It might of been Ronnie Barker bringing our attention to the vertical line going downwards to the bottom of the state of the economy graph, or John Cleese presenting the news on Monty Python, reminding us of Government issued protocol on social distancing, wearing masks, and not to congregate in groups of more than two.
We would chuckle at such sketches, never imagining that one day they would become reality. And inside horse racing's domain confusion abounds as to the extent of damage that will be done from the fierce fall out from this very real tragic sketch that is blasting in all directions.
Jump racing may just come away with damage that can be contained. Trainer's licences will be handed in, some courses will lock their doors for good, but this is the sphere of the sport that retains a sporting spirit, where the big owners operate at a loss which they accept as worth it for the thrill of being players on the big days, and as in Trevor Hemming's case, continued to support the sport after losing a ridiculous amount of his fortune in the Royal Bank of Scotland share collapse.
Hemmings was left with plenty enough to ensure he wouldn't be going hungry but a similiar reversal to his equivalents in the flat racing arena would probably have hastened a withdrawal of their interest in the sport.
Northern Hemisphere flat racing is in a mess. In the UK the first two classics should have been settled and we'd now be digesting the results of the classic trials at Chester, while looking ahead to the declarations for the Musidora and Dante.
French racing is scheduled to resume on Monday with a welcomely interesting card at Longchamp. All eyes will be on the public engagement factor which will be measured by the size of the off course Pari Mutuel pools, along with the amount of money bet on the card in the UK and Ireland.
This will give some clues to how much punter response UK racing attracts after an unprecedented sabbatical. With restrictions lifted on the freedom to roam outside in warm weather, it must be seriously doubtful whether the return of the sport will reach out to an untapped audience. As many will have had their fill of sitting infront of a TV set the prospect of watching an AW card at Gosforth Park is hardly going to be allowed to interfere with venturing freely back outside again.
The small number in control of the animals with fashionable stallion pedigrees must be anxiously watching the clock tick away, desperate for the Pattern programme to be completed as near to its entirety as possible, with at the very least, all of the Group One races to be run. It will frustrate them even more when they observe how Australian racing has remained in motion.
With the two most powerful conglomerates having long established racing interests down under, both in horses in training and an arm of their breeding operations, there is a real danger that their involvement in that part of the world will expand even more, with European racing being the chief sufferer.
This, of course, would be a worst case scenario but it would be foolish to believe that it's not been noted the difference in the levels of respect and consideration the Governments of the UK and Ireland have given to the sport compared with Australia.
There is something else that racing here will need to adapt too. It might not have sank in yet but the days of a racing daily newspaper are almost certainly finished. If the Racing Post returns in print form then expect Saturday only and showcase festival editions. In fact, it would not take too much imagination to see a situation where an amalgamated Racing and Football Outlook and Weekender appear on a Tuesday or Wednesday, with the Racing Post coming out on the Saturday.
With many of the lockdown frozen high street betting offices past the point of no return and unlikely to open ever again, racing will be relying more than ever on to its ability to hold it's share of the online betting market. The proportion of the betting pie held by the sport has been steadily decreasing for many,many years.
At the very least the BHA should find a way to fund a free, quality online form book, similar to the full subscription Raceform version on the Racing Post website, along with a video library. They should also have a regularly updated version of Horses in Training.
It would be an excellent public relations excersise if details of horses arriving and leaving yards was available to the general public - after all a copy of Horses in Training is way outdated by the time the jumping season proper starts, with the powerful jumping yards full of a host of new names from the pointing field along with those bought from France, not too mention the Newmarket Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale.
This is a sport that cannot survive in this country without the punters.Those days where the punters needed racing as much as racing needed the punters have long passed. Wonder can I watch a reply of that race ? mmm no, seems not, well not unless I subcribe to this and that, or open an account here. Oh well stuff it, I'll just get stuck into the footy, golf and cricket, with everything needed free.
Those believing that there is a mass of punters out there chomping at the bit, waiting to unleash unspent money on horse race betting when the sport returns may be in for a shock. Sabbaticals break habits. Even leaving aside the impending financial problems set to beset millions, many out there may just not fancy picking up where they left off with the horses, at least for the time being.
The schedule is going to be fragmented and topsy turvey. It will make even the avid followers uncomfortable. For example, how would you define a 2020 early season two year old ? Some sort of normality may have have been regained for when the jumping season starts proper but we have six months to wait until then. In the meantime, it's going to be a bizzarre head spinning sport to follow.
image CC by NC - ND 2-0
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