Many of us are convinced that the football led boom in general sports betting has inflicted untold long term damage on horse racing, depriving the levy of monies as the emerging generations would rather bet on wall to wall football, and even during the summer would, on arriving home from work, much prefer to get stuck into the Sussex v Kent twenty-20 televised game rather than the Windsor card on ATR.
Alas, what should have been the opportunity for this theory to be proven has now been lost when the decision was made to abandon the bold intention to carry on racing behind closed doors in circumstances where the only alternative betting opportunities would have been Greyhounds, some Stateside racing, Australian racing during sleeping hours, not forgetting those trashy numbers games.
Mind you, the comparison would not have been quite that straightforward for we have reached the stage that we cannot speak of younger generations being' weaned off ' betting on horses, for they have started their punting on football and other sports from the very beginning.
It is doubtful whether the light can just be flicked on whereby they go into racing mode, just moving over into another sport at a whim and, if racing had gone ahead behind closed doors, no objective thinking person would have gone into a state of shock if those dreadful numbers games took more of their punting cash.
Martin Cruddace, C.E. of the Arena Racing Company raised a few eyebrows last weekend when sharing his thoughts on the prospect of racing behind closed doors. He explained that at the Arena venues , a typical year will start with most of the revenue coming from the levy and media rights payments until they get to the height of summer, when revenue from attending crowds will take centre stage. Then, as the autumn months come along, the levy and media rights payments will again takeover as the chief earner.
Cruddace, who was a guest on ATR's Racing Debate, was doubtful whether it would be viable for Arena to put on meetings behind closed doors and expressed hope that if these fixtures were held, the bookmaking fraternity would increase payments for a period during which other live sports have ceased. In short, the impression he left was that he had no relish to go down the racing without spectators pathway.
One facet of the sport that was not touched upon is that most of the fixtures at Arena tracks are mediocre, many extremely so. If Cheltenham had been staged behind closed doors then the amounts generated through off course betting would not have suffered greatly. Neither would that of Aintree's Grand National meeting if, as some hoped, it had gone ahead without an attending audience.
Quality racing will always attract greater turnover. It may seem to be stating the obvious but you will hear many making generalisations about the players in America treating the horses as numbers as opposed to living entities.
This is total nonsense. You only need to look at a card with a Grade One race included to note that the main race or races, with equine names that will be familiar, will generate the biggest pools. This explains why those dull cards that are the bread and butter of the Arena courses are not the greatest levy generators.
It is a solemn consideration to wonder whether the affects of this plague that is holding up the country will change the whole look of the racing landscape. Many of us who want the fixture list radically downsized with the emphasis on quality could be pleasantly surprised once the dust has settled and life starts to resemble normality again.
The downdside of course is that numerous people who have spent a lifetime working within the sport, including breeders and licensed trainers, will be out of a job and/or out of business.
Racecourses will also be forced to shut. That is not just a possibility it is a certainty. We all must have courses that we would delight in seeing them get their comeuppance. Most of us who remember Chester in the 1970's and 1980's, are no doubt appalled to see how it has sold its soul to the corporate model.
Tented villages lining the inside of the home straight, bars and drink stands with presumptious names, audiences not interested a jot in the sport of horse racing who pay the inflated prices to be a wanna be yuppie for the day. And not to forget the brusque course staff who pick their targets carefully, with tales of racegoers even being ludicrously asked why they are carrying binoculars.
As a harsh, unrelenting recession is now unavoidable, the majority of the businesses that use Chester race days for functions will, at the very least, have to cut their cloth accordingly. The whole business model of the course may have to go back to basics and cater for those who have long washed their hands of the place and who find a visit to the historic venue more of an ordeal than a privilege.
Lack of sponsors money, a massive drop in money from the levy, and a plumet in the numbers willing to pay overpriced entry fees along with inflated prices for food and drink - they search you at the gate and don't even allow you to take in a small, homemade ham cob.
Well, once they have lost the air headed suited and booted with huge self egos to flirt with, they may regret all the flat capped Billy's and Harry's and Frank's they have upset and who don't have plans to return anytime soon, if ever.
And if large sporting crowd bans are extended into the summer and autumn, which seems very likely, as does the continuation of racing being on hold in the UK after May 1st, then surely we cannot safely rule out the possibility that this trumped up out of proportion venue will go to the dogs.
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