RELEGATED TO THE SECOND DIVISION

Although there is plenty of mileage remaining in the current flat season, one cannot help focusing a few weeks further on to when the National Hunt season begins to hit top gear. For those on this side of the Irish Sea, one can only look ahead with some trepidation.

This is not something necessarily brought about by the present Irish dominance of the jumping scene as such balances of power can tilt quicker than imagined, though it is something that is unhealthy for the sport irrespective of whether such a view is brought about by genuine concern or tinted more through envious eyes.

A reverse inbalance existed in the other direction during the second half of the 1980's  - remember for example Galmoy being the sole Irish triumph at the Cheltenham Festival two years running. I recall being there both those years and on one occasion hearing an Irish voice exclaim," hardly a reaction!" as the John Mulhern trained gelding crossed the line.They were odd times. Nearly all of the quality Irish stores were sold to these shores and when it resulted in one sided festivals it took something away from the scene for all genuine fans, no matter where they came from.

But all power holds eventually end in racing and the present situation will not run indefinitely. Micheal O'Leary is winding down his considerable string of animals and it would only take a loss of enthusiasm from someone like Rich Ricci to put the situation back in the balance.

It should never be a surprise when interest wains with influential owners. Who thought Graham Wylie's interest would gradually peter out? A  still relatively young and massively enthusiastic investor in the jumping scene who enjoyed some great successes. Surely, the most coveted four or five prizes would be coming his way and he could be banked upon to persevere, but the signs were ominous when he failed to reinvest and allowed his dwindling string, lately based in Ireland, to wind down.

Trevor Hemmings carried out a culling of his portfolio of animals and he now operates on a smaller scale than in the last couple of decades. However, there are age factors involved here. His mobility is unlike to be how it was and, allied to the stalling prize money versus increasing costs, a smaller, easier to keep tabs on string probably seemed preferable - though sadly, he lost Wetlands at Ayr in April who would have been the most exciting Northern trained animal going novice chasing this season.

Wylie cutting ties with the sport and Hemmings trimming his string, demonstrate how the involvement of powerful investors should never be taken for granted so it should not necessarily be a shock if like O'Leary, Ricci decided to move on from the sport. The concentration of quality in his manageable collection of animals that race in his colours is like something never seen before. Perhaps the only owner running a similar modus operandi in past times would be Sheikh Ali Abu Khamsin during the 1980's.

The Middle Eastern businessman started with Les Kennard then quickly developed an increased but manageable sized string with Fred Winter taking in the larger number, supported by Nick Gaselee and Mercy Rimmell. Winter provided the owner with many memorable successes with the mighty Half Free, as well as going so close in the King George V1 Chase with Fifty Dollars More, while Mrs Rimmell gave him his highest profile success when capturing the Champion Hurdle with Gaye Brief in 1983, an above average winner of he race who never got the credit he deserved. She also guided the Sheikh's Gala's Image to a shock success in the Arkle Chase. Nick Gaselee's most notable performer for the owner was Boland's Cross, considered a potential Cheltenham Gold Cup winner but who fell short of that level despite being very talented.

A fine quality string of limited numbers, very successful too but not on the mind blowing scale of Ricci. It should be remembered though that Khamsin also left the sport pretty quickly, almost without trace. It happens often unexpectedly, just when you had accepted that the involvement would be unceasing.

This is why for those concerned or even begrudging over the inbalance in quality between the two Isles, things may level up, no matter how unlikely that seems at present. Let no one undermine the damage done by the sitting on dead horses hullabaloo, or Gordon Elliott receiving a second dose of bleak publicity from the Panorama programme, or the painstaking digging up damaging evidence of illegal drug use by William Jones in his second book, ' The Black Horse Is Dying'.

Jones is peservering to unearth and make this issue public knowledge judging by the content in his ' The Black Horse Newsletter', and we now know that one major Irish  jumps trainer is alleged to have had one of his ex inmates test positive for illegal substsnces in tests privately summoned by an unnamed English based trainer.

Of course similar unproven allegations were in circulation with a major English trainer during the 1980's and 1990's and there seems to be a silent rule that if they are too good to be true then they must be up to something. It will be interesting to see if anything erupts from this but clearly, something is brimming beneath the surface.

And for this of us who realise we have a country that for the time being has an overall second division quality wise in National Hunt horses, then we also have to contend with the fact that our week to week programme is in a state of deterioration. The introduction of the Dublin Racing Festival exposes just how delusional it is to keep on expanding and diluting the Cheltenham Festival, the buzz of which is now all but gone.

The Dublin Racing Festival is jam-packed with quality, few options existing for animals to dodge one another. The timing is also perfect - think of all those animals down the years who have been prominent in the Cheltenham Ante Post markets but who meet with setbacks just prior to the meeting.The Leopardstown fixture catches and will go on catching these animals and for some it will prove to be their last appearance of the season.

For the exciting Energumene, Leopardstown would not be his final appearance of the season but he put up his optimum performance there before missing the Arkle due to setback, then reappearing at Punchestown.  Monkfish was likewise seen at his very best at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Aintree is also the poorer from the present scenario. In a sense it deserves reward for keeping to the three days but with the growth in status of the Punchestown Festival, not too mention an increase in quality support events at the Fairyhouse Irish Grand National fixture, it too is losing out.

So, into the new season proper we go. This side of the Irish Sea now clearly poorer relation by a mile in the sphere of National Hunt racing. A decade has quickly gone by since England last had a truly golden period headed by all time great Kauto Star (in picture) and the mighty Denman. It feels more and more like the distant past now.

image taken by author

A tune released just a fortnight before The Dikler won the King George V1 Chase. A time when the future of National Hunt racing seemed assured ad finitum.

NO PROPER BUZZ IN THE HURDLING RANKS ANYMORE

We are are just three weekends away from the Chepstow fixture that to many racing fans marks the time when the switch from flat mode to jumping mode gains momentum.

This year may seem a little bare to many as it will be the first time that the Welsh fixture won't coincide with the publication of Timeform's Chasers & Hurdlers, with the Halifax organisation for many years sponsoring the Free Handicap Hurdle on the card.

In fact, it's very rare nowadays to be able to get excited over the prospect of the previous season's juvenile hurdlers reappearing, for the Triumph Hurdle itself lost its mojo when the Fred Winter was introduced to the festival, the result being that the traditional juvenile championship is now unrecognisable from the large field cavalry charge it once was, though looking at the actual numbers that lined up before and immediately after the addition of the new race, there really should not have been much of a change in the nature of the event.

Whatever, there is no doubt that contestants who had looked visually impressive in small field, moderately run events, properly had their mettle tested. Some believed the old race ruined animals but the mighty Night Nurse finished unplaced in 1975, while Monksfield, a candidate for the toughest animal to ever look through a bridle, was placed in the race in 1976, and See You Then was beaten into second in 1984 - three all time greats coming through the race in ten years.

See You Then was having his first first outing since bring transfered from Michael Cunningham's yard in Ireland to Nicky Henderson. The trainer had another fancied runner in the race, the ex Michael Stoute inmate Childown, who had developed into a smart juvenile but who sadly sustained a fatal injury passing the stands for the first time.

While those aforementioned three renewals had field sizes of twenty eight, twenty three, and thirty respectively, with the first three years after the introduction of the Fred Winter fielding numbers of twenty three, seventeen, and twenty three, there was already a less chaotic feel to the big race at this early stage. 

If that impression may seem subjective exaggeration in hindsight, then it at least cannot now be denied that in recent times the field sizes as well as the chaos have fallen. In fact the largest field in the last nine runnings has been seventeen. Moreover there has been two single figure line ups in the last four years and if anyone attempts to put the blame on Covid for the eight runner field this year, they can try explaining why only nine horses line up in the 2018 renewal.

The new look, increasingly milder contest, has now been run seventeen times producing a real mish mash of winners. Tiger Roll is the eyecatcher but producing staying chasers has never been the purpose of the race so having this unique horse on the roll of honour cannot be used as justification for meddling with the juvenile races at the Festival. Same goes with the 2016 running that included two future King George winners in the field in Clan Des Obeaux and Frodon -  it is no compensation in any way for the race now becoming a near nonenty as a major pointer to future runnings of the Champion Hurdle.

You have to go back to Katchit, the winner in 2007, and the fourth in the same event, Punjabi, to find the last winners to graduate from the event and win a Champion Hurdle, the pair being the only winners to emerge from the event and take the Blue Riband of hurdling since the Fred Winter was introduced. And the fact that last season's winner Quilixios is shorter in the Ante Post markets for the Arkle than the Champion Hurdle, indicates that the drought will not be ending this season.

Indeed, the decline of the quality in the hurdling ranks is a factor that has diminished the National Hunt scene in recent times. There are just so many outlets for quality flat horses who may once have been snapped up by connections of the big jumping yards. There can be little doubt that if Sea Pigeon existed now he'd be racing at the Dubai winter programme or even more likely have been hunted down and secured by an agent from Down Under.

While it is indeed ironic that three previously mentioned greats in Night Nurse, Monksfield and See You Then would, if racing now, still have been put over timber, there is a good likelihood that Istabraq would not have been cast off to the Horses In Traning sales and would instead have been transfered to race at the Dubai winter fixtures. And as for the likes of Alderbrook and Royal Gait, the question needn't even be asked.

This state of affairs were the Champion Hurdle along with the other top hurdling prizes are less coveted than was once the case, impacts on trends across the whole jumping scene. Put it this way, if Altior had been running in an earlier era what are the chances that in light of that mighty impressive Supreme Novices successes, he would have been kept to hurdles for one more season at least to target the most prestigious prize in hurdling? 

Very likely that he would have been reappearing in the Bula Hurdle and if balancing the boost it would have been to the hurdling scene against the loss to the novice chase ranks, then it is surely right and proper that he should have remained over hurdles and aimed for the top. If he fell short, then the chasing ranks have missed him for just one season, if he succeeded then he remains over hurdles irrespective of the loss to chasing. That is how it should be.

image Katchit - taken by author

They say that certain music can poisin the mind - you often wonder sometimes if it can affect the sports you grow to like, even betting habits - for example, someone listening regularly to Arlo Guthrie, Eric Clapton, or Anne Murray may like the pace of life that fits nicely with betting on horses, while those who get addicted to more chaotic music may feel more inclined to bet on footy and general sports or even casino style games, and may even feel hostile towards horse racing. Music can have a retarded affect on some minds.In 1984 there was a cult VHS video in thousands of households called ' UK Decay', focusing on the second wave of punk rock, which emerged after most of the bands in the first wave sold out and moved on. Of course, both waves were influenced by the great rock bands of the late 60's early 70's, copied versions rejigged,with an anarchist angle added in. I think most of these here ( taken from 'UK Decay') would have ended up concentrating the majority of their betting on footy and other sports. Racing's loss indeed,

CHAMPIONING GARBAGE WHILE HIDING THE INEXCUSABLE

There will be many traditional racing fans feeling a smudge tickled at present by how much of a damp squib that stupid Racing League turned out to be - let no one put a positive reflection on the competition for it went by unnoticed and it won't be surprising if this turns out to have been its sole staging.

Very little of this whole wasted project had much in common with the long established ingrediants which attract people to the sport, then consolidate that interest and lock it in for life. Many must of chuckled at how much more alluring the sports are which the competition clashed with, supporting the suspicion that the whole hullabaloo was the creation of halfwits with no true feel for the sport, as well as bringing home the realisation of how only the top quality events in racing could share dates with the true major sports without having their viewer engagement steamrolled.

In contrast, cricket’s latest creation, 'The Hundred', proved to be a splendid success. Even those who were initially sceptical as to how it would be greeted, could not have failed to be mesmerised by the skill, excitement, and the many matches that swung back and forth. And unlike its doomed racing equivalent the  crowds turned up to live and breath the action on the field infront of them.

Furthermore, why did no one identify beforehand the negative impact that the Racing League would have on the established cards for a period of five weeks. It was no coincidence that many weekend handicaps just below showcase level pulled in fields with a shallow look to them. The congested fixture list has been having a negative impact on cards for many year - it's something that does not need intensifying. Truth is, only those with a vested interest in this daft concept would be in favour of a repeat next year.

The marketing was corny too.The image at the top of the main promotion page featured what were presumably a racegoing couple, with the gentleman looking the spitting image of George Michael  - no doubt a flat cap or trilby with binoculars would not fit the profile of who they were attempting to draw in and cash in on. Serious people not wanted, racing is fun haha.

And then, as the competition progressed, the pictures published included some of the jockeys adopting poses not too dissimilar to those we suffer as the line ups for a Sky footy match are shown just prior to kick off. It doesn't suit racing. Even if unintentional, it amounted to the ridiculing of the riders. 

The best photos of jockeys are those capturing them in deep thought, often in private moments, whether alone in the weighing room, in discussion with colleagues, or awaiting a leg up on the home gallop. And  those portrayals that show the drawn, ravaged look of those who have had to waste hard over the years - these are often best in black and white, adding an extra feel of nostalgia to them. Whatever, comparing them to images of riders posing with unnatural looking gaits is like chalk and cheese.

Those in positions of influence with regards to how the sport should be promoted give weight to these gimmicky events in the belief that change, no matter how ill thought out, is always preferable to doing nothing and allowing the sport to stand still.

Truth is, horse racing has naturally stood still while most other sports have evolved and thrived. There is not a lot that could have been done about this. Racing has no hand in the fortunes of other sports and one of the contributory reasons why the sport has slowly waned is that the horse itself, is an animal that has been of less importance to each succeeding generation.

An even bigger factor in the decline stems from the missed opportunities to install a Tote Monopoly, with the failure to do so mainly brought about by the smart brains of those characters in the bookmaking industry having the foresight and nous to be able to influence politicians and to easily outwit what was then an inward, almost inbred Jockey Club, who had control of the sport.

What is ironic about this is that the BHA have gone down the route of welcoming people into positions of influence from the outside business world but who have no true 'feel' for the sport meaning no appreciation or understanding of how to attract and keep hold of potential lifelong enthusiasts which is why we have concepts such as the Racing League, and why there will be a further attempt to get 'City Racing' off the ground - another idea which is the work of idiots.

Irrespective of all this, there is a strong indication that all those groups and individuals in positions of power are collectively sweeping under the carpet  the recent, potentially harmful, Panorama programme, along with the Gordon Elliott and Stephen Mahon scandals.

It's almost as if they feel they have had a phew moment, a near miss, but that the public have forgotten about if all. But if you speak to enough people with no interest in the sport, if will be a surprise how many are aware of or even watched the Panorama episode and previously had no idea of the high wastage rate within the sport.

The cat is now out of the bag and these grave concerns need to be addressed thoroughly. It's nothing short of disgusting that the racing media have chosen to not reflect upon the Mahon case. Anyone bothering to take the time to read the full report of the findings cannot have failed to be aghast at the gory details yet there is a suspicion that there is a silent consensus to leave things alone in the hope it will all pass over. Time will show that this will prove to have been an unwise course of action to take.

A track from an album released the month that Star Appeal won the Arc and Rose Bowl the Champion Stakes, in an era when the end to the flat season was less cluttered, when the order of events came at the right time with less options for skipping, avoiding and diluting quality. And this is more a snipe at the last two months of the rehashed UK fixture list rather than belittling the Breeders Cup in any way.. It's a sport that has been rolling and tumbling downhill for a while now.