bar the excitement of being a player with a horse running in their name and colours. If they don't consider the expense to be worth it then no one is forcing them to be involved.
Course closures on a scale not previously seen, the end of the high street betting office, job losses, trainers handing in licences, jockeys handing in licences and the whole breeding and racing industries downsizing. Not the most insane set of predictions by a long chalk.
image in public domain
No comments:
Post a Comment