A BRIEF ESCAPE

• Runners: 6 RUNNERS
• Prize Money: £7,500.00
• Race Distance: 6f 3y
• Horse Age: 3YO
• Rating: 46-55
• Min Weight: 9st 0lbs
• 
  

Immersing oneself in this week's York cards offered no clues as to the real predicament horse racing in the UK finds itself in, for viewed in isolation the cream of the Knaveshmire fixture list offered stupendous  prize money, a good balance of Pattern races and handicaps, the latter contests boasting sizeable builds along with depth in quality. 

It's a meeting that cannot be scoffed at in any way even though many maturing racing fans would rather return to the three day fixture and even further back to when the Pattern system was kept under check and the Tuesday was the only day in the UK flat racing year with more than one G1 on the card, the opening day once staging both the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup and Yorkshire Oaks.

And added to the joy and temporary escape from the hell hole the sport is in, the stomach wrenching Racing League mercifully took a break for the week. While this appalling concept has a detrimental affect on the quality of weekend handicaps at the good courses at the height of summer, it thankfully did not appear to have had any adverse affect on this gem of a fixture.

Sadly, we now return back to be surrounded by constant doom and gloom, a reality check that last week provided only temporary relief from. It's that back to work feeling after the Xmas and New Year holiday period.

It seems everyone with some sort of platform in the sport is having their shout of how the sport should tackle the crisis it finds itself in. But it's all too late to save what existed. The once enthusiastic fan base has gone and has ever been replaced. Most venues accept this which is why they've turned to concentrating all their efforts at pulling in the cult crowds, the actual sport forming no more than a backdrop as the day ticks away.

Ten years ago this coming October Lord Grimthorpe stood proudly in the winner's enclosure at Ascot after Frankel had won his final race and announced to the TV audience that there would be a ' Frankel generation' of racing fans that would revigorate the fan base, giving the sport a long term boost. 

This seemed wishful thinking at a time when the sport was in marked decline and as it's sank to lower depths, it's clear that no Frankel generation has emerged though being realistic they would have been unable to have any real impact on what is now occurring. Dare anyone even remotely suggest that we'll now see the birth of a Baaeed generation!

We are often reminded of the finances injected into the sport by owners with scant returns available, even for those who are lucky to own an animal capable of winning a moderate grade race or two. This is a long established component of the sport here, more defined than ever before in the present climate, and no relief in the horizon as racing seems further away than ever before from a Tote Monopoly.

The harsh truth though is that no one is forced to own racehorses and in the grand scheme of things, topics involving the level of remuneration to owners are low down the list of national priorities. It would be most  unfortunate if a punter's tax was introduced - some in the racing community are so blinkered to believe that those owning animals rated in the 50's provide a laudable service to the sport and that those that are entertained should be putting more in.

This is laughable. There are too many stallions with ridiculous sized books resulting in mass over production and too many fixtures staged to cater for dross, many of which should be running in flapping events. Punters would simply stop betting on horses if an extra tax was added though it could be that the imminent affordability checks will take care of that itself.

Then we come to the welfare angle as no matter how the figures will continue to be massuaged, the wastage rate is going to be disturbingly higher than ever before. This is an unavoidable fall out of owners leaving the sport, trainers handing in their licences, and a void that no one has any desire to fill.

Look at the dross on offer at Yarmouth today. It even trumps Brighton's card for garbage on show. Yarmouth was once known most for having quality two year old maiden and condition events, with plenty of Newmarket handlers prepared to run some of their better juveniles at the seaside location.

John Gosden does at least have a runner in the two year old race today but it's worth noting that none of the entrants have a single Listed or Group race entry. The card also includes three 0- 55 handicaps. These races offer no valuable service to the sport, even limited as betting office fodder given 99% of under 45's will be first looking towards the footy for punting purposes.

Though still opposed by so many, the sooner the inevitable mass culling of the fixture list happens the better for a sport whose continuation is unviable in its present size. Papering over the cracks and kicking the can along the road only inflicts more unnecessary self harm to the industry in the UK.

A track from a much celebrated album that was released three months before the 1972 York Ebor meeting and thus would have graced thousands of households in the week that Brigadier Gerard was turned over by Roberto.