There will soon come a time when we will be able to see the UK racing model downsizing. Beneath the surface the erosion is already happening but once the long term damage from the slowing up of the economy takes hold, training licences will be handed back in, course closures will inevitably come, and job losses will be part and parcel of all of it.
In different circumstances the sport contracting may not have necessarily been a bad thing - the end of head spinning wall to wall racing plus a return to the old days of a manageable fixture list which can be comfortably digested and savoured.
But unfortunately that would be wishful thinking as the true trimmed down model would see even more power in fewer hands with the same sets of colours dominating even more than they do now.
The media voices and outlets within the sport are united in denial about the true extent of what will be a radical overhaul of the UK racing scene. It's happening slowly out of the spotlight but soon the shadows will surface and the sport will drop another tier in popularity.
Are there comparisons in the football world? Well, we are soon to be in a situation where the Premiership will be dominated by four superpowers. This is something that has delighted a work colleague of mine with a full glass empty attitude to everything in life, who I have corresponded with almost daily for over a decade, debating sport, politics, and 1970's TV.
For the current football season, he's handed in his season ticket at a world famous club that he's been an active supporter of for 45 years. He will have the opportunity of claiming it back next summer but as yet is undecided.
He despairs how the fan base has gradually changed from locals to what he terms as the 'distance challenged', who have no links with the location of the club and who have latched on to a fashionable big name, deserting in the process good clubs with a loyal fan base in their own locality. He is equally in contempt of locals who claim to be big supporters and talk of the club all day long but won't dip their hands in their pockets to offer in the flesh match day support.
He has for many, many years been turning up, taking his seat near the halfway line, and silently willing the opponents on, as each defeat, he hopes, will leave the 'imposters' who are taking over 'his' club feeling their loyalties waiver and lives in hope that the club will fall into steep decline resulting in this modern fanbase losing interest.
Needless to say he is overjoyed by the Newcastle United takeover, meaning that there will be four superpowers with the rest, including 'his' famous club left the cold. " I feel happy and content", he declared, " The club will decline to mediocrity now but it will take time for it to sink in with these fans who I have nothing in common with that there will be no more league titles - all four of the superpowers would all have to have below par seasons to give anyone else a look in"
In European flat racing Michael Stoute is in gradual wind down mode while John Gosden has been unable to keep them few years of spectacularly consistent success in motion. It was a sustained period that came out of nowhere - he'd settled into one of the top trainers when returning from the States but was never really right at the top. It's incredible to think that as relatively recently as 2003, Oasis Dream was his sole Group 1 winning performer for the session.
Now he'll soon be handing the licence fully over to his son and if there is a downturn in results, the owners will begin to fall away. Racing needs this yard to maintain its position near thet top and to be able to compete with the big two, for France is weak at the moment with the mighty Andre Fabre having less potent firepower than he's had in decades.
Two superpowers, it's worse than footy. And the potential for the popularity of the sport itself to get back on track to the days of old is non existent. In the long term it's not worth a bean pulling in large summer weekend crowds if that so called engagement is not repeating itself in the percentage of the betting public who play the horses.
Admittedly some venues can survive and profit from this type of audience, though it's a fickle one that will not provide long term loyalty as quite frankly the sport does not interest them. Put on a rival attraction with a wide range of alcohol beverages on sale, add in some gimmicks, and they'll soon turn their backs to the racecourses.
There is another obstacle in the way of attracting long term, genuine racing enthusiasts from the emerging generations in the UK. Some may poke fun at Grand Prix racing with the usual criticism stating how boring and repetitive it is but the fact remains that solid, good quality, Saturday horse racing cards cannot even compete with Grand Prix qualifying which is why racing coverage on terrestrial tv has in the past rescheduled times to avoid a clash it has no chance of winning.
And soon, the popularity in this country of this still most glamorous four wheeled sport is going to step up to a higher level than ever before over the next couple of years with George Russell and Lando Norris coming through to reach superstar levels as Lewis Hamilton leaves the scene, probably at the end of next season.
It's what everyone will want to talk about. A sport that blows racing out of the water. The engagement level with it amongst the emerging generations already dwarfs horse racing in this country and the gap in popularity between the two will only widen. Not good news for racing at all.
image author David Merritt, Daventry, England CC 2.0
This from a solid all the way through album released the day before Bachelor's Hall beat Fort Devon and Aldaniti in the Hennessey.
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