Memories of that dazzling but ill fated chaser Noddy's Ryde came to mind for two reasons this week. The first because the setback that led to the withdrawal of Energumene from the Arkle deprived racing fans of a mouth watering clash that could of been the race of the week, possibly even the season, with Energumene being the front running Noddy's Ryde, and Shishkin being a Bobsline, the rival that beat Gordon Richard's charge in the never to be forgotten 1984 Arkle.
The second relates to Noddy's Ryde demise - he was killed in action at Exeter that Autumn after making the journey down there from Greystoke as Richard's had roots in the area and in his words, wanted to give the local racing fans the opportunity to see a real class racehorse.
It all sounds a bit hard to grasp now but at the time the West Country was weak for housing quality racehorse. Admittedly, Martin Pipe was just beginning to move himself up the pecking order, this now three years after Baron Blakeney's Triumph Hurdle success, but it still wasn't really registering the impact he was about to make, his previous three seasons showing successes of 20, 23, and 32 wins. This season he would tot up 50.
There was no real indication that that part of the country would eventually grow to be the powerbase of English National Hunt racing, outpointing even Lambourn and the north of the country which would slowly be decimated as retiring trainers were not replaced like for like.
Put it this way, when the David Barons trained Bootlaces won the Schweppes Gold Trophy in 1980, it was celebrated a win for a region bereft of regular big race success. This is something that should be noted when we hear of a so called impossibility of overturning the present Irish domination in the jumping sphere of the sport - not to mention holding a consistently good hand of cards on the level too.
Come to think of it, it was baffling to hear the ITV racing team speaking of post mortems into the poor overall performance of the British runners at Cheltenham, and whether a 'shake up' was needed, while in reality, in light of the true state of affairs, we can only wish that an imbalance in the respective quality of the animals in training on each side of the Irish Sea was the dominant worry.
Strengths in respective economies change for better and worse at various stages, and these turns directly affect horse racing industries. We already have Michael O'Leary allowing his influential operation to wind down, and it would only take the likes of Ricci, along with a couple of smaller owning operations to pull out or change direction, and the balance could soon even up - though no one would truly yearn for the reverse inbalance during the second half of the 1980's when at one festival Galmoy in the Stayer's Hurdle was the sole success from the other side of the sea.
Right now, racing's stakeholders are settling down in the theartre, waiting for the red velvet curtain to open and the horror show to begin, which will reveal the true, permanent damage that an already in trouble sport has suffered from the effects of the plague. Cheerfully colored pantomime costumes will not be able to gloss over the grim happenings that will play out. It must be noted that Ireland too will not escape similar adversities.
Ironic really then that the ITV racing team were using the term ' shake up' for a comparatively trivial problem when there will indeed be a ' shake up' of another sort occurring, one that will involve downsizing of the sport with the numbers of unwanted horses in and out of training increasing dramatically, trainers cutting down on staff, - that is if they survive -, notable job losses all through the industry, and some racecourses being forced to pull down the shutters for good.
The only speck of light for many racing fans in the UK would be the scaling down of the head spinning, wall to wall fixture list cram packed with dross. Many over a certain age who have fond memories of a programme that ticked over at a gentler pace, one that you could comfortably keep tabs on, have long hoped for this though admittedly have not thought it over carefully as the present Levy system based on bookmakers gross tax profits is centred on the need for continuous action.
This wish for downsizing is also done in the belief in a rosy image of an increased concentration materialising from a smaller programme, but maybe all should be careful just what they wish for. We could also be left with the remnants of a real horror show which would be a fixture list cut to the core and overall poor quality prevailing, leaving everyone on the losing side.
It can't be repeated enough just how close to the edge racing's financial workings were before the health crisis hit. We had racing professionals taking strike action over prize money, along with a desperate need for a replacement to be found for the present Levy system, or at least a reset in the way funds are harvested, with the three main stakeholder groups unable to reach a compromise in their aims.
Government had now put the Levy discussions on the back burner. In fact everything racing related will be down the list of priorities. It is after all well and truly a minor sport nowadays and in a changing society with some weird pholosophies being given a platform and having influence on everyday life, the worry is that it's an outdated sport on a one way downslide to oblivion.
image in public domain
Those who remember flicking through the album covers in record shops back in the 1970's cannot fail to have forgotten this one - this a strong opening track from a classic album, resting in thousands of households at a time when no one could seriously have envisaged that horse racing in the UK would go downwards in status to the extent that it's future was in peril.
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