January 1980 does not seem forty years ago. Certainly for those who spend their life diligently studying the works of Shakespeare, or the history of the French Revolution, time will have stood still. No doubt many in racing circles would wish the clock had stopped ticking in their world too.
Looking through a copy of Pacemaker International for that month, the one with the front cover showing Night Nurse and Jonjo O'Neil in mid air over the water jump at Newbury in the Mandarin Chase, there did not seem to be an awful lot to be concerned about on racing's frontier.
In all the changes that have occurred in the past forty years, there was no inkling that the emerging generations would be raised in a world where betting on football would overall become their main focal point of having a punt, and that racing would fall into a shadow of future uncertainty. The prospect of this was never considered in any publication or context.
Indeed, the article that stirred you most went under a headline that would be fitting for January 2020. Written by Tom Forrest, and titled , ' The Case Against The Whip ', it was a prophetic piece that highlighted a couple of pertinent issues that have since been addressed.
The first was the free for all whip actions permitted at the time. Forrest recalls the whip actions of two riders from his racing memories, the Frenchman Paul Blanc, along with the Aussie Des Lake. Evidently their styles were likened to ' Catherine Wheels' , 'Dervish dances' and ' windmills', whip actions that, according to Forrest, observers would remember for the rest of their lives.
Little did the writer know that over the coming summer a certain Australian rider by the name of Peter Losh would be riding in Great Britain, displaying one of those Whirling Dervish whip actions the writer thought he would not see again.
He then made reference to the ' ferocity ' used by Lester Piggott on both Roberto and The Minstrel in forcing them across the line in their respective Epsom Derbys. These were races discussed regularly then whenever the whip issue was raised. Eventually, following criticism from some notable figures within the sport, as well outside forces, rules were introduced restricting the height the whip could be raised, ending those familiar Pat Eddery and Piggott motions, with the instrument being brought down from sky high.
The other issue that has since been resolved is that relating to the size and weight of the whip. Forrest refers to a picture in the December 1979 edition of the magazine showing Morston beating Cavo Doro in the 1973 Epsom Derby, where he describes the stick carried by the rider of the runner up as having enough, " springy fibreglass to satisfy the average Olympic pole-vaulter."
He suggests that in the end the solution would be to, " insist that the whip must be made of such weight and material that no matter how hard it is applied, the horse cannot be hurt."
To the credit of everyone involved, this is precisely what evolved, but what could not have been anticipated was that it would not close the book on the matter and that we would move on to an age where the racing authorities would pander to the public and would be more concerned with image than substance and factual evidence
Another article that catches the eye from the January 1980 edition of the magazine is one composed by Patricia Smyly under the title, ' The Climate for a Course of Action.'
At the time, the previous 1979/80 National Hunt season had seen the highest number of fixtures lost to the elements since the winter of 1963. The response was increased speculation on whether the prospect of all- weather racing would become reality.
Smyly discussed the subject with Air Commodore Brookie Brooks, who at the time was the Chairman of the Racecourse Association. Brooks opined that he could not see jumping taking place on the all-weather. This would have been to the benefit of the sport if this prediction had been correct as from the top of the head the things that spring to mind about that short lived venture were silly looking obstacles with a blue stripe, an increase in fatalities, Suluk, and Martin Pipe's Run For Free who would end up winning the Welsh and Scottish Nationals.
Brooks visualisation of how the all-weather would fit in to the flat programme was slightly of course too. He talked of a Stateside scenario where a course would house a couple of hundred horses in stables, and where the cards would be made up only from entrants housed within. He spoke of Windsor being suitably located for this initiative.
Brooks passed away in 1988, a year before the first all- weather meeting was staged and would no doubt have been surprised if he had known how this area of the sport would expand, something that polarises opinion as to whether it has proved to be to the benefit or detriment of the sport.
Finally, that January 1980 issue contained a contribution by Howard Wright titled, 'The Metrification of Racing ', a piece that made uneasy reading for those of us who had never really got to grips with what we considered as Napoleonic garbage.
Admittedly, we can work out that the Derby is 2400 metres but trying to convert height given in centimetres into feet and inches, even more confusingly pounds and ounces into kilograms, is something most born within a certain period could do without.
Wright's article highlighted the opposition to any change by the then senior Jockey Club handicapper David Swannel, on the glaringly common sense ground that the conversions would not be straightforward - one pound being half a kilo or 0.453 to be exact.
That metrification did not take hold in British racing is something we should be thankful for. And it therefore makes it all the more baffling why some commentators still persist to randomly talk of distances in metres. It's now an abandoned path.
And as we are leaving the EU, maybe the number of television channels will be reduced so instead of having the space to broadcast unamusing trash like Ant and Dec, Gavin and Stacey and Ben Elton, they will have to roll out quality shows at peak viewing time, like The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Benny Hill.
And who knows, a return to the times when if a household had the telly on during a Saturday afternoon, there would be a one in three chance that they would be tuning into some horse racing. That would be good news !
image author Kmtextor - licensed under CC.
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