DON'T BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY

It's  hard to recall a time when UK racing has contained so many individuals in positions of power, or with public platforms to freely express their opinions, who are prepared to use these priveliged positions to promote their agendas.

We know there is a sinister wokeness winding it's way through the sport, with those spreading its word  often  having selfish motives, finding a niche that will provide them a meal ticket for the remainder of their careers - that is if their assessment of public opinion is correct.

There have also been some strange appointments - Anne Marie Phelps was brought in from the world of rowing to take the position as chair of the BHA. She may have held similar positions in her Olympian sport but listening to her being interviewed with her championing of modernisation and what she herself identifies as changing times, then you cannot help but conclude that there must have been more suitable candidates out there.

The racecourses themselves have some characters in positions of power who have taken the sport backwards rather than enhanced it. The sorry tale of the demise of Haydock Park's old, feared and respected steeplechase course, has been spitefully criticised multiple times around the forums,  particularly by those of us who visited regularly when it was in its pomp, but we'll never be given it back though many would chuckle if the present model, based on mopping up summer evening and weekend drinkers, nosedived in fortunes causing the venue to perish -  fact is, there are going to be hordes of people emerging from these lockdowns with less disposable income, and even those fully financially intact may have changed habits for good, as there are going to be more people who have transformed into oddballs than ever before.

Then we have Chester - they had a wake up call on their first welcoming of returning audiences when they failed to sell out to the numbers allowed, after hiking up their already overpriced tickets. This from over estimating their venue's popularity and finding there were less idiots amongst their patrons than they bargained for.

And, in another embarrassing episode for this over rated, greedy and arrogant venue, former frontman Richard Thomas was forced to step down from his position after it was discovered that he was using finances from the course for his own 'projects'.

And what of Ascot. In a climate where our festivals are being stretched, diluted, and partly ruined, the Berkshire course's Director of Racing Nick Smith firmly made a statement, as if fact, that the extra races have not diluted the quality, something they've been guilty of doing for years.

Take the sprinters for starters - there was a time when the Kings Stand Stakes was, along with Gold Cup, the only Group 1 race staged at the meeting, this at a time when the now out of control Pattern, was still protected.

Then, in an attempt to balance the sprint programme, the Pattern Committee downgraded the King's Stand and upgraded the old Vernons Sprint Cup which has had God only knows numerous titles since. They then gradually lost all sense of proportion - the King's Stand returned to it's former Group 1 status, the Cork and Orrey was moved to a supposedly one off Royal Saturday in Golden Jubilee year, and run as the Golden Jubilee Stakes with Group 1 status. They told us ay the time it was probably just going to be a one off but as many suspected, once the extra day was added to replace the old Ascot Heath Saturday, then there was going to be no turning back.

And if we thought that was one step too far in diluting quality, we now have another Group 1 sprint, the Commonwealth Cup, confined to three year olds. You could go through all the events with a fine tooth comb and come up with a multitude of present examples of how the present meeting would be enhanced in quality if it resembled the meeting from half a century back, and conversely how poorer the meeting would have been in the 1970's if connections had so many options to choose from.

One example of how less the anticipation is on the run up to the meeting can be appreciated by looking at Michael Stoute's wonderful Habitat filly Marwell. Anyone underestimating her in their memory should maybe consider that six years after Marwell's three year old season of 1981, Stoute trained the admirable Ajdal to win the July Cup, Nunthorpe, and the Haydock Sprint Cup. Ajdal had also won the Dewhurst, been beaten when a warm favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, then in a rare error of judgment by his great trainer, had run in the Derby. Still, he found his niche as a wonderful sprinter but Stoute is in no doubt whatsoever that Marwell was superior and without doubt the best sprinter he has had through his hands.

Marwell was a speedy two year old during 1980 and went into the winter as a leading fancy for the 1,000 Guineas, the general consensus being that if she stays she wins. After lasting out over seven furlongs on her reappearance to win the Fred Darling, her stamina alas proved her undoing at Newmarket, only managing fourth spot behind Fairy Footsteps.

Then, returned to sprinting, she took the Gus Demmy at Haydock before lining up for the King's Stand, something that would not happen now as the Commonwealth Cup would provide an easier Group 1 option, though if the King's Stand was the choice, that too is not the mountain to climb it once was as the older horses have the option of running in the Golden Jubilee - thus you have a King's Stand in which the three year olds find it easier to avoid for the Commonwealth, and in which some of the older horses can pick and choose between that and the Golden Jubilee, or even run in both.

There was a buzz leading up to Marwell 's King Stand, her main rival was the previous year's Nunthorpe winner Sharpo. He disappointed and this was the race were Stoute's filly truly arrived on the all aged sprinting scene, stamping herself as a performer of the highest class and laying down her claim to be the champion of that division in a golden era for sprinters. It's history now that she went on to defeat the best sprinter of the previous year, Moorestyle, in the July Cup, before both were beaten by a back to his best Sharpo at York, then finally, in the Prix de l' Abbaye, Marwell reversed the form with her York conqueror and ended the season with Timeform's highest rating for the year in the sprinting division.

Now, the spin put on things is that the three year olds are given the option of the Commonwealth Cup and they can always come back the following year for one of the other sprint races. Admittedly, some sprinters have a preference for six furlongs over five and vice versa but most of the genuine top class animals can cut the mustard over both. 

Moreover there was an unmistakable buzz in the air when, as early as June, the established older sprinters crossed paths with rivals who are potentially the best three year old speedsters as the more they avoid each other the less likely they may ever meet while at their optimums. 

And this is just the sprinting division - no need to go into other areas to demonstrate how poorer the somewhat multiple choice fixture now is. They can say what they like, they are talking garbage.

image from Clipart library

This is the title track of an album released during Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard's classic year. In an episode of The Lovers, Paula Wilcox picks up the album in a record shop, while in one of the early episodes of Van Der Valk, this track can be heard playing in some dodgy Amsterdam bar. There was no watering down the quality in the racing world though, in fact 1971 was the very first year of the now, not fit for purpose, 'Pattern',

SIMMERING TENSIONS BENEATH THE SURFACE

 

Anyone considering themselves a racing fan would have been sitting up and paying attention to Jim Bolger's allegations that a serious horse doping problem exists within Irish racing, for one cannot do otherwise but believe that the veteran handler has a feed of information from what he knows to be reliable sources that he has trust in.

Bolger does not come across as a character who would be taken in by exaggerated gossip, neither does he strike you as somebody who would come out unto the open and make accusations unless being a hundred per cent convinced that they were fully truthful.

It was actually quite eerie in one podcast when the trainer was asked would any of the drug cheats be represented at Royal Ascot, and he responded with ," I haven't looked at the fields yet so I can't tell you that", a comment that would have had many mentally drawing up their own short list of suspects.

When the Kilkenny handler made similar noises last year and made a call for equine hair testing to act as a deterrent to, as well as catching cheats, the fact that he made reference to studs, pre training yards and pinhookers, made one believe that the problem may lie in the area of sales preparation - we all had heard of the stories back in the 1980's when some fantastic looking specimens bought at the USA yearling sales would, after being bought, begin to mysteriously lose condition.

However, judging by the comments Bolger made last week no one can doubt that he was insunuating that the problem is also very much connected to horses in training, and during their preparations for contests.

We know the names of trainers whose charges have tested positive for illegal substances, then have offered the 'usual' excuses - such as the dosage was given to the wrong horse, or found its way into the feed, cross contamination, acting on irresponsible veterinary advice and all that, and in each case the punishment handed out could be construed as being lenient.

Particularly when compared to the eight year ban handed to Mahmood Al Zarooni by the UK authorities  after having eleven out of forty five animals tested on site at his yard, return positive results for anabolic steroids. In handing the ban, a statement was issued to the effect that the evidence pointed to him acting alone -  something many would firmly have come to their own conclusion about.

In the months following Al Zarooni's ban, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate made a seizure at Stansted  Airport, from a Dubai Air Wings jet, which comprised of large quantities of drugs that could be used as illegal performance enhancers on racehorses. The BHA made a statement saying that they did not believe the discovery had any connection to racing or were intended for use on thoroughbreds.

The Godolphin operation is now balanced massively in racing from their own breeding operation, supported by some yearling sales purchases, when in years gone by it had been a mix of this with ready made in racing purchases from other yards, some being spectacularly successful when switched to Saeed Bin Suroor. 

The French 2,000 Guineas winner Daylami just did not appeal as one who would end up as a middle distance colt out of the top drawer, yet he turned into one the most successful performers of the 1990's, his King George success being one of the most memorable moments of the decade. When Swain had been with Andre Fabre, he looked a stayer, a bit of a plodder in fact, when finishing fourth in the Arc, appealing as one who was ideal for the Cup races. Winning two King George's was not what anyone would have envisaged.

Then another ex Andre Fabre animal, Doyen, who had also finished a one paced fourth in the Arc. Under Suroor he would route his opponents in the Hardwicke before following up with another impressive success in the King George. And Fantastic Light, from Stoute to Suroor, progressing into a genuine top class colt as shown in those two memorable battles with Galileo, even coming out on top in the second one at Leopardstown.

There were many others too. Then, for some reason, the successes stopped coming with the same regularity and the modus operandi was not working anymore. And now with a breeding operation in better shape than they've ever had it, led by their flagship sire Dubawi, the old methods that served them well before they lost the midas touch with, are now not needed.

Returning to the alleged problem in Ireland. While we can fairly accurately guess who a few of the trainers are on account of them already having faced disciplinary action, there are most certainly many more. The subject is covered in fine detail in the William Jones book, The Black Horse Is Dying, which also reveals that when investigators from the Irish Agricultural Department  raided the home of one of their former veterinary inspectors, John Hughes, they found large quantities of illegal drugs that have been  known to be effective performance boosters when administered to racehorses.

They also found a client list of twenty trainers. The names of these trainers have never been released and it amounts to a bit of speculating and piecing together jigsaws, though at the end of the day we have no idea what they would have purchased and why, thus can't suddenly assume that all had subscriptions for magic carrots. 

Still, the mystery stirs up the imagination and we have to accept that there exists in the loop bodies of people who will know what is going on and who has, or is doing what. No doubt, Bolger is in the loop and is hoping alleged misdeeds will eventually come out in the wash - in the meantime those with an enthusiastic interest in the sport will be left trying to join the dots together.

In the music world the 1980's fell way below the 1970's, with each individual year of the 1970's offering more than the whole of the following decade which was full of nausua inducing schmaltzy outfits - though not this talented individual who was even better than he had been during the previous decade. For horse racing, the 1980's was the last decade before things went downhill. This single was released during Royal Ascot week in 1982.

THE MOST ENLIGHTENING HALF HOURS RACING DISCUSSION OF THE YEAR

When posters on the racing forums and Twitter posted links and encouraged others to listen to Mark Johnston appearing as the main guest on last week's Luck on Sunday, the temptation was to not even give it a brief viewing, particularly as the title to the link indicated it was going to be a predictable father gives son more responsibility, with the odd ticking off if he gets too big for his boots, and so forth.

But for those of us who clicked on the link believing they'd give the blah blah blah thirty seconds then do away with it had their cynically whipped egg left on their faces for this was one of the best interviews of its kind for a long, long time, with some unashamedly to the core opinion on the big trainer versus little trainer arguments.

There was no Charlie love in at all - just an acknowledgement that that his workload involves, amongst other things, time consuming office roles and that their yearling sales modus operandi continues as before with only animals out of black type performing dams considered, and that no yearlings are viewed that don't fit the catalogue criteria.

Johnston had stated similar before and has confessed to being irate when people interpret this approach as a partial confession that he lacks an eye for a yearling. It's certainly food for thought though and baffling in the sense that the great majority of onlookers would pay more interest to an animal sired by a middling stallion but one who has sold for four times the price than the covering fee, as opposed to a horse sired by a stallion covering for over a hundred grand, out of a Group 2 winning mare who fetches thirty grand in the ring as a yearling.

The general consensus would be that the former has impressed those with an 'eye' in that he posseses the conformation to make a proper racehorse, while the latter has severe confirmation faults that cast doubt on the type of animal he will make up into.

Opening up a copy of Horses In Training and selecting one of many examples with this in mind, one will note that Johnston has a juvenile in training named Super Stars, conceived when his sire Sea The Stars was covering for a fee of 135,000 Euro, and out of a mare who was fourth in a Listed race. Despite these credentials Super Stars fetched only just over 32,000 in the ring as a yearling. Logic shouts that this animal can't have been the most pleasing looker when he went through the ring, so it will be fascinating to see what sort of animal he makes up into. 

Johnston later repeated what many have felt is an issue that makes the sport poorer - too much racing, and not just at the basement level. We know that the Pattern system spiraled out of control many years back which no doubt he was referring to by saying at the top end of the sport there are three races for one horse instead of one race for three horses. 

The trainer also criticised the approach of the sport looking after the interests of the lowest common demoninator, being of the opinion that there are too many operators. This observation no doubt would have made plenty of small handlers cringe, particularly some of those who supported the action against the Arena Leisure courses in demand for more prize money - indeed if Johnston's view is shared by some of the other successful operators, you wonder whether some of them who took part 'used' the smaller handlers for their own agendas.

And not unconnected, it was riveting to hear the Kingsley House boss adamently maintain that as horses are herd animals they benefit from being trained in large strings and did not subscribe to the view of those who manage small yards, particularly those situated away from the major training centres, that horses benefit from being treated separately as individuals with individually tailored routines.

Not all would agree - the late Glamorgan based trainer Bryn Palling would purchase cast offs from the bigger yards and go about 'sweetening' them up. He purchased regularly from Henry Cecil's yard at the Horses In Training Sales and did have some success though as is common knowledge Cecil worked his horse hard, wringing every pound of ability out of them, thus nurturing some improvement from his former inmates must have been like squeezing blood from a stone. I am also certain that Ian Williams would not be anywhere near agreeing with the Scotsman.

In contrast it's well documented how well numerous animals who have been in training with Sir Mark Prescott do in the hurdling sphere when purchased at the Horses In Training Sales, many of them clearly not bottomed and with mileage left that would not be apparent by simply matching number of appearances with other sales graduates.

This however is partly be design as Prescott likes the big scope types that will catch the eye of the jumping trainers, at the same time giving his owners a sell on value - still, it's testament to his training skills that he typically progresses an animal to his ceiling rating in handicaps, whIle at the same time leaving a healthy, happy horse able to go on and successfully build a career over hurdles - the amazing Inglis Drever (pictured) being a classic example.

Back to the Mark Johnston interview that was a hosts dream - one of his parting shots was the incredible statement that punters don't contribute much to the sport. It was regrettable that this happened during the later stages of the interview as we could have expected Luck to broach open the subject rather than just doubting the validity of those words.

No doubt he would have pointed out that it's not only the substantial amount of punters money harvested through the Levy, but also the media rights payments in the sense that these would not exist if punters did not bet as like it or not racing exists because of betting, not vice versa, and there would be no demand for pictures if bets could not be made. Hopefully, this is something that will be heading the discussion when Johnston makes his next guest appearance on the show.

image taken by author

From the best album of one of the most popular Glam Pop acts at the height of that brand of music's time - racing may have not been without problems at the time but it was less crammed and in a better place than it is now.