A SPORT THAT MAY HAVE NO AUDIENCE TO COUNT ON ANYMORE

It might of been Ronnie Barker bringing our attention to the vertical line going downwards to the bottom of the state of the economy graph, or John Cleese presenting the news on Monty Python, reminding us of Government issued protocol on social distancing, wearing masks, and not to congregate in groups of more than two.

We would chuckle at such sketches, never imagining that one day they would become reality.  And inside horse racing's domain confusion abounds as to the extent of damage that will be done from the fierce fall out from this very real tragic sketch that is blasting in all directions.

Jump racing may just come away with damage that can be contained. Trainer's licences will be handed in, some courses will lock their doors for good, but this is the sphere of the sport that retains a sporting spirit, where the big owners operate at a loss which they accept as worth it for the thrill of being players on the big days, and as in Trevor Hemming's case, continued to support the sport after losing a ridiculous amount of his fortune in the Royal Bank of Scotland share collapse.

Hemmings was left with plenty enough to ensure he wouldn't be going hungry but a similiar reversal to his equivalents in the flat racing arena would probably have hastened a withdrawal of their interest in the sport.

Northern Hemisphere flat racing is in a mess. In the UK the first two classics should have been settled and we'd now be digesting the results of the classic trials at Chester, while looking ahead to the declarations for the Musidora and Dante.

French racing is scheduled to resume on Monday with a welcomely interesting card at Longchamp. All eyes will be on the public engagement factor which will be measured by the size of the off course Pari Mutuel pools, along with the amount of money bet on the card in the UK and Ireland.

This will give some clues to how much punter response UK racing attracts after an unprecedented sabbatical. With restrictions lifted on the freedom to roam outside in warm weather, it must be seriously doubtful whether the return of the sport will reach out to an untapped audience. As many will have had their fill of sitting infront of a TV set the prospect of watching an AW card at Gosforth Park is hardly going to be allowed to interfere with venturing freely back outside again.

The small number in control of the animals with fashionable stallion pedigrees must be anxiously watching the clock tick away, desperate for the Pattern programme to be completed as near to its entirety as possible, with at the very least, all of the Group One races to be run. It will frustrate them even more when they observe how Australian racing has remained in motion.

With the two most powerful conglomerates having  long established racing interests down under, both in horses in training and an arm of their breeding operations, there is a real danger that their involvement in that part of the world will expand even more, with European racing being the chief sufferer.

This, of course, would be a worst case scenario but it would be foolish to believe that it's not been noted the difference in the levels of respect and consideration the Governments of the UK and Ireland have given to the sport compared with Australia.

There is something else that racing here will need to adapt too. It might not have sank in yet but the days of a racing daily newspaper are almost certainly finished. If the Racing Post returns in print form then expect Saturday only and showcase festival editions. In fact, it would not take too much imagination to see a situation where an amalgamated Racing and Football Outlook and Weekender appear on a Tuesday or Wednesday, with the Racing Post coming out on the Saturday.

With many of the lockdown frozen high street betting offices past the point of no return and unlikely to open ever again, racing will be relying more than ever on to its ability to hold it's share of the online betting market. The proportion of the betting pie held by the sport has been steadily decreasing for many,many years.

At the very least the BHA should find a way to fund a free, quality online form book, similar to the full subscription Raceform version on the Racing Post website, along with a video library. They should also have a regularly updated version of Horses in Training.

It would be an excellent public relations excersise if details of  horses arriving and leaving yards was available to the general public - after all a copy of Horses in Training is way outdated by the time the jumping season proper starts, with the powerful jumping yards full of a host of new names from the pointing field along with those bought from France, not too mention the Newmarket Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale.

This is a sport that cannot survive in this country without the punters.Those days where the punters needed racing as much as racing needed the punters have long passed. Wonder can I watch a reply of that race ? mmm no, seems not, well not unless I subcribe to this and that, or open an account here. Oh well stuff it, I'll just get stuck into the footy, golf and cricket, with everything needed free.

Those believing that there is a mass of punters out there chomping at the bit, waiting to unleash unspent money on horse race betting when the sport returns may be in for a shock. Sabbaticals break habits. Even leaving aside the impending financial problems set to beset millions, many out there may just not fancy picking up where they left off with the horses, at least for the time being.

The schedule is going to be fragmented and topsy turvey. It will make even the avid followers uncomfortable. For example, how would you define a 2020 early season two year old ?  Some sort of normality may have have been regained for when the jumping season starts proper but we have six months to wait until then. In the meantime, it's going to be a bizzarre head spinning sport to follow.

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WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THIS SPORT ? - BEST TO ASK GRAY

The view expressed by some that horse racing in the UK will emerge from this crisis stronger and better than before is to most minds, ludicrous, without any foundation and merely raises false hope.

It cannot possibly return stronger. Many trainers will already be holding desperately on to the cliff's edge, some will be forced to let go and enter freefall. They are of course inextricably linked to their owners, many of whom will have been struck so hard by the severe financial impact of the sudden recession that keeping racehorses in training will be near the bottom of their priorities.

Part built structures are going to be a common sight standing lifelessly against the skylines up and down the country, along with permanently padlocked business premises of all sorts of varieties, while those producing for the food chain from their own land have been destroying their wares on mass.

Behind many of these troubled, once thriving enterprises will be the backbone of the lower to middle ranking racehorse owners. They may only have a maximum of three or four horses in training at any one time, but there are enough of them for their demise would be felt.  And this is where we have a potential horse welfare issue taking hold.

Sanctuaries for ex racehorses are already struggling with money drying up - many are after all charitable organisations and when you switch on the telly and are faced with reports of zoos' running short and being near to collapse, then you can appreciate the predicament faced by those who altruistically are living to preserve the life of animals who are of little financial worth.

The already long existing, covered up dirty secret concerning the number of fit and healthy racehorses, who unbeknown to the general public end up in grim slaughterhouses simply because they are unable to run fast enough, will not able to be hidden away much longer,

It is about to become more difficult for the ' all is roses in racing's house '  ITV racing to justify projecting the false impression that all racehorses finish their career, go to a caring home and live happily ever after. Soon they would be better advised to drop this pretence and highlight an issue that will escalate to an extent that it will become common knowledge.

And what will be offered up whenever the shackles are loosened ? Irrespective of the arguments of whether or not the sport could have and should  have been permitted to race on behind close doors, the chance of it having the stage to itself in front of a television audience far larger than all but the showcase festivals, is now fading by the day.

The plan for racing to resume here next month at one or two all weather venues, with twelve runner races, and maybe even twelve race cards, would in the unlikely circumstances it was given the thumbs up so soon, be better than no racing. But it would be very much mistaken to believe that this minority sport can reverse it's waning popularity

Though some would disagree, AW racing in this country is in the main programme filler that fits neatly into the method of which the levy is harvested, from a mainly unattractive, congested fixture list.

It is a sphere of the sport that lacks grace, soul and feel, and any logical working mind would conclude that it should never, ever be the sport's shop window, as the potential customers will glance in, then carry on by rather then stepping in to take a closer look.

At least Newmarket offers a bit of mystique. A casual viewer, faced with runners cantering nonchalantly down to the start, strung out, with a lush green backdrop of never ending open space, might just sit back and take in proceedings, half wanting to discover that bit more.

There may be some individuals who will view the news that French football will not be returning in any form until at least September, as an opportunity for UK racing. This on the basis that there must now be a prospect of UK football not receiving the go ahead signal until that same month, giving horse racing, granted it is able to start in four weeks time, a full three months before it is inevitably swamped by the God that is the Premiership.

Nevertheless, for racing to take advantage of such a scenario by bringing in some much needed finance through the levy, it would be banking on the younger generations changing their deep rooted habits of directing their betting interests at the round ball games.

This is not a guess, it's a fact. This generation that is, so to speak taking hold, bet almost exclusively through their smartphones and these transactions are predominantly on sports other than racing, with football being by far the most popular.

As we must accept that high streets will continue to have little footfall during the first stages of easing the lockdown, the prospect of betting offices re-opening anytime soon is a remote one. In fact with many independents unlikely to open ever again, along with the conglomerates shredding a sizeable number of outlets, they may have become a rarity once we return to something resembling normal.

And for those of us who dearly wish for a fixture list that ticks along at a pedestrian pace similar to that of forty or fifty years back, who are hoping that racing will return as a 'better' product, may be left with something they had not bargained for.

For some muddied thinking reason, we are expecting that a scaling down of the programme, with a reduced number of horses in training would signal a return to the days when the jam was spread wider with more trainers overlooking medium sized strings containing a higher proportion of quality animals.

But the nightmare that may become reality is that the progressive establishments that promise in the long term to breakthrough at the top level while still having some way to go, along with the smaller numbers wise operations who hit the jackpot in turn, may go under leaving those few dominant forces in both spheres to take an even firmer grip on the game than they already have.

Being truthful, the landscape in this sport is looking so bleak at the moment that instead of disentangling the ramblings of Rust, Johnston and Beckett, it would be more apt for a realistic summary to be provided by the pale skinned, sloped foreheaded suicidal character Gray, from that memorable episode of Rising Damp titled the ' The Good Sammaritans'.

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PROGRESS THROUGH REGRESSION

In the grand scheme of things, the shape the UK horse racing industry will find itself in when we finally emerge from the shadow of this fierce pandemic is not a pressing concern for Government bodies.

We could find that we have slipped back to an economic climate resembling the dearly remembered 1970's. At least it will mean that the trainers who are able to continue will find the staff shortage problem solved for when jobs are scarce the prospect of working in the racing industry becomes more appealing.

If on the other hand there is a surplus of experienced staff, then hailing from the top of the tree in the physical well being department will mean those out of work will be employable in other industries away from those equine.

And for those racing fans who are averse to the modern day chocca block fixture list that has your head spinning keeping tabs on it all, we may finally have got what we have been wishing for, albeit not in such grim circumstances.

But whether this will start a 1970's style era full of so many free willed, raw but pulsating characters, not just in racing but in the wider sports world, television, theatre and music, along with the prominent figures in public life, would be more of a hope than a probability.

The month of August 1977, was just a typical 1970's month. Teddy Boys and Punks making headlines, clashing in the King's Road, clashing on the beaches. Riots in Ulster during the Queen's visit, an upcoming by election in the Ladywood constituency of Birmingham, where Margaret Thatcher, on a visit to give support to the Tory candidate, was greeted by a group of Socialist Worker Party members using an assortment of musical instruments to make rasperry sounds.

On Saturday August 6th, the week after the conclusion of Glorious Goodwood,  Lester Piggott and Joe Mercer were riding up at Redcar, the principal race on the card the William Hill Gold Cup, with a first prize of £9, 435.

Piggott was aboard the Lincoln winner Blustery, his only mount of the day, but Mercer was the victorious rider aboard the Henry Cecil trained Aliante, carrying the Carlo D'Alessio colours, which in the following years Mercer would sport aboard the exceptional Cup horse, Le Moss. Mercer rode three further winners on the Redcar card.

Pat Eddery and Wlllie Carson, battling it out for the jockey's championship, were riding at Haydock and Lingfield respectively. Carson, who was thriving in his first season as stable jockey to Dick Hern, drew a blank with his five mounts, while Eddery fared better by notching a first and last race double, which were in both legs of the juvenile maiden, firstly on the Peter Walwyn trained Bolak, then on the Robert Sangster owned Princess Of Man, who would put her name in lights two decades on when being responsible for the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks winner Ramruma.

Newmarket made up the fourth meeting that day, hosting a mediocre card by course standards, while in the national hunt arena, the new season was seven days in with meetings being held at Worcester and Southwell, both on ground described as 'firm', All of the cards were staged during the afternoon. Outside of Boxing Day and Easter Monday, this was as many meetings in a day that would be staged, and would not occur away from a Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Lucas electrical firm, already having 9,500 idle workers, were concerned that the whole 20,000 workforce could be laying down tools after a dispute over bonus payments. While over at the besiged Grunswick film processing plant, thousands of flying pickets were expected to arrive, many Socialist Workers Party  and Communist Party Members from Bristol, Liverpool, and the Midlands, along with miners from Yorkshire, Derby and Kent.

Elsewhere, the National Union of Mineworkers president, Joe Gormley, was in hot water with his own members after it was discovered that he had joined the shipping company, Canadian Wharves as a part time, if unpaid, director. The controversey erupted from the fact that the company is closely connected to the oil industry, coal's chief foe.

In the football world Kenny Daglish was in the process of signing for Liverpool for a record British fee of £440,000, though more national newspaper space was given that week to the antics of Stan Bowles, who as usual was making headlines for the wrong reasons.

Dining in a restaurant during a night out in Bruges where Queens Park Rangers were playing in a pre season friendly, he disgraced himself by collapsing to the floor, feigning serious illness, and aided by in collusion team mate Don Shanks, prompted an ambulance to be called.

Bowles then jumped to his feet laughing when the emergency services arrived. He faced the prospect of being charged with wasting police time, with an attending ambulanceman warning " To you this might be a case of English humour, but it doesn't go with us."  Both players spent a night in the cells before being fortunate to escape with just a caution.

In the music world Donna Summer was heading the charts with "I Feel Love, "  followed by " Brotherhood Of Man with " Angelo", and Bony M's " Ma Baker". Punk and New Wave had emerged, and the charts that week included representation from the Sex Pistols, Jam, Stranglers, and Ramones.

Those holidaying in Wales could not have failed to notice the Esteidford was in full swing, where a storm was brewing over £6,000 of public money spent on an Arts Exhibition in Wrexham to mark the celebrations. The exhibition included a pianist playing classics while encircled by sacks of coal, and an Irishman wearing a crash helmet knocking over stacks of bricks with his head.

On Tuesday 9th, Carson went up to Newcastle to replace the sidelined Ernie Johnston on the promising Barry Hill's trained Sexton Blake in the Seaton Delavel Stakes. They landed the odds without too much fuss, beating the Clive Brittain newcomer Labienus, with the future Derby winner Shirley Heights back in third spot.

That evening at 8.30 you could have watched a repeat from the popular Man About The House series, that had run from 1973 to 1976, with Paula Wilcox fans perhaps already having been watching a short play, Quiet Afternoon starring the actress that had aired on BBC 2 earlier in the evening. Later on over on BBC 1, you may have watched The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin.

Thursday 11th saw the start of the fourth Ashes test at Headingley amid a dark cloud  hanging over the sport. The previous evening the TCCB had announced they would be imposing two year bans, beginning in 1978, on several showcase county players ; this for joining the Kerry Packer circus. Viv Richards, who had just hit his third double century of the season for Somerset, was being urged to quit the Packer tour.

As Geoffrey Boycott was achieving his one hundreth first class century on his home ground, Pat Eddery notched up a four timer at Salisbury to extend his lead to five in the title race over Carson.

On the following day at Newbury, the diminuative Scotsman pulled one back when winning the opening juvenile fillies maiden on the future high class performer Cistus. The main race on the card was the Hungerford Stakes, then a Group 3 and with a winning purse of £8,374, in modern equivalents roughly around half of the £85,000 that went to the winner in 2019. Tony Kimberley steered home He Loves Me for the Jeremy Hindley yard, ahead of the Eddery partnered Radetzky, who had unshipped the reigning champion twice before the start, holding up proceedings by twenty minuites. Carson finished third aboard the popular seven year old gelding Boldboy.

Lester Piggott picked up a juvenile double for Harry Wragg and Budgie Moller. The first in the St Hugh's Stakes, making all on the exceptionally quick Amaranda. The runner up in the race ,Smarten Up, was destined to end up as the dam of the champion sprinter Cadeaux Generaux. The longellow's other winner on the card was Court Barns in the concluding race.

Piggott picked up another double on the Saturday, landing the odds on the Vincent O'Brien trained Valinsky in the Group 2 Geoffrey Freer Stakes, as well as the Yattendon Maiden on the Queen's English Harbour for Ian Balding. This was the second Royal winner of the day, as Carson had earlier guided Dick Hern's Gregarious to victory in the feature handicap, the ATS Trophy, cutting the deficit in the title race to three.

History shows Eddery would eventually retain his title by a score of 176 to 160, with Eddie Hide a distance behind in third on109. With a considerable less number of fixtures in those days, it was not possible to be champion by keeping to the gaff track circuit. To be champion meant that something more than it does now.

And when you pore over your old scrapbooks, form books, race cards, or even newspaper archives, you realise how poorer the sport is owing to a small number of powerhouses dominating on a level previously unseen

Back to that weekend in August 1977 - the following day, national cult hero Barry Sheene's engine blew on his Suzuki in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Better news in the cricket though as England gained a victory against the Aussies in the Headingley test with a day to spare,  in the process sealing victory in the series.

Two days later, Elvis Presley was dead. And in three weeks we would lose Marc Bolan. Tributes poured in for the glam icon from the likes of David Bowie, Gary Glitter, Elton John and Keith Moon.

Not all was perfect with the world then. Far from it. But in this day when sporting stars take ' vocabulary and speech lessons ' to prepare for press interviews leaving most of them speaking robot like in the same rhythm and tone, when anyone who is someone has to strictly be seen to hold and even champion views that comply with the PC brigade, and when you find that you have never heard of, yet even recognise, contemporary so called 'stars' of the music and entertainment industries, then the prospect of waking up back in the 1970's sounds more of a pleasant dream than a nightmare.

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A SPORT IN PIECES

In this unconventional moment in time the sport of horse racing resembles a wrecked jigsaw puzzle, with pieces scattered far and wide, some too damaged to slot back into place, others lost for good.

The least damaged parts will be those representing national hunt racing. This part of the sport had the good fortune of being able to stage its Olympics leaving the season ending, even if with the non staging of the two main supporting festivals, at least with many questions answered within the top echelons of equine talent.

It also proved a blessing that the Dublin Festival had quickly established an influential place in the calendar, meaning that with connections of some animals, the blow of losing opportunities at Aintree and Punchestown will have been sofened.

It would however be unrealistic to believe that this sphere of the sport will get away scot free for there will be victims, with some trainers going out of business and along with course closures. Sadly, the latter category may include some down to earth, beautifully simple venues that haven't lost their soul.

In the grand scheme of all things racing though, the winter game will have escaped the carnage that is being inflicted on the flat scene. And God only knows how events are going to pan out, particulalry in the Northern Hemisphere.

The classic programme is an essential element of the system and the breeding industry. It now would seem an increasing possibility that they are going to be squashed together in a short time frame, maybe all being run at Newmarket.

And if Royal Ascot is staged on time, behind closed doors, then we could witness the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner appearing in the St James Palace Stakes prior to running in the English. 2,000 Guineas . Or even the Derby winner appearing beforehand in the King Edward.The odd number of possibilities and back to front variations of the normal sequences are endless.

What people must now realise is that the whole racing machine cannot just stoke up its engine and return to normal rhythmic speed. Not a chance in hell of that happening.

Look at it this way, if the rumours are correct that four or five football clubs from the English Premier League, the richest and most powerful in the world, are close to going into administration, what does the future hold for the racecourses whose lifeblood are those summer weekend, heavy drinking masses of lads and ladettes, along with marquees hired by local businesses who have been making hay over the past few years.

The level of dependence on corporate input will vary greatly from course to course. Newmarket can survive without the invasion of the rowdy Friday evening  and Saturday hordes. York is the property of the local city council, thus while they have added extra weekend meetings to their programme over recent times to milk the cash cow of the cult attendees, these added dates are not a necessity to survival.

Whether Haydock Park can sit knowing its future is assured is an entirely different matter. Let no one be fooled that just because it makes up one of the fourteen venues under the Jockey Club Racecourse banner, that it is safe.

Up to very recently Kempton Park, belonging to the same group, had been deemed expendable with a business decision close to being finalised whereby the prime location would be sold for housing development, with the King George VI Chase being transferred to Sandown.

Haydock Park embraced the trash route when they unforgivably destroyed their famous steeplechase course, with those demanding drop fences and that characteristic run in from the last which was not far short of the length of the Grand National run in. This, all to make room for a second flat circuit, a move which the course management shamelessly conceded was to enable them to stage more summer flat fixtures to pull in the crowds that camp in the bars.

Well, they made their bed which they will now have to lie in. For starters, allowing the resumption of large, sporting crowds is almost certainly going to be the very final lockdown restriction that will be lifted. In other words, Haydock will not be staging a flat meeting with a regular attending audience in 2020.

And neither will Chester. They made an announcement last week that they will not be hosting their showcase May meeting in 2020, irrespective of whether a closed door staging would have been permitted.

The reason put forward was that it would not have been possible to effectively marshall social distancing around the outside of those walls that provide excellent free viewing as well as avoiding those customary, over enthusiastic security checks.

In reality though, one has to suspect that this once highly respected venue has backed itself into a corner by selling out to the corporate model, and that the real reason is they simply do not believe it would be worth their while playing to an empty arena.

Looking further ahead, both Haydock and Chester will feel an artic blast from an economic downturn which could be the worst in the past seventy five years. Those that have paid in advance for group bookings, some using corporate functions, are likely to be seeking refunds rather than a carry over to next year.

And what of 2021? Levy payments will be severely affected, sponsorship will have plummeted, and with a sharp rise in unemployment, along with many of the self employed who have managed to survive being forced to scale down, a day spent in the designer stubble, suavely attired, smug git paradises of Haydock Park and Chester, is a 'treat' that is going to be crossed off many lists.

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THE END OF THE RACING DAILY

Dwindling, heartfelt interest in horse racing allied to the across the board decline in hardcopy newspaper sales followed by LBO closures from the FOBT ruling, was always going to prove to be an insurmountable force for the printed version of the Racing Post to withstand. 

Covid -19  has only gone and speeded up what was inevitable. It must be now be in grave doubt whether the publcation will go to press ever again - particularly when you take into consideration that it had even been acknowledged from within that at some measurable time in the future a switch to a fully digital format was on the cards.

You cannot sugarcoat the fact the publication has been going downhill for some time. Admittedly, the database is excellent and the layout of the online form book is far more comfortable and easy on the eye than the ATR version. It is also a dream for those who like to lose themselves delving deep into pedigrees.

However, it is a sign of the times that the recently replaced editor Bruce Millington is first and foremost a football fan who had worked in the greyhound industry, and who confesses to not being truly gripped by horse racing until little over a decade back.

One must suppose that this mirrors the recognition that horse racing has had to concede a portion of its share of the betting pie to sports betting, with the emerging generations more inclined to bet on football.

The acceptance of this trend could be seen in the short life of the Post's last rival, The Sportsman that sadly lasted for a period of only six months during 2006.

Millington's long tenure was subject to heavy criticism on free speech forums for failing to address bookmaker related concerns, including refusals to stand decent bets at advertised prices, closing down of accounts, and not least a refusal  by the paper to criticise those cancerous FOBT machines.

The latter issue was never more apparent when there was a feature following Alastair Down into a high street betting office where the widely recognised journalist appeared to be giving these trashy machines the seal of approval.

There was also that fall out between Millington and Paul Haigh, after the Stockport based writer, arguably the most talented the paper had in its thirty four year spell in print, refused to abide by in house rules in which free reign writing was shackled by the bookmaking industries influence, linked to the lifeblood revenue the paper was receiving from advertising.

Haigh's departure was followed by an airing the dirty washing slanging match between the pair on social media, the tone of which indicated that the end of their association was terminal.

In recent times the editorship has been taken over by the young Scotsman Tom Kerr, a racing fan, but one who represents the modernist agenda as is evident in his views on welfare issues and a belief that the sport must continue to modernise.

The database and bloodstock desk apart, the paper has been turning a bit weird. They even have a Scottish comedian writing a weekly piece. Not to mention some 'kids' writing who may just be old enough to remember Cue Card. One was writing for the paper when on a 'work experience' placement, something indicating how tight the available budget must have been.

Thing is, those who were still purchasing the newspaper would be over a certain age and many would be of a kind who would want to be able to nerdily discuss how far The Dealer would have gone if he'd not suffered a setback after his Embassy Premier Chase Final success; would Golden Cygnet really have been the second coming, would J O Tobin have won the Guineas if his owner hadn't moved him to the States on Noel Murless's retirement, and whether Noddy's Ryde would have gained revenge on Bobsline in their planned Cheltenham re-match.

Fact is, social media along with its racing forums renders most modern racing journalism dead save one or two bold, out of the clique free minds from the indies. And while the Betfair Forum has been blighted lately by a couple of private spats involving characters who may genuinely have mental health issues, there are some gems of threads that appear every now and then. One of the long standing contributors was Brigadier Gerard's stable lad. There is still a glimmer of hope this forum may return to its former glory days.

Then there is the slower moving but less vulnerable to idiot sabotage, The Racing Forum, containing some excellent posters. It is baffling why there have not been more full tme defectors from the other forum.

In addition to the Racing Post, one must be concerned whether the future of the once esteemed Timeform organisation is under threat. Warning bells were sounded when the Halifax operation was purchased by Betfair, who are now owned by Paddy Power - or Flutter Entertainment plc to be precise.

The crush in the level of incomings through the plague follows on from the FOBT decision, so during the inevitable inward examination of the areas in which costs may be saved, the future of this once independent and treasured part of the sport must surely come under the microscope.

And on the heels of the loss of the sport's remaining daily UK publication, that would be a potential bombshell. It really would.

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A SURPRISE AMONGST THE CASUALTIES ?

Many of us are convinced that the football led boom in general sports betting has inflicted untold long term damage on horse racing, depriving the levy of monies as the emerging generations would rather bet on wall to wall football, and even during the summer would, on arriving home from work, much prefer to get stuck into the Sussex v Kent twenty-20 televised game rather than the Windsor card on ATR.

Alas, what should have been the opportunity for this theory to be proven has now been lost when the decision was made to abandon the bold intention to carry on racing behind closed doors in circumstances where the only alternative betting opportunities would have been Greyhounds, some Stateside racing, Australian racing during sleeping hours, not forgetting those trashy numbers games.

Mind you, the comparison would not have been quite that straightforward for we have reached the stage that we cannot speak of younger generations being' weaned off ' betting on horses, for they have started their punting on football and other sports from the very beginning.

It is doubtful whether the light can just be flicked on whereby they go into racing mode, just moving over into another sport at a whim and, if racing had gone ahead behind closed doors, no objective thinking person would have  gone into a state of shock if those dreadful numbers games took more of their punting cash.

Martin Cruddace, C.E. of the Arena Racing Company raised a few eyebrows last weekend when sharing his thoughts on the prospect of racing behind closed doors. He explained that at the Arena venues , a typical year will start with most of the revenue coming from the levy and media rights payments until they get to the height of summer, when revenue from attending crowds will take centre stage. Then, as the autumn months come along, the levy and media rights payments will again takeover as the chief earner.

Cruddace, who was a guest on ATR's Racing Debate, was doubtful whether it would be viable for Arena to put on meetings behind closed doors and expressed hope that if these fixtures were held, the bookmaking fraternity would increase payments for a period during which other live sports have ceased. In short, the impression he left was that he had no relish to go down the racing without spectators pathway.

One facet of  the sport that was not touched upon is that most of the fixtures at Arena tracks are mediocre, many extremely so. If Cheltenham had been staged behind closed doors then the amounts generated through off course betting would not have suffered greatly. Neither would that of Aintree's Grand National meeting if, as some hoped, it had gone ahead without an attending audience.

Quality racing will always attract greater turnover. It may seem to be stating the obvious but you will hear many making generalisations about the players in America treating the horses as numbers as opposed to living entities.

This is total nonsense. You only need to look at a card with a Grade One race included to note that the main race or races, with equine names that will be familiar, will generate the biggest pools. This explains why those dull cards that are the bread and butter of the Arena courses are not the greatest levy generators.

It is a solemn consideration to wonder whether the affects of this plague that is holding up the country will change the whole look of the racing landscape. Many of us who want the fixture list radically downsized with the emphasis on quality could be pleasantly surprised once the dust has settled and life starts to resemble normality again.

The downdside of course is that numerous people who have spent a lifetime working within the sport, including breeders and licensed trainers, will be out of a job and/or out of business.

Racecourses will also be forced to shut. That is not just a possibility it is a certainty. We all must have courses that we would delight in seeing them get their comeuppance. Most of us who remember Chester in the 1970's and 1980's, are no doubt appalled to see how it has sold its soul to the corporate model.

Tented villages lining the inside of the home straight, bars and drink stands with presumptious names, audiences not interested a jot in the sport of horse racing who pay the inflated prices to be a wanna be yuppie for the day.  And not to forget the brusque course staff who pick their targets carefully, with tales of racegoers even being ludicrously asked why they are carrying binoculars.

As a harsh, unrelenting recession is now unavoidable, the majority of the businesses that use Chester race days for functions will, at the very least, have to cut their cloth accordingly. The whole business model of the course may have to go back to basics and cater for those who have long washed their hands of the place and who find a visit to the historic venue more of an ordeal than a privilege.

Lack of sponsors money, a massive drop in money from the levy, and a plumet in the numbers willing to pay overpriced entry fees along with inflated prices for food and drink - they search you at the gate and don't even allow you to take in a small, homemade ham cob.

Well, once they have lost the air headed suited and booted with huge self egos to flirt with, they may regret all the flat capped Billy's and Harry's and Frank's they have upset and who don't have plans to return anytime soon, if ever.

And if large sporting crowd bans are extended into the summer and autumn, which seems very likely, as does the continuation of racing being on hold in the UK after May 1st, then surely we cannot safely rule out the possibility that this trumped up out of proportion venue will go to the dogs.

image Pixabay license

SHOCKWAVES SENT THROUGH THE SPORT

It may be still be the posh daily read for the bearded, duffle coated, fashion Trotskyists calling for revolution, most of whom are not doing too bad for themselves in a free, capitalist society, with their regular holidays to exotic far away continents, nice homes and cars, who would risk being taken away and tortured in the communist 'utopias' they sing the praises of, but it cannot be denied that The Guardian newspaper is prepared to rock the boat of officialdom, even having been the cause of concern for the security services.

While I am sure that a few inside the confines of the publication do not approve of gambling or horse racing, there can be little doubt they can boast of having the arguably the boldest writer in the business in Greg Wood.

It was not unexpected that Wood would be the first journalist from 'within' the sport to break ranks and provide an unrestrained opinion on the Fact Finding Judgement released this week from the family court case involving Sheikh Mohammed, UK flat racing's largest investor over the past four decades.

The bizarre and quite disturbing events that the court believed on the balance of probabilities had occured will now be familiar to everyone who follows the mainstream news.

From a racing viewpoint, it is no surprise that those who have a platform to air views on racing politics chose in the main to either be non-committal, or to not even touch on the subject.

In ' Luck On Sunday'  it was agreed by all those present that the Sheikh and his family had been a positive influence on the sport in the UK, and that in some way or another, everyone working within the sport had benefited from his involvement. Richard Hoiles doubted whether the BHA  would subject the Sheikh to the ' fit and proper person's test' , adding that the question was whether the member of the Dubai Royal family would now decide on his own accord to move his large scale interests out of the country.

Wood went further in his piece in The Guardian, touching on an area that seems to be taboo for those reporting from within the industry ; namely, the case of the name now never discussed, Mahmood al- Zarooni.

When al- Zarooni received his seven year ban for steriod use, the official conclusion was that he was acting in his own capacity. This finding was, in Wood's words, ' ..without any meaningful investigation of the concerted doping operation at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket.'

The reliance racing has on Sheikh Mohammed's financial input into the sport is put into perspective by Wood when he writes that, 'no individual is bigger than racing itself - so they say, but Sheikh Mohammed comes mighty close.'

Those tuning into Attheraces for Sunday morning's ' Racing Debate' may have been hoping for at least a small amount of time to be segmented for the topic to be  discussed.  The programme is after all billed as being,' hard- hitting, honest, critical, opinionated.'

Not a single whisper was uttered on the subject. No doubt the producers would point out that as we are on the the eve of the Cheltenham Festival, then it was apt for the show to concentrate solely on the meeting but one has to doubt whether the court's findings would have been alluded to in even the quieter times in the fixture list.

Returning to 'Luck on Sunday', during which the potential logistical difficulty of moving a whole, large scale operation out of the country was raised. In truth, it is probably not the mamouth task it would appear to be. The horses in training could be dispersed to trainers already on the payroll in Ireland and France, with the stallions also transfered to their studs abroad.

Their two Newmarket based in house trainers could be moved to newly purchased bases abroad, even though teething problems could initially surface from the trainers reading and adapting to home gallops they were not familiar with.

And what of the other Maktoum family members ? Hamdan has his own modus operandi,  keeping the number of animals to a relatively limited number, with loyalty shown to the trainers on his payroll.

At points of time in the past, the likes of the once mighty Peter Walwyn, Robert Armstrong, Harry Thompson Jones, Ben Hanbury, and Clive Benstead would have to have called it a day earlier than they eventually did, without the support of Hamdan.

The potential catastrophic consequence of the whole extended family cutting ties with the sport in the UK, is separate to the issue of how the sport would have fared if they had never entered the fray all those years ago.

We often wish for the days when the jam was spread wider, with all those select owner/ breeder operations who were the patrons that formed the backbone of the big flat yards in the 1970's. The Sobel and related Weinstock families, Lord Howard de Walden, Dick Hollingsworth, Louis Freedman, Arthur Budgett, Paul Mellon and Jim Joel.

Apart from the Budgetts', all of the above named standing dishes of British flat racing were still strong when the Maktoums really started to expand their racing empire in the early 1980's. The 1982 Epsom Derby made one realise they had arrived at the top level.

Sheikh Mohammed owned the second favourite, the John Dunlop trained Jalmood. The colt disappointed but the Hamdan owned Touching Wood finished runner up to the impressive Golden Fleece and would go on to win the St Leger.

Did the aforementioned owner/breeders have relatives ready to step into their shoes who considered that the emergence of the Maktoums had changed the landscape for the worse, or were there no willing and able family members keen enough to take over at the helm?

We shall never know. But if they did decide to cut ties with the UK, how would it impact on national hunt racing, a sphere in which Sheikh Mohammed had a small but successful dabble with approximately thirty years ago, but who had sold on some stallions who have made a tremendous impact in the winter game, such as Fleminsfirth and Old Vic.

Those who ply their trade exclusively in the winter game may not feel much of a negative after current. However, they are unlikely to have cause for opening a bottle of red and partaking in ebullient singsong.

  image reproduced under CCO