A DREARY GAME TAKING A TURN FOR THE WORSE

It’s not being alarmist to suggest that we are approaching a new year that holds more uncertainties and fears for horse racing than any other year in the memory of those still on this earth. For while other industries may carry treatable wounds, racing was already beginning to wobble long before the Covid crisis struck.

The certainty of a prolonged financial crisis that threatened to bring the sport to its knees and will still leave behind lasting damage as it deals blows to all areas of the game has been tirelessly discussed, but there is also an undercurrent of a different sort of negativity that is filling the sport - at least in the UK.

Something is being sapped away from the game. Call it an energy, a buzz, or the increasing lack of anticipation as we look ahead in the programme. What has happened to the progressive, potential top class chasers that go on a roll in November and December, keeping all in suspense of how far up the ladder they will climb?

Why does Bachelor’s Hall spring to mind four decades on from when, under Martin O’Halloran, he showed a rare turn foot for a staying chaser to take the Mackeson, followed by the  Hennessy then on to the King George, carrying the Harris colours that recently won a Breeders Cup event.

Timeform described the Peter Cundell trained gelding as possessing ,“ a rare and highly desirable combination of speed, staying power and surefootedness.” Weights and measures ratings may sometimes  look more kindly on many one sided conditions events but these type of visually pleasing, on a roll animals, draw far more new fans to the game - well, at least they did when the sport was still capable of attracting new fans.

They came along regularly, probably one every two seasons, and while not many had the Bachelor’s Hall’s burst of speed or bagged what is a rare same season treble, never repeated since, there were many of similar ilk that have altogether become rarer in recent years. 

In more recent times, Diamond Harry was a buzz horse that added something to the game right from winning the Fixed Brush Final at Haydock, until he took the Hennessy, looking a potential Gold Cup winner but alas his ceiling had been reached. Since then we’ve had two subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winners and an above average Grand National winner take the Newbury race, though we are on a consecutive four of Total Recall, Sizing Tennesse, De Rasher Counter and Cloth Clap, who you would all safely rule out at the time of developing into genuine Cheltenham Gold Cup contenders.

It is rare for something to stir up the excitement as much as a second season chaser that has ‘arrived’ in the first few months of the season proper. Those that travel comfortably all the way, particularly at Newbury, the fairest track in the country. 

Like Bachelor’s Hall, Bright Heighway added a Hennessy on the back of his Mackeson, creating such a favourable impression that he went to the head of the Gold Cup market, but his career was then cut short when he sustained a tendon injury a month before Cheltenham.

Brown Chamberlin looked the part when given a made to look simple ride by Francome in his Hennessy, and during the following decade we can never forget the impressions created by three greys who took the Newbury event to announce themselves on the scene; future King George winners in One Man and Teeton Mill,  and Sunny Bay who needed a flat left handed track and would go on to produce one of the best weight carrying performances since WW2 in the Grand National on the second occasion he was runner up.

It’s not just the Hennessy that you’d find something scything up through the ranks - Burrough Hill Lad must in hindsight have been the biggest handicap certainty the day he won the Welsh National with just   10 st 9 lb  on his back, no one knowing that he would soon be one of the best post war Gold Cup winners. Master Oats too ran away with the same event, rescheduled at Newbury, and he’d soon trounce his Gold Cup field.

The Chepstow race has consistently been a fruitful source of future Grand National and Gold Cup winners but it’s now becoming concerning that like the Newbury race, it may be losing it’s mojo. In the nine runnings since Synchronised won, Gold Cup winner Native River and the classy Elegant Escape stand out    amongst some ordinary renewals with this season’s delayed running already looking  as though it will be decidedly downbeat.

The there are those who use these handicaps to consolidate what they’ve achieved in championship races, to show they can achieve the same level of merit when the traditional handicap system penalises their merit. These events match no other - Burrough Hill Lad was the handicap snip whose true merit we could only guess at when winning at Chepstow, but when he won his Hennessy he was the reigning champion producing a weight carrying performance that had him being mooted as the best since Arkle.

Denman was the exciting second season chaser confirming the impression he’d created as a novice when winning his first Hennessy, then in the same season winning the most anticipated renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in recent history - then returned to Newbury two seasons later, putting up a similar level of performance to Burrough Hill Lad when winning one of the most enjoyable and memorable races in history -  he did one hell of a lot for the winter game but unfortunately new fans to the sport had already dropped to a trickle - how much more a horse like him would have been appreciated two or three decades earlier.

Cyfor Malta was rapidly in the ascendancy when winning his first Mackeson as a five year old, after winning the John Hughes over the National fences earlier in the year. He had a rare wow factor and was promising to become that elusive Gold Cup winner for Martin Pipe when after beating the subsequent first     and second in his trial race, sustained an injury that kept him off the track for two years. Still, he destroyed the myth of being just a precocious French bred and reared chaser who wouldn’t last when at the age of nine he won his second Mackeson.

The winter sport has taken a turn for the worse and at least it is now widely recognised that we have a fixture list top heavy with soft conditions races, along with an underlying feel that races are created to come out to a narrower, specific groups of animals from mares only novice events to veteran only races, rather than horses having to be honed to suit the programme. 

Furthermore, with Ireland holding the edge at the quality end of the spectrum allied to their fixture list now jam packed with valuable graded races it has become an owner’s dream for those operating at the top end of the scale, while at the same time sapping the enthusiasm of racing fans - not least those in Ireland itself.

Added to this, there is the now almost across the board ability of the modern racehorse trainer to produce horses in tip top condition after long absences. Long gone are the days when punters would cross out horses without a recent run and when you could count the trainers on the fingers on one hand who could turn out animals fully tuned up after a long absence.

We are told about horses only having a certain amount of mileage in them. Henrietta Knight use to hammer this in to anyone criticising the light schedules for Best Mate. Maybe there would not have been three Gold Cups if he’d been campaigned vigorously but despite the gelding performing a fine service to the sport, his input and popularity was a shadow of what Desert Orchid did for jump racing, seeming to turn out every few weeks for many years, over wide variations of distances and courses, and running his heart out each time, often enduring some gruelling looking experiences. 

One regret about this legend was that he was a grey, as it riles when those with just a passing interest in the sport say, “ Ahh, people got too carried away how good he was because of his colour” - no they never! Anyone in doubt just needs to spend some time thumbing through form books from the beginning to the end of his career. And he still is very much in the mix in arguments over who is the best since Arkle.

Sadly, the sport has lost so much of its fizz that for many long term fans, thumbing through old form books, watching old races on You Tube and Twitter, and building up collections of old, out of print books have now become their main areas of endearment with the game. 

image from scrapbook

This song, a stirring anthem still celebrated by Anarchists, was from an album released a few weeks before Charlie Potheen won the Hennessy, and would who go on and finish third in a vintage renewal of the Gold Cup. Lead singer Ralph Mobius rests in the same Berlin graveyard as the Brother’s Grim that curiously has a quaint little coffee shop inside the entry gate.

MEDDLING WITHOUT BENEFITS

While it may not be wise to dive in throwing opinions around on safety issues when you yourself are not putting oneself in harm’s way, it would surely not be wide of the mark to assume that a majority of jockeys, along with trainers and owners, are against this seasonal dolling off of obstacles that we are now becoming accustomed and which has the affect of changing the nature of some cracking looking events.

Racing has never been more on edge over outside perceptions so there will be plenty of professionals who may have an urge to speak out over what they see as healthy and safety interference, but feel their observations may be construed in the wrong light.

It’s a sad fact that for the anti racing brigade, a situation which compromises the safety of riders is secondary by a very wide margin to any injuries sustained by their mounts. It’s something that produces that righteous nonsense about the riders having a choice, the horses not.

But is there any data that proves that horse and rider are at an increased risk racing into a low sun ?  Fences have clearly marked take off boards which the animals will see until they disappear from their vision on take off. Jockey’s are able to wear tinted sun protective goggles. 

From the top of the head it is difficult to recall a race being lost due to the dazzle of the sun, in fact the only faller I can recall where the sun was blamed was a Jimmy Fitzgerald novice chaser at a weekday Ayr meeting in the late 1980’s, who did albeit take a nasty looking somersault.

What is a turn off for the winter game is spending some time trying to unravel a tricky but impossible not to get involved in event, then to find late on that the animal you supported knowing that he was a safer conveyance than one or two of his dangers would now have his chance reduced. Imagine being on a flawless lepper such as a Dublin Flyer, a Villierstown, a Collingwood or a Panto Prince, then having officialdom invading the course with their cones taking out crucial obstacles that could produce race result changing moments, not necessarily with falls but with momentum creating or busting negotiation of the obstacles.

The other area of the sport that has been marked with health and safety interference is basic horse hydration and cooling. Has veterinary science changed in this field or have there always been different theories adopted ?

Forty years ago your horse would arrive at the racecourse stables and be muzzled at least a couple of hours before a race to prevent any chewing and ingestion of bedding, along with water intake - by christ how simple it really is to stop a horse 

A similar build up would happen now but where things seem to have changed is that back then, I know at least one yard, a classic winning one, who would dab a wet sponge in a blowing horses mouth but not provide a proper drink until the heart rate had slowed, the water being lukewarm in the belief that it would lessen the chances of a bout of colic. Now, the staff seem happy to allow their charges to guzzle down half a bucket of water within minutes of finishing a race. 

And then there is a new intrusion into the Grand National, yet another development that does little to benefit the image of the once great event. The terrestrial coverage of the immediate aftermath of the marathon now has an underlying theme whereby it is pressed into the viewers conscience that the competing animals have a time window by which to reach equine showers.

These animals are athletes who naturally sweat to assist the cooling process. The first quarter of April hardly attracts dangerously high temperatures and while exhausted horses can wobble, this panic infused process brings in an unnecessary extra angle to the welfare issue.

I have witnessed a lady in a workplace on the Monday after the Aintree event, declaring to everyone within earshot that as the runners past the post she was shouting, " Quick, quick - get some water on those horses.Get them straight to the showers!"

If this is now a typical post race reaction, one which replaces a what would have once been normal racing fans desire to watch a replay to see again for themselves how well the horse they backed that came down second Bechers was travelling, whether it be an Andy Pandy, Uncle Merlin or West Tip, then maybe it really is time to put the race to bed, a situation brought around by a self destructive push to change the image of the sport. 

Moreover, an even bigger fear that could irreparably damage the sport on welfare grounds is the wastage issue, one that is surprisingly unknown to the majority of the public. Not surprisingly this -  call it whatever you like whether it be an achilles heel or the sport's dirty secret - area of concern that the financial workings of the sport deem to be a necessary sacrifice is something that has up to now been effectively hidden away from the gaze of the wider public

However, with the monetary fallout from the plague not yet in full flow in the wider world let alone racing, the sport must brace itself for a surge of owners exiting the sport, leaving behind a mass of unwanted thoroughbreds, a crisis in itself that for the first time will not be able to be hidden away and will sully the sport until it is addressed, or the sport radically downsized.

image from pexel.com

The furthest you could remove yourself from cones infront of fences and hurdles. A classy performance from a Russian /German singer who is a household name on the European continent.

A BLEAK SHORT AND LONG TERM OUTLOOK

 

While yesterday's press release on the Gov.com website is geared in the main towards issues arising from online casino style and number games, along with the National Lottery and underage gambling in general, the inclusion about the prospect of carrying out so called affordibility checks appears intended to apply across the board and is not welcome news for the horse racing industry.

It has been mooted that there will be a loss limit of £100 per month unless a punter is able to provide evidence that demonstrates they can afford to splurge away a higher amount, which presumely would involve filling out an income and expenditure sheet, with evidence of incoming income via bank statements, along with copies of bills.

When many of us welcomed curbs on those highly addictive, trance inducing FOBT'S, others who saw the bigger picture sounded out a warning that 'they' would not rest on their laurels and that it was the first of many planned intrusive steps into the personal choice world of betting.

What to some of the 'we know what's best for you' brigade may seem to be an out of proportion risk with a resultant loss that affects the monthly ingoings and outgoings of the household finances, may to those having to readjust for the rest of the month be felt as nothing more than a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

Those of us who have reached the age where we are walking across the firing range of all the nasty diseases and who regularly check for lumps, starting with the neck, on to the armpits and so on, not only object to having the daily routine restricted due to the moderate to medium worry of picking up and having a severe reaction to covid, but find it totally ridiculous that some would deem us in harms way when the wine may be a Toro Loco from a lower shelf, or the cider a Taurus, as we are on a month of budgeting due to golfers missing fairway after fairway, or a poor day on the horses when after the planned bets went down, you tried to smash your way out of the red on the Kayf Tara in the bumper run in testing ground, and maybe even go in one more time on the Oppenheimer owned maiden on the AW in the evening.

It is crucial to remember that for thousands following these events are lifetime hobbies and four days entertainment from taking annual leave to watch the Cheltenham Festival, or to spend four consecutive evenings watching  a PGA Golf tournament, can be more entertaining and in most cases less costly than lying on a packed beach in Benidorm, which to some can be their idea of pure hell.

So, for the many who don't possess the best money management skills but manage, when the month starts on the wrong footing, to feed ourselves and are wise enough to keep something aside for a few bottles of red a week, what happens when we look at the total win and loss balance, then decide we might put something aside each week to pile into a plus and loss lifetime balance changing wager, whether it be an ante post Guineas bet on that Cheveley Park filly with Russian Rhythm as the second dam that beat only trees at Chelmsford the other week but looked the bees knees, or Patrick Cantlay for one of the majors, or how about the prospect of Elegant Escape loving Aintree and lobbing along without hitting his flat spot.

Well, anyone thinking on such lines better be landing one of these bets sooner rather than later as if the modernists who know what is best for you have their way, you may be unable to speculate with your own money and if the 'protection' rules  decide how much you should be spending on sensible things like food and clothes, you may find that the couple of hundred quid you did on the first weekend of the month warrants an enforced sabbatical.

The irony of all this is that the horse racing industry needs your contributions more now than at anytime in recent memory and would love you to bet to your hearts content, leaving you with a Hardys rather than a Barolo, but are involuntary compelled to voice welcome announcements to these planned nanny state moves.

Where will this end? I know people who during the early years of New Labour rule managed to run up credit debts over £30,000 while earning a wage well below the national average. The debts were accumulated by what could be classed as an addiction to shopping. A need to snap up every new electronic gadget along with designer label clothing, and footwear costing hundreds that impress nobody.

If, as is likely, such impulses continue within these characters, then even if there is no credit available for similar sprees it is very likely that when their monthly wages go into their account they will exhaust a disproportionate amount on non essential shopping.

And what of alcohol  -  we already are told on every bottle of wine or beer we purchase within what the government medical guidelines state that you cross to the wrong side of the safety barrier once you consume the equivalent of a bottle and a half of red wine in a week!  

At one time, if asked what would constitute a character with drinking problems several would cite that bloke from the Pogues as an example - needing to drink two bottles of Martini in the morning to instill in him the confidence to leave the house, when he would then head straight to the pub and stay drinking to last orders.

In fact, it's not far fetched to envisage that there will come a time sooner rather than later when alcohol will have to be purchased on your debit card, and where a buying limit will be forced that will be in line with the stupid guidelines. Though I guess your first venture over the limit may warrant a word of advice by the off licence or supermarket worker scanning the purchase, which would then be put on record.

And returning to racing, those in power who feel compelled to play along with this unwelcome interference, embracing it on the outside but underneath deeply worried about the consequences for racing's finances, are going to have to find a way of addressing the financial shortfall that will result if they are unable to make a separate case for the sport, to free it from the threat of the shackles being put on the casino style games.

Racing's balance sheet was suffering long before coronavirus took hold. Now, not only is the sport bracing itself for a severe financial fall out that the Government loan will only put a temporary plaster on, but an attempt to gradually recover the lossess incurred through the plague could be facing yet another budget buster. Both the short and long term implications are very bleak indeed.

Christmas theme continuing. This character represented Austria in the 1976 Winter Olympic skiing team but has long since established himself as a volksmusic singer and household name who incredibly retains his mullet, never seems to age, and is on the telly over there every time you switch it on.

CHRISTMAS READING

After the strangest year that has whizzed past in a blur, that time has arrived when we look towards restocking book shelves, or in some cases the kindle, which fits the purpose for most books that have recently come into print, apart from those you would consider collectors items or to be part of a long built set of volumes.

For those of a certain age, we feel more at home reading the writings of the good forum posts than most of what the modern press serve to us. Save its excellent database, the Racing Post now has nothing to offer on the horse racing front, with Gerald Delamere now even seemingly shown the exit door as part of a desperate cost cutting excercise with the year ending December 2019 showing another alarming drop in profits - this before Covid kicked in.

The Racing Forum, less busy than its hectic rival under the Betfair banner, has a thread running on the demise of the hardcopy version of the Timeform annuals. In one heartfelt post, a contributor summed up the significance of this development:

"Stop publishing the Annuals, and Timeform moves from a category of its own, to the category containing Racing Post Ratings, BHA Ratings, IFHA Ratings and a myriad of similar simple number-cruncher outfits. The difference between its old category and its new one is that the former is all about the horse, and the latter is all about the gambling. It is a loss of status in the horse racing world. It’s all downhill from here."

The above observations are a perfect summing up of how the sport is losing its soul and becoming more of a cold form of gambling, something that fits to the tune of the emerging generations who see football as the dominant betting sport and who will have zero interest or respect in horse racing as a sport along with its rich in depth history that knocks other sports for six, and who would be the groups targeted by this obtuse team competition coming our way next summer, God forbid.

They would certainly have no appreciation of class, hard copy racing books such as those containing illustrations of the late Richard Stone Reeves art. On several occasions down the years, something has got in the way of my purchasing a Patrick Robinson/ Richard Stone Reeves book called Decade Of Champions, published in 1980. 

I was first aware of this book's publication when it was advertised and previewed in the Pacemaker magazines. Just like when you'd browse through the album covers in 1970's record shops when there would be one that you'd mentally short list to leave with on every visit only to be drawn to another that would win your vote, Decade Of Champions was the publication continually left on the sidelines.

It was not until the past few weeks that I finally purchased a copy, forty years on from its release. Paying in excess of fifty quid for a second hand publication that, given racing's decline in status, will not increase in value, may seem poor value but having sampled the delights of what is an ideal dip in and out publication, the regret is not obtaining a copy earlier.

The book's opening setting is on New Years Eve 1969, with Charles Englehard hosting a gathering in his Florida home and proposing a toast to his Ballydoyle based champion juvenile, Nijinsky, dreaming of what could unfold during 1970.  This was a decade that is a strong contender to be the best and most exciting of any in the history of the sport. European racing boasted some magnificent animals but even so most genuine racing fans over here could not have failed to be aware of what an incredible run of years horse racing was also enjoying across the pond.

But the publication, while understandably having an American bias, attributes due respect to what was occurring in these realms, even if some of the categories certain horses are placed in raises an eyebrow - so too some inclusions such as Crash Course.

' World - Beaters' is split into parts one and two, with the first part covering Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Nijinsky, with Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef put into the second part alongside Forego, Exceller and Troy - curious groupings.

Only five pages cover jumping, which is in a chapter that includes stayers on the flat, thus you now have the even odder mix of Sagaro, Bruni, Crash Course, Properantes, Red Rum, and L'Escargot.

But at the end of the day these nit picky jabs are dwarfed by the central theme of the book which are those wonderful representations of Stone - Reeves artwork. The large weighty publication is required to allow these paintings to fill the eye.

There is a taking side-on of Affirmed holding off Spectacular Bid in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, while the Triple Crown winner features in another cracking illustration later in the book when Alydar is covered in 'Beloved Losers', the pair rounding the home turn in the Belmont Stakes.

Perhaps the most eye filling portrayal is the full page plate of Spectacular Bid with Bill Shoemaker up. The legendary rider is also involved in a painting depicting the runners at the start of the 1978 Epsom Derby. Shoemaker is in the background aboard the eventual runner up Hawaiian Sound, with the soon to be winner, Shirley Heights, the dominant theme. You suspect that as there are only two other animals in sight, that the positions of the animals may have been added for the purposes of the painting.

Anyway, for racing fans that appreciate the sport has a true 'soul', this would be a must for the collection and I will now go after the other Stone Reeves racing books, with Classic Lines next on the list though right now all copies advertised are from stateside sellers with none available to purchase from the UK.

Two other publications, small, lightweight mini books that can be purchased second hand but contain some delightful black and white photographs are 'Tom Dreaper and His Horses ' and ' Vincent O'Brien The National Hunt Years'.  Both are by the same author Bryony Fuller, and are ideal dip in and outs over the coffee table. My copy of the Dreaper book was purchased second hand off a racecourse book stall and may have come from the late, esteemed Richard Baerlein's collection as tucked away inside is a letter from Letherby and Christopher confirming the writer on the guest list for a lunch party before racing in the Queens Anne Building at Ascot on 3rd March 1992.

Of the more recent publications that can be purchased newly, the painting is hardly dry on Barry Geraghty's career for his book to appear. In fact, I waited until this year to read ' Henry Cecil - Trainer of Genius', as enough time has now gone by since his passing to sit back and have a truly reflective look back at his career. I don't normally read Brough Scott books due to his persistent, one sided championing of the Maktoums involvement in the sport when he was C4's anchor man but he is undoubtedly a fantastic writer and the book will not disappoint any racing fan. In fact, it is in the public domain that Cecil himself fell out with the writer because he felt certain details of his story were told in confidence and should not have been included. Scott apparently had to balance this wish against what he felt was his duty to reveal to the public in his role as a journalist.

And for those who want to unclutter their minds of all things racing for a while, I'm halfway through Shane Warne's book which is warts and all and a damn good read too, while there are some absorbing true story, impressively researched publications around covering the Cold War era, and the involvements of M15, MI6, the CIA, and the KGB. 

Finally, not too forget that those full of soul old Timeform Annuals that you find continually on the second hand market. There may just be a small resurgence in demand for them while there are still enough ageing racing fans alive who retain their marbles.

With a Christmas theme -  a classy cover version of a song originally released in the year of Nijinsky's juvenile campaign.

A WHIPPING UP OF NONSENSE

Some professions are just not viable career paths that you can aspire to become from an advert in a job centre. When considerable financial reserves, the backing of someone very wealthy or, at the very least, being able to convince a bank manager that you are as safe as can be to be the subject of a large loan, are an integral part of the so called career path, then it is not going to be an occupation that 99% of us could realistically plan to succeed at unless the head is full of magic.

One such role that would not rationally be obtainable to assume the form of would be that of a racehorse trainer. The profession is formed either of those inheriting great wealth, have built their pot from being incredibly talented and astute in a different sphere of life, are shrewd stockmen with land available, or who have been talented enough to have made it as a rider in addition to being outwardly bright enough to attract backing from potential owners. 

These basic unwritten laws of reality apply across the board irrespective of ethnicity. Those of us of a certain age will clearly remember the young middle eastern Michael Albina training the 1982 Epsom Derby third Silver Hawk for Mahmoud Fustok from a Newmarket base. The same owner later installed a young Mohamed Moubarak at headquarters later in the same decade, from where they enjoyed notable success a few years later with the high class pair Green Line Express and Magnificent Style.

Admittedly, you get those rare characters who make it against all odds, these stories that have become folklore. We know the yard's worked for and horses backed that helped finance Barry Hills, then a couple of years later Clive Brittain, as they set themselves up in yards to become long term established trainers at the top level.

Michael Jarvis, a son of a jump jockey likewise worked himself up the ranks of stable staff and was given the opportunity of taking on the role of private trainer to David Robinson, then in recent times Charlie Appleby climbed the ladder within the Godolphin set up to earn his chance with his name on the licence after the departure from the scene of the disgraced Mahmoud Al Zarooni. 

But being realistic the odds are long against even the most gifted, hard working stable staff having a succession of cards fall right to end up with a licence while not having deep financial reserves. Yes a few will get there but there are lottery winners too, however unrealistic that desire may also be.

Which makes it all the more baffling that prominent in Rishi Persad's recent criticism of horse racing not moulding to fit diversity agendas, was that while many stable staff are from ethnic backgrounds, the same does not apply to the role of licensed trainers. This opinion appears to have been expressed in a context that could relay the impression that, like with stable staff, would be racehorse trainers can just forward a CV in response to a newspaper advert. The overall message is hardly one that will attract more ethnic minorities to the sport. 

Jumping aboard the diversity praising bandwagon is increasingly becoming a pathway to career promition. It is cheap, on safe ground self promotion, and a niche to carve out a career in itself as opportunists jump on, joining those already aboard who if not in it for their own gains are often blindfolded.

We have come a long way since the days that the Independent Television Authority, with the support of the Race Relations Board, had the plug pulled on a series called Curry and Chips, which starred such illuminaries as Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes. 

Nowadays, small segments, deemed offensive are cut from some of the old programmes. Many are preceded by an announcement that some viewers may be offended by the views expressed. And that is not just the prime suspects such as Love Thy Neighbor or Till Death Do Us Part - they are coming for the unexcelled Fawlty Towers, and will soon be on Reg Varney and Rigsby's cases, so those of us who consider those as part of a wonderful decade with happy memories should snap up the box sets quickly before they are removed and consigned to history - or judging by the way society is going airbrushed from history by the Ministry of Truth

If Persad wished to help the cause of those he feels are left out, then why not get the message across that in racing ethnicity is no barrier to how high up the ladder you can climb if the talent is there. But instead he is conveying a worrying message to those on the outside that skin colour is an issue within the sport and that black or mixed race working class people in the sport are given less opportunities than white working class people, a notion that has no substantial evidence to back if up.

I've no idea the percentage of black or mixed race footballers play in the top two leagues in England, but I would suspect that for the percentage of the population their ethnicity represents, they have a higher rate  of being successful than their fellow white players.

They have succeeded on their raw talent and long ago put to bed any ridiculous suggestions that their ethnic make up would result a downgrade of assessments of their raw ability and harm prospects of a career. The same is true in horse racing - it is totally preposterous to believe that a highly promising apprentice rider, from an ethnic minority background, would lose out to an inferior white rider in opportunities available due to his or her ethnicity. 

The only exception to this would be where perhaps the inferior rider was a relative of the trainer and in such circumstances fellow superior white apprentices would also lose out thus it would not be an issue of racial background.

And on the subject of football, as with those who have crossed into the sport with the finances reaped from being successful players, it is conceivable that sometime soon one of those many black ex professionals could cross to the racing world, pick up experience in a yard or as a permit holder, take his BHA course and obtain a trainer's licence.

If, or more likely when it happens, the new licence holder would most likely wish to be treated and assessed on his abilities at managing and guiding the animals in his care as opposed to being surrounded by some fanfare based on the colour of his skin. 

Problem at the moment is that the negative perceptions being carelessly wrapped in large banners around the sport by the characters such as Persad and the careerist racing diversity champion Apiafi, might as well be a warning to those from ethnic minorities to not bother trying to work within the sport.

That individuals are allowed free reign to sully the industry in the hope that they will be seen as some sort of pioneers in creating what they would claim as a change in attitudes, then take credit for it, is testament to how fragile and malleable the sport has become.

image from pininterest

This reached its highest point in the UK charts during Cheltenham week 1977, when Night Nurse retained his Champion Hurdle crown after taking a walk in the market when the heavens opened, and when Davy Lad triumphed in an incident packed Cheltenham Gold Cup full of ill fortune and tragedy, with the mighty Lanzariote losing his life.

RACING SAFER UNDER ITS TRADITIONAL WRAPPER

Rebranding is not something racing is in need of. A cynical exercise applied throughout business and industry that invaribly ends with money wasted that produces inferior, hammy labels whether it be Consigna, Aviva, Snicker, Starburst, or design changes in once long established logos, sweet wrappers, food tins and boxes, the end result always a step backwards.

Too many people in influential positions believe that 'freshening up' is regularly needed to keep customers engaged. The problem that arises is that while it would be a straightforward process to revert the pattern on a crisp packet back to an original, more popular design, 'freshening up' a product which is part of a large industry such as horse racing, involves changes in the workings of the machinery that can inflict damage with a wide fall out which cannot be reversed at whim.

We've just had the latest renewal of the Breeders Cup which is now stretched out over two days with new races added in recent years. Needless to say the extra options has unavoidably had a detrimental effect on the quality of the traditional events but on this occasion, it got away with it due to a Classic that attracted a mouth watering line up, an up to standard Breeders Cup Turf even without Enable and Sootsass, and a par for the course Breeders Cup Turf Mile. 

Another of the originals, the Breeders Cup Distaff, pulled in two heavies for a fascinating contest - in fact if you wanted to be picky you could single out the Turf Sprint, as the success of Sheikh Albadou and moral success of Dayjur shows that the traditional dirt version it is not an impossible goal for European turf animals.

But overall it is beyond doubt that, whatever you want to call it, ' putting life' into an event even, is just needless rebranding often carrying the dabs of boneheads who cannot fathom the possibility that established calendars that you can set your clock by are a strength and that when things appear to fall out of fashion it can be safer to sit tight than redo the jigsaw.

Racing still just about has its calendar in the traditional format though it will not indefinitely be able to withstand the continuous tinkering which in the UK has messed about with the venues and timings of some of the traditional autumn flat races - the Hoover Fillies Mile and Royal Lodge should still be at Ascot, the Champion Stakes at Newmarket two weeks after the Arc, with the only switch that has paid off is one carried out a few decades back when the old Vernon's Sprint, often staged in unsuitable testing ground, was brought forward in the calendar.

Change use to be applied with great care and consideration. The introduction of the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup at York, approaching half a century ago, was done with much forethought and history shows that it was one of the great additions to the calendar.

In the United States the rate of change went out of control. From the Washington DC International at Laurel Park, a forerunner to true international competion and a race won by Sir Ivor and Youth amongst others ( not too mention Admetus who ended up being tried over hurdles with Fred Winter!), we had the Arlington Million that started with a fanfare but soon to be reduced in stature with the innovation is of the Breeders Cup in 1984. And recent years we've had that gassed-up event at Gulfstream Park, then the Saudi Cup which has trod on the toes of both the Florida race and the Dubai World Cup.

It may be petty to view it as so, but the financial impact of the Covid 19 crisis might have a plus side of nipping this circus of squeezed in fancifully titled events in the bud. Put it this way, the UK are now being prepared for lockdowns right through until the spring. By then it it still be doubtful when full audiences will be permitted back into sporting events, unless that is you believe that against all odds they really have discovered a safe, effective vaccine so quickly. 

Chester have announced that they would consider mothballing their full 2021 programme if they were unable to reopen their gates to the crowds. Well, come next March, with the countdown to their May fixture ticking away, it is very unlikely that a decision would have been made by Government. Other venues will be in a similar predicament.

Fancy idea innovations and expansions will not be able to implemented, hopefully the plain stupid team competion postponed from last year will be a non starter in 2021 too. Other sports will be affected too with even the showcase football clubs unable to spend as the level of incoming revenues will not be able to be reasonably estimated. Many long standing, genuine match going football fans may actually take delight at this as it seems the ever expanding bubble will finally burst.

Now, that is a sport that has been taken by the ' freshening up' advocates. The Champions League had long gone stale, with teams that may have previously faced one another once in every ten or twenty five years, sometimes meeting half a dozen times in five years. This new planned super league which they say will have a safety lock on for seventeen years which is not really worth the mention as we can be sure that the whole concept will lose any initial dazzle in less than half that time, then be scrapped and replaced by some new, rebranded eyecatching super league with different demarcations.

The worst case scenario outcome for large audience sports would be, if like London buses, a new unrelated plague spreads around the globe. Not being a major league sport anymore, horse racing would be in pieces if this occurred. It would certainly put pay to any ideas brewing in the minds of the rebranding merchants who may finally come to see sense and realise that racing, while needing to downsize as things already stand, is better off sticking by its trusted rigid calendar and prizing it's traditions.

From a time when racing had so much more to offer. This strong opening track from a classic album released the day before April Seventh won the Hennessey, and Night Nurse beat Comedy Of Errors and Sea Pigeon in the best Fighting Fifth ever. The album would have found itself into many households by the time Captain Christy blitzed a below par Bula the King George.

SECRETS LOST TO THE GRAVEYARD

Racing stands alone from other sports in the varied, in depth facets it has to offer that together make up the whole model. Some are so wide apart from one another - you could spend a lifetime engrossed in the intricities and theories of the breeding side without having the slightest interest in the betting and bookmaking side, with the reverse also applying.

It also blows the other sports out of the water for its multitude of characters, many long passed, others more recently passed, and some still on this earth. Put it this way, stable staff who have worked for a lifetime in the sport, even in basic ranking positions, would be such a fruitful source of page after page of anecdotes and if inclined, could write a book purely reminiscing in warts and all manner, one which would probably prove to be a more enjoyable read than a tow the line publication penned by a champion trainer or jockey.

The same cannot be said for football. A boot polisher would no doubt be able to recite some amusing tales but the chances are they would have been done to death and have been in the public arena, either through one of the red top newspapers, or from player autobiographies. 

But racing owns such a deep, congested well of secrets, gossip, along with a large basket of dirty linen  that could probably fill a large book cabinet with memoirs that contain a substantial amount of truth, with many being fully accurate.

Sadly, those who would have most to tell are now into extra time on the life clock and will pass on taking their experiences to the grave with nothing left behind in recorded format - they may have have recited bits and pieces to a young relative likely to have no interest in the sport, meaning the names and incidents would mean nothing and fade to oblivion

The problem arising with racing's grapevine is that many of these recitals could be libelous unless the character who is the subject of the nostalgic scribblings has passed on in which case care would still have to be careful not to implicate a living, touchy relative. Or even a dangerous, powerful one.

This means that anyone seeking to find an old hand long born of experience within the game would have to keep fingers crossed that your discovered  living source remains in reasonable good mental health, while most of the subjects of the tales have passed on.

The legal ramifications in this area leave some interestingly poised situations in all walks of life. An acquaintance who is employed in the fields of attempted rehabilitation of offenders told me that it is common knowledge within some sections of the Police force that the media outlets are sharpening their knives ready to go to war on an ageing, long established household name once he passes away.

The stories that could be drawn out of some old racing folk would not be of the deeply disturbing nature as those, which if true, are to be revealed about this household name. In fact by comparison many would in the main be damn funny but still, the person on the other end may not be so tickled on finding they are in the public domain.

For us enthusiastic racing fans on the outside looking in, we can pick up some fascinating titbits when having the opportunity to talk to those within the bubble, off record as opposed to chatting to a trainer from being part of a syndicate, or having a conversation with a guest speaker at a racing club function. Such private encounters make us realise just how many untold factual tales must be held by the many, mature silent beholders within the sport.

I can recall being in the company of an ex jockey in a northern racecourse bar over forty years ago. I have no idea if he is still alive - I cannot find any record of him passing, though he had such a profound drinking problem that he would be a symbol of hope for all incurable guzzlers as he would now be in his mid seventies if he is still on this earth.

He was in the Tattersalls bar as he would not have welcomed being recognised in the members areas. As a rider he finished in the frame in an English classic, rode Royal Ascot winners, and in his pomp was sought after in the big handicaps. He also rode often for an emerging owner who would go on to be one of the most successful in the sport. 

Anyway, at the time he revealed that he had just left a position working in a well known Newmarket yard - " I wouldn't advise my worst enemy to work there. Christ, it was a nightmare. At evening stables you have to stand to attention outside the box with your stable cloth, body and dandy brushes, and curry comb all laid out neatly while the boss walks around carrying out inspections."

After each race he was back in the bar, drinking double scotches.  He gave three tips ridden by a well known successful jockey he had driven to the course. The horses lost. I could not not be sure of  the volume of alcohol he had consumed, but enough at least to blow a breathalyzer reading off the scale and he was driving the jockey all the way back down to Newmarket after his last ride!

I was also once priveliged to have several conversations with a person who I belive is still alive and has held both a jockeys and trainers licence in his time. He would reminisce back through his racing life, recalling all the trainers he has worked for, some legends who themselves trained equine legends.

He recalled that when he worked for Atty Persse, the lads would be taking a risk if the lights were switched back on after lights out time in the dorm. Apparently, if this rule breaking act was spotted from the main yard the guvnor and senior staff would burst into the dorm carrying long toms and the lads had to duck and dive to avoid a thrashing.

Then there was a stable lad who I was chatting to in the late 1970's. He had worked for two big, very successful set ups. He revealed to me that in one these former yards they carry out x rays on their animals - this at a time when the practice was not routine in most establishments. He spoke of a progressive young horse housed in one of these yards. " There is early arthritis setting in",  he divulged. " They'll sell him soon....... while he is still able to get past most vets."

In the following years I watched on with interest as this animal developed into one of the biggest stars in the jumping game, the best in his division. I'd convinced myself that I was told a load of nonsense until reading one day that the said horse was indeed developing arthritis, so it seems the tale had some substance to it after all.

The point of these recitals is that they have been picked up from being outside the bubble. God only knows the amount that are kept in the mental lockers of those within. Compelling accounts that must live lucidly in the mind of souls who have spent a lifetime in racing yards, irrespective of rank or standing.

Of course, stories that have bits added on need to be spotted and either discarded, or downsized. I can recall a few decades back being told that during the funeral of a stable lad who had committed suicide while working for one of the most successful southern yards of the 1970's, the deceased's colleagues were physically spitting on the trainer's back. It just didn't have a convincing ring to it, even allowing for the fact that the narrator worked for this famous yard, though admittedly not at the time the alleged episode took place.

We know the sport is littered with non triers, that many jockeys bet, some far more successfully so than others, or have their punters paying them to the odds, that one or two mix or have mixed with some very unsavory characters, that something may or may not be 'going on' when a yard suddenly begins to extract improvement from a succession of newly arrived inmates, that big name horses have been doped to lose. 

One has visions of a partly retired seventy odd year old stable lad, wearing a cap and sporting a ruddy complexion. All his marbles are still in place. He's worked for many successful trainers. He has a wealth of knowledge and holds on to many secrets that he will alas take to the grave. And that is a real shame.

graveyard image taken by author

This is the title track from an album released a few weeks before Burrough Hill Lad put up that wonderful weight carrying performance in the Hennessey. Vinyl remained supreme so the album would have found it's way to many households by the time of the race. The album marked Deep Purple's reunion and while not in the same grade of those released in the early 1970's, is surprisingly strong throughout for a comeback production.The video has the reuniting theme. It could easily be jump jockeys from the 1970's and 1980's. Sadly, a portrayal of a similar version for flat jockeys would be missing the passed on legends of Pat Eddery, Walter Swinburn and Greville Starkey.

ANOTHER PART OF RACING’S SOUL IS LOST

For those under a certain age who view printed reference type books as something now needless and cumbersome to navigate through, the news that Timeform are ceasing hard copy publication of their showcase product caused no ripples; but to many mature racing fans it ends a link to the sport at its peak era, an era that no one at the time could have foresaw the end of.

The Timeform Racehorse annuals, developed from Phil Bull’s Best Horses annuals, were viewed as collector’s items that owners believed would increase at least modestly in comparable value. All genuine racing fans have shelves lined with copies. 

As the sport has gradually lost its place in the major sport league, its memorabilia has dropped in relative value to other sports, including the Timeform Annuals which from the 1960’s onwards you can now acquire from online stores and private sellers for relatively modest sums.

Computerisation of form books made them less necessary. Indeed for all the benefits that computers and the internet have brought they spoil many a heartfelt nostalgic discussion with quizes, or just plain enjoyable reminiscing somewhat ruined by the availability of speedy, soulless Googling.

This is why you may find yourself falling into a conversation about horse racing with a member of the emerging generations who may initially say something like, “ Cyrname is now officially the top rated chaser which he confirmed when beating Altior  - but it will be interesting if both meet over three miles on Boxing Day when Altior will be fully tuned up”.

Initially you are impressed, but as the conversation continues it dawns on you that they are just repeating almost word for word something they’ve read off their smartphone, probably when browsing through a racing article on a bookmaker’s site which they’d initially been on to look at the odds for footy matches or other sports.

It’s even more demoralising when you find these so called fans have no interest at all in any historical perspective to the sport. Even recent history. Nijinsky, Brigadier Gerard, Phil Bull, Pinza, mean nothing. Same with Persian War, Tom Dreaper, Michael Dickinson, and Pendil.

This may sound of little relevance in the grand scheme of all things racing but if the affinity towards the sport is a tenuous one, then those characters who may be betting on it regularly now, can very easily be weaned off it. This happening in significant numbers would  do grave damage to a game whose future itself is already uncertain.

Contrast with those who got hooked on the game during the 1970's when it was a truly major sport. It was essential to read Oaksey's Mill Reef book and Hislop's Brigadier Gerard book, to compare the two greats. Going back further in history to learn something about the great names of the sport was also an obligation - Atty Persse, Keith Piggott, Frank Butters, Fred Darling, Fred Archer.

We were also aware that over in the USA they were experiencing a decade like no other, from Secretariat, to Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and finishing with Spectacular Bid. We probably still have a Totopoly in a box in the loft, along with Escalado, no doubt with signs of heavy wear and tear. And on the run up to Christmas the telly adverts even use to regularly show a board game called Kentucky Derby.

In the past three decades the sport declined in prominence in the psyche of the general population.This sadly meant that it was only a matter of time before the demand for publications such as Timeform Racehorses and Timeform Chasers and Hurdlers would cease to exist as the older racing fans became infirm, ill of mind, or passed away with the numbers of those with similar enthusiasm that should have been replacing them comparably tiny.

Once the independent Timeform organisation sold out to bookmaking interests respect began to wain and many of us had long stopped purchasing the annuals in real time. Sadly it will now only be from a historical perspective that we will pick up old copies, browsing randomly through, reading the odd essay, studying the posed portraits. 

The physical descriptions used a consistent terminology down the years though there did seem to be some additions added in later years. I've been looking through Racehorses of 1968 and you do not come across anything described as 'good topped' or 'angular', which don't seem to have been introduced until two decades later.

Then you can't help noting the dress of the 'lad' holding each animal deemed good enough for a posed portrait. A cap covering short cropped hair appears mandatory in the 1960's, then all hell looks to have been let loose the following decade when there is no shortage of lads resembling Robert Plant holding on to their charges. 

There are of course some aspects of the publications that should have been arrested long ago. Not least the introduction which claims that the book, as well as being a historical record, is designed for weighing up a race, a purpose for which in reality it is outdated once the new season is in motion. Has anybody actually ever received a copy of Chasers and Hurdlers for Christmas then gone about using its now outdated ratings and comments to assess the Welsh National?

Another point is the weight for age scale. Timeforms varies slightly from the official one but it too has changed down the years. As an example, for the second half of July, the present Timeform weight for age scale deems that over a mile and a half a three year old should be receiving 12lb from older horses. 

Now, when Grundy and The Minstrel won their respective runnings of the King George in 1975 and 1977 respectively, Timeform had the margin at 14 lb which means that if the organisation's present weight for age scale applied back then, Grundy would have ended with an annual rating of 135 instead of 137, and The Minstrel with one of 133 instead of 135,  as both horses performances in the Ascot event where seen as career bests at weights and measures.

Admittedly the response for being nit picky over this issue would no doubt be that the change is merely keeping in line with what is seen ( but not proven) as horses maturing faster than in decades earlier - indeed, the Timeform weight for age scale at King George time for a mile and a half in the 1960's reckoned that the three year olds should be in receipt of 16 lb!

The fact that we would obsess over such issues in being so critical does however go to show how much respect we had for Timeform and the cold objective views of their senior staff whose dabs were on the annuals. Those are days are now gone for good with no hope of them ever returning.

The online Racing Post form book begins in 1988.To start a good level research prior to then it’s your own personal collections of books, magazines, newspaper cuttings and by visiting libraries or the like. Subscribing to newspaper archives is also a great help but limited in the sense that you won’t, for example find an available Sporting Life or Sporting Chronicle archive from the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.

The British Newspaper Archive website has both the Sporting Life and Sporting Chronicle available to the end of the 1940’s, while many other racing publications will have been lost too long to be recoverable unless you’ve kept old copies or built up scrapbooks.

When research is needed, the Timeform Annuals form part of the backbone of the material to be  consulted if they cover the period being examined. But if truth be told, hardly anyone without a racing background amongst the under forties will feel any desire to look up an historical racing subject when they can play FIFA 21, or Football Manager.

That the publication is soon to be no more allied to the fact that Wisden remains strong and treasured in hard copy form, says much about the comparable present standings of the sports of cricket and horse racing in Great Britain.

This track is from an album released a few weeks before Comedy Of Errors took back his hurdling crown from Lanzarote, and when Ten Up took the Gold Cup in a quagmire.  The lyrics have no connection to the Alps but the music has a Gstaad or Crans Montana feel and conjures up images of the likes of Roger Moore, Peter Sellers and Clay Regazzoni. No doubt many who visit these locations have full sets of Timeform Annuals.

THIS LOT WILL NOT RELENT UNTIL THEY HAVE THEIR WAY

The absence of a strong Ballydoyle presence, the fact that Tarnawa should have been supplemented for the big event, and the prevailing conditions that compromised too many hopes, all still could not take away from what was a most enjoyable weekend of racing.

In any normal year we'd be bemoaning separate events that came together to reduce the status of some of the races, some of which were not vintage renewals, notably the juvenile events. But because, with so much uncertainty prevailing, we are unable realistically to look more than a few weeks ahead in the calendar, simply having a weekend of overall high class racing to savior was more appreciated than it normally is.

There would however have been one notable item of news over the past week that did not go down too well for traditionalists. It was easy to miss it as the build up to the weekend got nearer. It was the announcement that the postponed team racing event originally planned for summer 2020 has been rearranged to begin in 2021, the intention no doubt to make it a permanent part of the calendar.

This whole team sport concept never will blend in snugly in this sport. The Shergar Cup has lasted because it's over in a day, one in which many fans will have a welcome rest where thoughts of the sport are put aside for one Saturday a year. A few decades back we curiously looked in on a couple of team competitions with visiting American jockeys which stoked up interest, not because fans got into the mode of teams and points but due to the rare opportunity to see the likes of Shoemaker and McCarron in action.

The delayed event proposed for next year is a purists nightmare, it really is. Twelve teams with their squads of horse from up to four trainers each, three jockeys representing each team which will have its own colours. In light of more pressing issues existing in the world, it may seem a little out of proportion to  overreact to this silly concept, but it makes one wonder whether the sport in this country is past the point of no return.

It is so hard to conjure up an image of teams communally managed by two to four trainers. Can you imagine this in the 1970's, a team with a management board of Ryan Price, Dick Hern, Peter Walwyn and Noel Murless - all would want to be the leading voice, none would surely agree to be lower in rank. Similar to a jumping one with Fred Rimmell, Fred Winter, Fulke Walwyn and Bob Turnell, together in allegiance. 

The whole concept is so stupid and unworthy for the sport that you would almost have expected Noel Edmunds, or the shamed Stuart Hall to be part of the production, in fact I'm sure there would have been a chance that they might have been if such a wacky contest had been staged back then.

The characters now may not be so maverick, blunt and individualistic,but you have to wonder in such a dog eat dog sport which ones would blend together. Perhaps Owen Burrows, Charlie Hills, and Richard Hughes would get through it, but a team comprised of Michael Stoute, Paul  Cole and David Elsworth would be a non starter and I cannot imagine any of these three seeking any involvement in this nonsense,

And how about if they extended it to the modern National Hunt arena - the West Country rivals Hobbs, Nicholls  and Pipe would not really want to join together as a team given the rivalry and no doubt levels of jealousy varying from season to season that must be forever ongoing between the three - though I suppose Colin Tizzard is now as powerful as any of them and he would be able to bud up with Paul Nicholls given their operations have always had links.

In part, it is tempting to make comparisons with charity rock events which are seen as opportunities to rekindle fizzled out careers, to boost sales and royalties from music released long ago, but in the racing arena the owners will have a bigger input thus amid the significant cutbacks in prize money levels, all but the top band of elite patrons will probably be open to the idea. There is no doubt that the large bulk of journeyman riders will be very keen to find a place so with the generous number of places available there will be room for plenty. 

There is also a belief held by organisers of these events that just because the emerging generations of racegoers come along for a session of alcohol consumption, which they still would do if they raced motor bikes around the course, means they will embrace the idea by visiting in their hordes.

Well, in view of the fact that these meetings are being staged at the height of the Twenty-20 Cricket domestic cricket season, I don't think anyone should be taking patronage for granted. There is not much chance of many genuine racing fans making an appearance - no one in their right mind would want to be one of the members of the paying public to be selected as an 'ambassador ' for the teams which is enough anyone needs to know about how trashy this concept is - making some no marks 'stars' for the night who have no real feel for the true attractions of the sport.

We keep hearing that racing needs to be open to new ideas, but this ornate rubbish not only devalues the sport's wonderful history, it seeks to move away from it in the belief that it will become stronger by rebranding it's image.

This is a notion that will only hasten horse racing's decline in the UK down to a part time tier that we could never of previously imagined. We will watch the whole charade unfold, knowing the dreadful outcome but unable to do anything to prevent it.

image in public domain

 Back to a time when the sport's problems pale into insignificance compared to today, when it was truly a major sport, when music too was in its element - this track from a terrific album released the day before Brigadier Gerard won the King George.......

KEEPING CHECK ON SANITY IN A MAD WORLD

Racing fans over a certain age will remember it being revealed in the racing media during the build up to the 1987 General Election that Steve Cauthen is alleged to have declared that he would leave the country if the Neil Kinnock led Labour Party claimed power. 

Notwithstanding the rights or wrongs of whether the Kentuckian, who was riding at the peak of his powers at the time, should be taking stances on politics of a country in which he was a working guest, the vow was testimanent to the there being two clearly defined political parties separated by a gulf.

Fast forward to over three decades later, when we now have a couple of decades of middle ground rule, with  both parties often indistinguishable during their spells in power, the Blair Government advocates of  widely applied deregulation with the present Government handling the Covid 19 crisis in a manner that would be agreeable to many ageing Trots.

Ironically it could realistically only be the far left that would be bold enough to bring in anti competition  legislation and to introduce an off course state owned Tote monopoly system for UK horse racing - the other side to this is that a Trotskyte government could just as easily discontinue with the sport, citizens having the free will to gamble not really supposed to be part of their mantra. 

In light of this one wonders precisely what John Gosden was trying to get at when expressing concern that unless the process of addressing the Levy reform is speeded up, we could be falling back to the economic crisis of the 1970's which saw many wealthy individuals bail out on one way journeys to foreign nations.

Then, we had a world economic crisis stemming in the main from the OPEC oil crisis which cascaded down to everyone, causing a recession from which unshackled, powerful unions held the country to ransom. Gosden also alluded to the prospect of other industries folding.

Whichever way you look at it, Levy reform, which would involve a deal requiring the blessing of the powerful, shrewd, and not exactly charitable bookmaking industry, would only produce a measured improvement in finances for the sport which in light of the current crisis would not a mount to a short or long term solution.

This past weekend's edition of Luck on Sunday, saw arguably the most examining set of questions that Nick Rust has ever faced on air. The overall feeling from the broadcast was that the sport's present problems, if anything, have been understated. It was also touched upon the bleak reality that at present 0.6 % of betting turnover is returned to horse racing in the UK, compared with 7% in France.

This is a ratio not going to change by any notable degree anytime soon. Realistically we know this is an avenue now blocked by permanent bollards. Mind you, judging by the Monty Pythonesque rules we have been living under, most being imposed by announcements using a phraseology that could of been taken straight out of that show, nothing should surprise us.

But with a cloud hanging over the sport it is hard to focus on the coming weekend with the usual enthusiasm - it's like not being able to look forward to Christmas if you know you are being admitted to hospital in January to undergo a complicated procedure that will keep you bed ridden past Cheltenham and Aintree.

On the subject of those supportive of Trotskyte indoctrination, one must wonder whether some of the bizarre, mandatory courses that the whole public sector workforce are obliged to partake in will eventually be introduced within the horse racing industry as it would seem there is a wish by the Government for them to extend to the private sector.

Those of us who know people employed within the public sector will be aware that these courses, or seminars, whatever they are called, have been swiftly introduced owing to certain events that hugged the news throughout the summer. They are to make people aware of what is termed as ' micro aggression', and that one may be guilty of this behavior without realising it.

I was given an example from an acquaintance who works in the public sector. He explained that you may have a male work colleague who chooses to dress in female attire. You arrive on the work floor one morning where a system of ' hot desking' exists, which roughly means you take whichever seats and desks are available. On this particular day there are plenty of empty seats. You walk past a desk where the colleague dressed in ladies clothes is sat alone, surrounded by empty spaces, and take a seat on a bank of desks where four other colleagues are sat. 

This apparently would make you guilty of a ' micro aggression' towards the colleague wearing ladies clothes even though you may not have said anything vocally, cast a bad glance, or indeed never have ever had a cross word with them or made a disparaging comment about them.

I am told there is now a culture taking hold where workers are encouraged to be on the lookout for ' micro aggressional ' behavior, to 'challenge' it when they spot it, and to report it. Not surprisingly some will see this as a niche area for them to concentrate on as a basis for obtaining promotion. If such a culture is embraced by the horse racing industry, then one or two characters would no doubt be happy to go to town on it, finding a niche which will provide them with handsomely paid employment for the foreseeable future.

There can be no way now to prevent a radical downsizing of the of the sport in the UK, with Ireland no doubt going the same way. A reduction of the numbers of horses in training, closure of venues, an increase in horse wastage as owners pull out and horses go through sales rings unsold, job losses in abundance, all the specialist racing publications going under for good.

Enough trainers and owners had previously considered the funding issue to be serious enough that they took strike action long before the plague emerged thus by comparison, the state of play at this present time  will involve many licence holders losing their footing and slipping down to the cliffs edge, some even hanging off with their legs dangling and no safety net to break their impending fall.

image CC Wikimedia 

HEADING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

It's not by virtue of the fact that the US Open was the showcase sporting event of the past weekend that encourages one to declare with confidence that the future of golf is a brighter one, in better hands and far more assured than that of horse racing.

No, things have been this way for many years now. Racing fans may not want it to be like this but it is something that has to be accepted and yet again a reason for the equine sport to concentrate on cutting its cloth accordingly by setting about creating a path for itself away from the top tier of the sporting league.

An unbiased appraisal of both sports could only produce one clear cut winner. There is a unique state of being with golf in that a fan of the sport can play the game at a Saturday morning communal level but still have the opportunity of playing at some of the venues that hold professional tournaments.

It is a sport that has no reliance on the public placing bets on it -without which racing would not exist - and it does not carry the worry of having to watch it's back for assaults from animal welfare groups, who though possibly smaller in number than forty years back, are better organised with the assistance of the social media platform.

In fact golf has become a very environment friendly sport with the development of new courses more often than not complementing and sustaining rather than damaging the environment. Indeed many are often allowed to run too close to nature for comfort. In 2016 a lady was walking her dog by the course at Hilton Head in South Carolina, a regular PGA tour venue, when an alligator dragged her to her death into a nearby lagoon.

When it comes to TV presentation;well of all of the sports bar none, golf is at the top of the tree in delivering in depth, professional coverage with the right balance of sophistication and repartee, while quite rightly addressing an audience as though they have a similar level of knowledge - those of us who lack this would still not have it any different.

Formula One remains the true glamour sport and is also presented with a splendid blend of professionalism and style, while cricket too is excellently served though the dropping of both David Gower and Ian Botham from the Sky coverage was understandably not a welcome development with viewers.

But the coverage of professional golf both in Europe, and in particular over on the men's US PGA Tour, is the closest to perfection that you will ever come across. 

Even those of us who cannot imagine our uncoordinated gaits swinging a golf club never mind trying to understand the slow motion swing analysis by professional coaches, find ourselves enchanted by the precise mechanics of it all. Many of us have been watching these demonstrations of heads, arms, hips and knee motions since we turned to the specialist sports channels a quarter of a century back, continue to watch and study, but in truth are none the wiser though will continue to look in, a little envious of the lifelong fans of the game who play and understand.

For many years David Livingstone was the front for the SKY coverage, as suitable as one could be for the post, serious when it was appropriate to be but ably assisted by being witty. He built up a great tune with Butch Harmon whose humor was on the same wave.

It came as a surprise when Livingstone retired, though many of us not in the loop probably considered him to be younger than he really was with what appeared to be a full head of real hair.

The SKY team were the poorer for the departing of both Livingstone and Harmon but the coverage remains very, very good, still the best of all. They also seem to have successfully tackled the annoyance of US television's interlude every few minutes schedule which once led Livingstone to apologising to viewers for their enjoyment of the adverts being spoilt by the golf. 

This has been achieved by having the SKY team on site at an increased number of US PGA Tour tournaments, while at other times gaining access to the American cameras during their breaks.

All in all, the presentation is something that racing should be striving to equal, particularly when broadcast on terrestrial television where the opportunities exist to pull in new viewers.

If the trashy 'social stable' can be likened to the outdoor centres on the range that SKY erect at the major tournaments, then the first no doubt has the effect of turning away any would be potential genuine new fans to racing, while the second may even tempt one to browse through golf equipment on the web.

With golf coverage the interviews with the players run far smoother with direct answers more forthcoming despite an outward impression that there is some pussyfooting going on, particularly with the mega stars.

Horse racing is hampered here in the sense that interviews commonly involve jockeys and trainers being asked to assess the chance of animals that the listening audience may be gambling on. A sitting on the fence approach is therefore understandable in the present climate.

Golf is also one of the most relevant sports for statistics in the sense that those provided are as accurate as any sport out there. We know that 'strokes gained tee to green ' or 'strokes gained putting ', or the even more zoned in categories, which exist aplenty, such as ' approaches from 175- 200 yards ', are clear and indisputable while statistics in certain areas of racing, particularly those involving times, have a wide scope for error with even distances covered being open to interpretation.

Then there is the aspect of racing that makes the sport more difficult to broadcast than the  'flowing sports', in the sense that it comprises of a catalogue of separate events, short in timespan as opposed to one golf tournament, cricket or football match.

With golf, and to an extent cricket, live pictures alone are sometimes the best narrator provided that the commentary team are able to recognise when silence is appropriate and allow the audience to take in the visuals.

The problem with racing is that while it needs race commentaries, which to be fair are of a competent standard across the board, there is too much filler between contests. Often, you feel the sport would be better served by pictures of proceedings in the paddock with updated betting shows popping up on the screen but without any input from the presentation team.

With the future of the on course betting ring in jeopardy, you are already looking at one facet of the TV coverage first introduced when John McCririck joined ITV come C4, disappearing. They can just show updated national odds in silence, no doubt compiled by similar method as they have been during the 2020 crisis.

There is certainly no need for things to be rammed down the audiences throat. When the BBC produced a second to none racing production in the 1970s and 1980's with a small in numbers team, Jimmy Lindley alone could take you through the pre race build up in a detailed but non intrusive manner.

Sadly, racing is unlikely to return to being presented in this relaxed manner ever again. One of the reasons would be the widely held perception that modern viewers prefer noisey, continuous prattle, no matter how inane. But this is a perception open to question as golf has not chosen this route and is clearly doing very well thank you.

image in public domain.

A TOPIC NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION

If you were compiling an English language module and needed examples to define the meaning of the expression, ' knowing what side your bread is buttered on ', then you would be spoilt for choice by concentrating on the British horse racing industry.

For every single debate aired on the subject of the financial crisis hitting the sport this year has contained a critical missing link. It's obvious to racing fans, maybe not so to casual viewers - it is of course the fact that UK racing, along with Irish racing, do not have the safety net of an off course pari mutuel monopoly.

No one employed in the media wing of the industry will touch on the subject, they know the buttered side is much preferable and would risk being metaphorically launched out of the window of racing's house if they raised subject that is very relevant to the crisis.

Bookmakers sponsor racing professionals, employ them in certain capacities, are the lifeblood of some racing publications through the advertising revenue, and have influence over racing television broadcasts. Some say racing needs Barry Hearn - well he too would not dare raise this taboo subject for his entrepreneurship in other sports has been helped by him initiating sponsorship deals with major bookmakers which is fine for sports that are neither intertwined with gambling and don't need mass numbers to place bets on it for survival, but not for racing.

Racing is unique in that it is a sport that could not continue without gambling. The major venues and cult courses could last for an indefinite amount of time on summer crowds who drink and spend without too much interest in the fare on show, but what happens when other forms of festival entertainment in parks nearby prove the new flavor of the day, with a day at the races being seen as something to move on along from and on to something more in vogue. Some day this will happen  - though by the time a more measured and proportional approach to the plague is put into motion, the choice of racing venues may have shrunk.

A rather stressed looking Martin Cruddace of Arena Racing was interviewed at Doncaster about the dilemma. He expressed gratitude to the bookmarking industry, without which he reminded us, there would be no contributions through the levy to the prize money coffers. Well, though he will realise more than most how well better off the sport would have been with an off course pari mutuel monopoly he too would not choose butterless bread or Stork, as his corporation's showcase days have major bookmaker sponsorship.

What gets one tickled about all this is that trainers, owners and jockeys undertook strike action over what they saw as appallingly low levels of prize money at the Arena venues long before Covid 19 had been heard of. And it is worth considering that as the world is still officially suffering from this plague, horse racing in Australia, North America and France have healthier prize money levels right now than UK did in the pre- Covid 19 era.

Many in racing could be upping sticks and scarpering. The most powerful and influential people in the sport could carry on business as usual in the States and Australasia, so strong are their established and continual developing interests are in those parts of the globe. While in Europe, France would be the focal point for the sport.

In fact France is the safest long term location to represent the sport in Europe. It's demonstrating how it can continue to sustain prize money at respectable levels which should of course be expected as apart from just a handful of days each year, their racecourses are empty. The UK would be in the same position if off course bookmakers had not been legalised here over fifty years back - but no one with a voice in the sport is allowed to say this.

It would be fitting for France to be the main representative of the sport in Europe. It is the country that draws in the highest number of tourists on the whole globe, being the citadel for cultural class and quality from Monaco to the Alps. It blows Spain out of the water who only makes it to number two on the world tourist list because it pulls in every dimwit who thinks it's classy to lie on a crowded beach in baking sun all day long.

So imagining a world where Australia and America are the leaders in horse racing, with France being the only country in Europe where the sport is run on a large scale professional basis, racing fans here might even choose to concentrate on the sport's rich, in depth history, rather than continuing to follow it in real time.

Seeing there are people who concentrate the main part of their lives in becoming authorities on subjects such as The Great Exhibition, The Six Day War, or Pre- Raphaelite art, then there is enough subject matter in horse racing to spend many, many lifetimes to become immersed in.

Downsizing will happen first - then it will be a case of whether it can survive. That is the most realistic outlook and we have to face up to it.

image from Guide du Pari