In this unconventional moment in time the sport of horse racing resembles a wrecked jigsaw puzzle, with pieces scattered far and wide, some too damaged to slot back into place, others lost for good.
The least damaged parts will be those representing national hunt racing. This part of the sport had the good fortune of being able to stage its Olympics leaving the season ending, even if with the non staging of the two main supporting festivals, at least with many questions answered within the top echelons of equine talent.
It also proved a blessing that the Dublin Festival had quickly established an influential place in the calendar, meaning that with connections of some animals, the blow of losing opportunities at Aintree and Punchestown will have been sofened.
It would however be unrealistic to believe that this sphere of the sport will get away scot free for there will be victims, with some trainers going out of business and along with course closures. Sadly, the latter category may include some down to earth, beautifully simple venues that haven't lost their soul.
In the grand scheme of all things racing though, the winter game will have escaped the carnage that is being inflicted on the flat scene. And God only knows how events are going to pan out, particulalry in the Northern Hemisphere.
The classic programme is an essential element of the system and the breeding industry. It now would seem an increasing possibility that they are going to be squashed together in a short time frame, maybe all being run at Newmarket.
And if Royal Ascot is staged on time, behind closed doors, then we could witness the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner appearing in the St James Palace Stakes prior to running in the English. 2,000 Guineas . Or even the Derby winner appearing beforehand in the King Edward.The odd number of possibilities and back to front variations of the normal sequences are endless.
What people must now realise is that the whole racing machine cannot just stoke up its engine and return to normal rhythmic speed. Not a chance in hell of that happening.
Look at it this way, if the rumours are correct that four or five football clubs from the English Premier League, the richest and most powerful in the world, are close to going into administration, what does the future hold for the racecourses whose lifeblood are those summer weekend, heavy drinking masses of lads and ladettes, along with marquees hired by local businesses who have been making hay over the past few years.
The level of dependence on corporate input will vary greatly from course to course. Newmarket can survive without the invasion of the rowdy Friday evening and Saturday hordes. York is the property of the local city council, thus while they have added extra weekend meetings to their programme over recent times to milk the cash cow of the cult attendees, these added dates are not a necessity to survival.
Whether Haydock Park can sit knowing its future is assured is an entirely different matter. Let no one be fooled that just because it makes up one of the fourteen venues under the Jockey Club Racecourse banner, that it is safe.
Up to very recently Kempton Park, belonging to the same group, had been deemed expendable with a business decision close to being finalised whereby the prime location would be sold for housing development, with the King George VI Chase being transferred to Sandown.
Haydock Park embraced the trash route when they unforgivably destroyed their famous steeplechase course, with those demanding drop fences and that characteristic run in from the last which was not far short of the length of the Grand National run in. This, all to make room for a second flat circuit, a move which the course management shamelessly conceded was to enable them to stage more summer flat fixtures to pull in the crowds that camp in the bars.
Well, they made their bed which they will now have to lie in. For starters, allowing the resumption of large, sporting crowds is almost certainly going to be the very final lockdown restriction that will be lifted. In other words, Haydock will not be staging a flat meeting with a regular attending audience in 2020.
And neither will Chester. They made an announcement last week that they will not be hosting their showcase May meeting in 2020, irrespective of whether a closed door staging would have been permitted.
The reason put forward was that it would not have been possible to effectively marshall social distancing around the outside of those walls that provide excellent free viewing as well as avoiding those customary, over enthusiastic security checks.
In reality though, one has to suspect that this once highly respected venue has backed itself into a corner by selling out to the corporate model, and that the real reason is they simply do not believe it would be worth their while playing to an empty arena.
Looking further ahead, both Haydock and Chester will feel an artic blast from an economic downturn which could be the worst in the past seventy five years. Those that have paid in advance for group bookings, some using corporate functions, are likely to be seeking refunds rather than a carry over to next year.
And what of 2021? Levy payments will be severely affected, sponsorship will have plummeted, and with a sharp rise in unemployment, along with many of the self employed who have managed to survive being forced to scale down, a day spent in the designer stubble, suavely attired, smug git paradises of Haydock Park and Chester, is a 'treat' that is going to be crossed off many lists.
image - CCO license
No comments:
Post a Comment