SMILES AND PART FALSEHOODS HIDING THE DARK SIDE

No idea whether people who casualty tune into the odd race on TV, or who pay a visit to a racecourse as part of a social gathering, think too much about what happens to racehorses when they finish racing. It's more likely that they don't really consider this issue at all. 

The racing broadcasting media has a responsibility to bring those on the perimiter into the knowledge loop on this delicate subject by highlighting the good aspects of equine welfare, but at the same time they must also reveal the wider picture in an honest light, with warts and without bias. This was never more apparent when they put the old stalwart Mister McGoldrick (in picture) in front of the camera at York last week.

We can all remember some of races that he ran in for Sue Smith, the Cheltenham Festival success, the Castleford victory at his local track, and for being a bit part player in races won by animals out of the top drawer. Whatever, he is now the face of the retired racehorses re- training charity New Beginnings which performs a commendable role in shaping thoroughbreds for a new role.

It can do nothing but good to highlight the work of such organisations, so what better way than to have a healthy looking twenty two year old gelding present on course where racegoers could take a peep at him and marvel at his wellbeing.

But without wanting to spoil the picture by throwing a pot of black paint over it, the likes of ITV racing are shy in telling the full story and are in comfort mode concentrating on the happy stories as though these are the norm. They should ensure that the public is informed that room at the inn is sparse, that many fit and healthy racehorses with years ahead end up in a grim slaughterhouse, or live on for a few years in the hands of people who don't have their welfare as an issue.

To put some balanced perspective into the gist of the Mister McGoldrick's piece, they could have stressed with an urgent tone that the future of these centres rests on continued funding. They then should have revealed that a similar, established operation, The Racehorse Welfare Centre, based in Malvern, Worcester, has been forced to shut down.

The centre is run by Lee Morse who became aware of many ex racehorse's plight when her son attended a BHB training school. It is a registered charity relying on volunteer workers and donations. It makes every effort to ensure it's inmates are lent out or moved on to properly pre- vetted owners. No purchase fee is involved. If they later find that the animal is not being cared for to a standard of their satisfaction, the Centre will take the animal back.

On the Facebook Page for the Centre, there is a post thanking those who have supported the centre but poignantly adds that, " It's a shame no local trainers were willing to make any statements regarding the subject of ex racehorse welfare as we've often taken in unsellable horse off them."

Someone posted a comment, "......so sad, I've said for a long time many owners are happy to have horses whilst they are able to run but as soon as they are no longer useful they offload them at first opportunity without a second thought. High time they paid a 'levy' and all horses go to registered rehoming centres....."

The Racing Post did announce the centre's closure last week but did not delve into a number crunching regarding the finances, or offer some suggestions of who should have been helping.

Whenever these situations arise in racing, many who should know better skirt the issue by going around in circles blaming issues such as the legislation restricting the maximum stake on FOBT's , and insinuating that the loss of revenue from the machine addicts makes making the racehorse owners life a miserable one.

They rarely face the key factor head on, namely that there are too many racehorse owners whose finances, if checked by a third body, would be unlikely to withstand the relentless cost of keeping a racehorse in training for a sustainable period, never mind being able to have funds to maintain the animal's well being on retirement.

These are characters who have accumulated a a quick bounty in high risk busineses areas, where a sudden unexpected downfall can come along and take everything back. When business is good, it's all fine and dandy on the racecourse, with smiles and champagne,

But when it all goes wrong, concern for the welfare of the horses they own is not a consideration. They'll often have their horse taken back off them to offset some of the training fees owed, or will happily cash in the carcass. If the horse has no prospect of earning its keep as a racehorse, then the trainer may choose to cash in the carcass.

There are many owners who, if properly vetted, should not be owning racehorses. We had one such case that ended with tragic consequences fifteen years ago.

A look at Michael Bell's string in the 2003 edition of Horses In Training shows seven horses owned by Mrs Anne Yearley. In fact Mrs Yearley had been a patron at the yard for a full decade.

Mrs Yearley's hobby was funded by her husband Henry, who was found to have stolen almost one and a half million pounds from Specialist Cars, of which he was company secretary. Henry Yearly had served a prison sentence two decades earlier for embezzlement.

Rather than serving imminent prison sentences, the couple stepped out infront of a speeding train during 2004, ending their lives.

Owners and trainers moan about the lack of prize money on offer. They seem to think the punters should be paying more in. Trapped in a time warp, they forget that today's punter's under forty prefer betting on other sports to racing. By returning to a tax on bets. then they'll just decide to forego the uneccessary expense.

Some say that betting on the likes of football, cricket, tennis and golf are immoral. That they taint these sports. They rightly point out that unlike racing that could not survive without punters betting on it, their sports are true sports in the sense that they can survive without any such distractions.

If betting was outlawed on just football alone, it would be a possible saving grace for UK racing. However, the genie is long out of the bottle on that one and it might as well be classed as a closed topic. It could be that racing may soon have no option than to re-adjust by downsizing. No one should think that this could not become reality.

image taken by author

LIMITED DAMAGE THANKFULLY

A decade has passed quickly by since the extra day was added to the York Ebor meeting. It was a move that disappointed many traditionalists who considered it needless, as well detrimental to what was to many the most enjoyable meeting in the calendar.

Although the days had long gone since the Tuesday was unique in that it was the only day of the UK season when, in the Benson  and Hedges Gold Cup and Yorkshire Oaks, there was more than one Group One race on a card, the fixture still had a special edge about it. Many probably don't realise that the Yorkshire Oaks moved from the Tuesday as long ago as the 1980's!

But the meddling with the meeting was not complete, as shortly after the Ebor was moved from its customary Wednesday slot to be lost in the general Saturday sporting mix.

It would appear that the move of the feature handicap was instigated by the much maligned Racing For Change, a group that seemingly made changes for change sake to justify their existence. Making the numbers bigger on saddle cloths (how many people look for the number as opposed to the jockey's colours !) and thinking the appeal of the game would be enhanced by listing the full christian names of jockeys and trainers. 

Of course, this is not to escape the fact that it was the powers that be at York that had the final say in choosing to adopt the suggestion, which should not have been too surprising given they had recently towed the line with other courses by adding music nights and new fixtures that were too trashy for a course of its standing.  

One saving grace is that the extra day has not signalled a notable dilution of the quality on show. To emphasise this point, contrast the present make up of the card with that of forty years back.

The 1979 staging of the meeting had twenty one races over the three days, only four short of this week's equivalent - now without that damn two year old selling race that many would say had no place at such a glittering event, though it was always above your run of the mill seller and would be targeted by the crafty type of handler.

The Tuesday of 1979 opened with the seven furlong Knaveshmire Nursery. This race has now been replaced by a similar category of race a furlong shorter. The one mile Rose of York Handicap has been run under various titles but is still alive and well. The year of 1979 witnessed an excellent renewal with Joe Mercer arriving late  on the Henry Cecil trained Piaffer to get up by a head to beat Piggot on the Jeremy Tree trained, JockWhitney owned, three year old Baptism.

For anyone not present at the venue in the flesh, then there could never be a time that more trust was needed in the accuracy of the Raceform race reader comments for industrial action meant that there was no televised coverage.

On to the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup. Arguably the most successful newly introduced race in the past half century, the superb Troy landed the odds by three quarters of a length from the game, free running, Crimson Beau. This would be the Derby winner's final race in England, only appearing once more when beaten in the Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe.

Then to the Yorkshire Oaks, and another for the Cecil/ Mercer combination with Connaught Bridge running out the winner, with the short price favourite Godetia, representing M V O'Brien and Piggott, finishing tailed off in last place.

It would not be the happiest week for Ballydoyle, with Thatching going on to lose Thursday's William Hill Sprint Championship in the stewards room. 

The Acomb Stakes followed the Yorkshire Oaks, and the stewards also had a say in this one when the colt who would go on to be runner up in the  following year's Epsom Derby, Master Willie, passed the post first but was disqualified for causing interference.

Master Willie was one of the many high class animals Henry Candy trained for the Barnett family, who ceased using the trainer's services an eon ago. And apart from Pure Grain, herself racing a quarter of a century ago, they have not maintained the level of success they had in the days when they used the long established Wantage handler

The two concluding races were the two mile Londsdale Handicap, and the five furlong Harewood Handicap. These races still exist under different titles, with both being currently sponsored by Sky Bet. The Londsdale title was transfered to a new stakes race which is now the popular Group 2 event. 

Wednesday began with the aforementioned seller, the Rous Stakes, where Pat Rohan landed a customary touch with the Piggott ridden Harlyn, backed into 9/4 from an opening 9/2. Ian Balding's popular Mrs Penny took the Lowther, before the day was then taken over by Sea Pigeon's amazing Ebor victory under 10 st.

We had it on word that Jonjo dropped his hands prematurely and almost lost the race - the Raceform race reader being kind to the rider in returning the comment "eased close home", giving the impression that it was more precisely intended than may have been the case.

Lester Piggott then had the next three winner. The Great Voltigeu won by the Robert Armstrong trained Noble Saint racing in the legendary Raymond Guest colours, being followed home by Buttress and Milford, both racing in the Royal silks. The longfellow followed up in the 1m 2f Falmouth Handicap on Beggar's Bridge, then lastly the Convivial Maiden aboard the future outstanding sprinter Moorestyle, who for a lengthy period would have his name attached to the race.

The day closed with the six furlong Wykenham Handicap for three year olds. This race does not exist now and instead, concluding the card on Saturday, is a five furlong three year old apprentice handicap, no doubt intended to assist in staggering the flow of traffic away from the track.

The final day opened with the five furlong Prince of Wales Stakes for juveniles which was won by the Tom Marshall owned and trained Blue Courtier. A curious aspect of this was was that the Peter Walwyn trained Khedive, who was never involved, was backed into 11/4 favouritism from 5/1, but carried the Raceform paddock description of ' bit backward'. He had been absent from action for over two and a half months but it seems that Alan Amies was more clued up to the situation than those who backed the colt. The race is now the Julia Graves Roses Stakes

The Melrose was taken by the Hern/ Carson combination with a typically progressive Dick Hollingsworth bred colt in Balinger. The Sea Pigeon colours were successful again in the Gimcrack with Sonnen Gold , then followed the Thatching disqualification  in the William Hill Sprint Championship, which may serve as a warning for those who question whether we are better off with the present rules.

The Sangster owned colt veered left under Piggott when taking up the running two furlongs out, causing interference whch caused a domino effect, with the eventual runner up and promoted winner Ahonoora receiving a bump.Thatching's winning margin was a convincing two and a half lengths and was the moral winner of the event. Timeform commented that the disqualification was, " ...inevitable,even though he had obviously been the best horse in the race by far. "

The Galtres went to Henry Cecil's Odeon, the one and a half mile Great Yorkshire Handicap to the Michael Stoute trained Soldier's Point, with the meeting ending with Pat Eddery guiding home the Peter Walwyn trained Kampala in the City of York Stakes. Kampala would go on to have his claim to fame by siring the Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe winner Tony Bin. The City of York is now a Group 2 but was doing fine then as a plain stakes race.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The other races not previously mentioned which have been added since include the Group 3  Stensall Stakes.A race carrying the same title had been an established part of the midweek September fixture, but that was confined to fillies and mares so this in effect is a different event.

There is a Goffs Yearling Sales Stakes Race for juveniles, a one mile handicap confined to three year olds, and a seven furlong all aged filles handicap. You could make a case that there is no need for both of these handicaps, and an even stronger case that the sales race weakens the Gimcrack. 

All told, York could be said to have escaped with limiting the potential damage to their highlight fixture of the season. It's not satisfying that the Ebor lacks three year old representation, nor is that bit of aura lost by extending the meeting to a rowdy Saturday.

But when you examine and compare with what is continuing to happen with the careless, ill thought out race planning that is muddyimg the Cheltenham Festival, the Yorkshire showpiece meeting has come away relatively unscathed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  image- York race scene taken by author                                

THE DANGERS OF THE DIVERSITY DISEASE

The protracted exchange between Matt Chapman and Kevin Blake on The Opening Show on Saturday morning came across far from the contrived debate for the purposes of the show as we have come to expect, but one where both involved felt passionately that they were on the right side of this particular divide.

Blake , as drawn out in an article he wrote on the ATR website the previous weekend, believes that an allowance should be introduced to progress the careers of female jockeys and to offset what he considers to be a small percentage of inferiority in their natural ability. He used data from a similar experiment in France to back up his argument.

Chapman poured scorn on the idea and highlighted that such a move would hamper the careers of many hard working, middle ranking male riders who were striving to break into the higher echeleons themselves. Chapman on this occasion is conclusively right.

The debate stoked up far more reaction than could have been anticipated and Blake popped up again on ATR's Racing Debate this morning where he was not taken to task with quite the intensity of the previous day.

In a society sullied by quota filling to fit diversity politics, common sense has to pose the question of where such an introduction in racing would eventually lead to ?

Do you bring in allowances for riders returning from injury, allowances for riders on mental health programmes, allowances for riders of advancing age, or who have failed to ride a certain number of winners or a race of a certain grade or value - and what about riders considered to carry disabilities?

We know what a farce the Paralympics has turned into. We had the well publicised case of the gold medal winning Spanish Basketball team, when most of the team members were later found to have been feigning mental illnesses. This category of disability borders on a large grey area and is easily open to manipulation.

Then to the more indisputable levels of disability. Those of us fortunate enough to move freely around unaided do not loiter too much on how they would cope if their physical movement became limited through a disability, so rarely consider or understand the merits of the disability friendly improvements made in society.

There are relatively mild,  physical defined disabilities that, if carried by a rider, would allow them to compete safely in open competition including horse racing. In a  would be confusing  world of  diversity allowances, the problem would be measuring how much one rider is burdened against a rider with a differently defined disability, then assessing which one is given the bigger weight allowance.

On the subject of sport and those with more curtailing disabilities,  would it be  not be too far off the mark to believe that a large number of physically impaired people would themselves think it more important that facilities were improved for them as spectators at able bodied events, as opposed to making it easier for them to play a physical sport themselves ?

In other words they would rather have more seats and tickets available for them to watch Roger Federer play live, than someone encouraging them to partake in disabled tennis.

We are in a society where many like to pat themselves on the back for standing on a moral high ground, yet many of those who insist on quota filing to further the causes of all sorts of classifications of peoples, do not batter an eyelid at a seventeen year old girl being allowed to end her life in a suicide clinic due to depression and anorexia stemming from an abusive childhood.

Maybe they will feel different when one day they are in peril from a house fire and the Fire Brigade response unit are struggling to save them because the crew called out had been appointed to fill the quotas for those impaired by Dwarfism.

And if allowances are applied to riders who are unable to compete equally on a level playing field, what of the trainers. They could claim as they are as much a part of the show as the riders in contributing in keeping the game on the road that attracts the punter's money to make it sustainable, then they should be helped along the way.

It is forever insightful when a trainer shares his thoughts on why he is finished with the game. Many who hand in their licence have a steadily regressive record though it makes you wonder how some who are faring even worse manage to keep plodding away, seemingly banging their heads against walls.

They can only go so low in reducing their training fees, so why not set up a fund that covers a high percentage of the training fees, meaning that an owner could put a horse with a struggling trainer and incur a bargain basement fee ?

Hmm, I've spent £45,000 on a Getaway store, do I approach Nicky and ask if there is any room knowing that it will cost me £30,000 a year in fees, or do I send him to the BHA funded James Moffatt, and pay just five grand a year.

It's nonsensical but the logic is on the same line of thought as giving female jockeys a weight allowance. In fact as the trainer comes before the rider, the predicament of many in the profession of running a yard is the one that should be addressed first.

Unfortunately, a frustrating and common trait of those handlers throwing in the towel is the total lack of understanding from them of the mindset of the punters who are the bread and butter of the game.

The Racing Post carried an interview last weekend with the recently retired classic winning trainer Mark Tompkins. There was one suggestion from the Newmarket resident that raised the eyebrow, namely the calling for tax to be paid on every bet struck on British racing wherever in the world it is struck.

It's not fully clear what he is implying but if it is a call for a return to punters paying a tangible tax on each bet then he is living back in the day when betting was predominantly about horse racing.

If a tax was reintroduced then the gradual migration of punters from  horses to general sports would be complete and the sport as we know it would be dead. Fact is, the habits of the emerging generations of punters hold the key to the future well being of the sport and they are certainly not going to be wooed by any equal opportunity nonsense applied within the sport, whether for riders or trainers.
image in public domain

SHARING THE HOUSE WITH A FOE

We have for some time adopted phrases, mannerisms and in vogue pastimes from the United States. Irrespective of the merits or lack of originality of this trend, it's all pretty futile and harmless; that is until a change occurs that, if adopted here, would have potential drastic consequences for a pastime that is also an industry.

When news broke that following the spate of deaths at the esteemed Santa Anita racetrack. the Stronach Group are allowing on board the People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) organisation into the decision making process that touches upon the way forward to make racing safer, most could not have failed to be left a little gobsmacked.

This remember, is the land where many of its prominent sportsmen proudly list ' hunting, shooting, fishing'  as their hobbies, and which in the sport of horse racing has a claim that the show it put on in the 1970's, exhibited the sport at a previously incomparable level, and one that has not been equalled since.

A look at the PETA website makes it depressingly clear that they are not an organisation that seek sensible solutions. They are clearly not there to be turned . They describe horse racing as a sport in which the horses are," whipped into submission and end a race sweating and exhausted  often with debilitating injuries - if they survive at all."

Amusingly, they encourage punters to boycott betting on the sport and to bet instead on a football match or sports where the contestants are ' willing participants.'  I'm not sure if they know that this is already the trend with the under forties generation in the UK. Not for perceived animal cruelty, more for the fact that they have been brought up with the explosion in sports betting and are unlikely to be won over by packed to the rafters fixture lists of, in the main, dreary cards.

And with the recent relaxion of the rules which is allowing betting on general sports on a fixed odds basis in an increasing number of states, PETA are receiving happenstance help in their aims from another source.

If those that pull the strings in the USA racing allow a body hostile to the sport to be party to the decision making process, then God forbid it to be a trend that makes it's way over here, for PETA, a world organisation, founded by an English born lady, make the RSPCA look tame by comparison.

Back in the 1980's, the then editor of the Sporting Life, Monty Court, would produce his Court Circular column on page three every Saturday. On one occasion, he penned an article in defence of allowing the RSPCA to be part of the official chatter on horse racing welfare issues, not least the push for changes to the Grand National course.

He even described the RSPCA officer representing the organisation on racing matters as a ' horse racing fan' . At the time the alarm signals were ringing in many people's ears realising that once you allow a body aboard such as the RSPCA, then it is acknowledgement that you cannot run your own house. Their concerns were ignored.

This unnecessary yielding was also the beginning of what was a slippery slope and at some point in the future, if racing continues dialogue with hostile bodies, it may be viewed as the beginning of the end - for national hunt racing at least.

Returning to the 1970's; we had a heady start to the decade with Nijinsky, Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard all showing their greatness in the early part of the period. Then, from soon after until the decade end, stateside was the centre of attention.

Three Triple Crown winners in the revered Secretariat, Seattle Slew (pictured) and Affirmed. Then at the end of the period Spectacular Bid who failed to lift the crown but some considered him on par with the others. Connections of the colt even tried to tempt Troy across for a match race in 1979. Troy would have had to do the travelling but the race would be on grass. Troy's connections did not take up the offer.

Although the breeding industry remains incredibly strong in Kentucky, there is no contest when matched with it forty odd years back.

As an example, I pulled out an old copy of the July 1978 edition of Pacemaker International. As well as containing a preview of the forthcoming Keeneland Sales, which was staged earlier then in latter times, there was also a feature on the powerful Claibourne Stud, also situated in the Bluegrass State.

The magazine contained a Coolmore Castle Hyde Stud advert on the first two pages. Fourteen stallions were listed on the roster, the national hunt wing headed by Deep Run who would dominate the 1980's, with the ten flat stallions including Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Rheingold, Mount Hagen, Home Guard and Thatch. Oddly enough, the only name missing from the advert was Be My Guest, who was standing his first season at stud there. He would go on to be the Coolmore's first recognised flat champion sire in 1982.

In 1978 Ireland was less than ten years into Charles Haughey's removal of tax on stallion profits and still had a long bridge to cross to compete with the power of the North American industry. This is evident when returning to the Claibourne feature and the stallions on the roster. It was like a pack of cards full of aces.

Nijinsky, Sir Ivor, Forli, Ack Ack, Hoist The Flag, whose son Alleged would be winning his second successive Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe in a few months time, before retiring himself to Walmac International in the same state. There was also a certain Secretariat on the roster, who would  ultimately not live up to expectations in his second career.

This is only a snapshot using just one of the many big name stud farms to show the power that the American racing and bloodstock industries held. It's still very much alive if less dominant. But there is no knowing what awaits around the corner. This latest hullabuloo may blow over but might begin to stigmatise and weigh the sport down. If it's not going to end well, we don't want it catching over here.

image author Pawneese - reproduced under creative commons license

A BAD WEEK OUT OF THE BLUE

It's probably a good thing for racing that the many who dip in and out of all the main sports have been spoilt rotten over the past couple of weekends, with racing playing no part in the fest.

Thankfully, this means that they will have been spared the sight of the dirty laundry hung out on a long line. Negativity coming from within the game, with some voices actually admitting that they feel the future of the sport is under threat.

It all sounds a bit too dramatic. When the build up to the King George V1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes should be in full flow along with the first jigsaw pieces of the big Goodwood meeting, looming dark clouds were formed needlessly by those within various sectors of the sport.

They arise from two areas. The first allied to an arrogant insistence that some are able to read the mood of the general public. This relates to the welfare issues, or should it be said the visual welfare issues, as the big black mark of over production wastage, is something that the general public are oblivious too.

Instead, some within the sport deem it wise yet again to stir up the imaginary topic of whip abuse, though it has been proven as far as it possibly can that modern air cushioned whips do not cause physical pain.

Never mind that though, there is an insistence to clean up what some believe the general public view as unsavoury images. In fact it was mooted this week that some emerging sponsorship outlets would not touch racing because of the whip.

We are told that we live in a changing world, but in reality the agendas of the the broadcasting companies who provide us with the bulk of our news feeds is to increasingly state their beliefs or wishes as fact, without any solid source of proof.

No idea whether these people actually mingle with the general public. If they did they would find that firstly, people with even a passing interest in horse racing nowadays are a rarity, and that secondly whether they are interested or not, whips are not a hot topic. In fact you will find that those who may have the odd bet, or a socialising day at the races, would be disappointed if the jockey on the horse carrying their money did not pick up and use the cosh.

These  people are the true barometer.Not the ones that automatically sign petitions on the internet to support the groups they are aligned to. Instead of what should be redundant discussions over the whip, those within the sport who have influence should instead be concentrating on how to defend the wastage issue, because some time soon it is something they will have to form a defence over.

Those entrusted with the responsibility of covering live coverage of the sport craftily highlight the good news stories about retired racehorses finding new careers and pastimes in re training centres, leaving out the hard truth that no matter how excellent the work of these centres are, they are few and far between and can only cater for a small number of inmates.

Then, there are the missing numbers from the number of foals born to the number that enter training. This sadly is something that can never be put right, but if it should be discussed in the political arena in the near future, something entirely possible, then those who speak for the sport better have a measured response that offers some sort of reassurance.

And coming from the other direction is now a concern that a future Labour Government may seek to limit the extent of gambling on real life sports. It would be seen as atonement in repairing what they would view as the damage inflicted by their in house foes New Labour who permitted the introduction of the dreaded FOBTS just after the millenium.

It is hard to believe that some cannot or will not distinguish between FOBTS and flesh and blood sporting events. We have a nanny state that gives blessing to parents having official letters sent to them stating that their children are too fat, a climate where people who suffer from normal inflictions such as anxiety are encouraged to seek a medical diagnosis and take wasteful medications, and a climate where the safe weekly level of alcohol units has come down to a bottle and a half of wine a week, from a bottle a day back in the 1970's.

Now there is a concern that they'll forcefully wrap punters in protective blankets. Stripping this issue bare, if you asked a punter for an estimate of how much betting on live sports events had cost them  down the years, then asked them to work it out how much that would be weekly, and then suggested they could have done something different with the money, then what would the answer be ?

Destroyed their livers by increasing their alcohol intake, destroyed their brains by dabbling in drugs, bought brand label clothes that impress nobody, bough more fancy modern electrical goods that will go on the blink not long after the guarantee has run out, a fancy car that depreciates in value straight after the sale and eats up more regular expensive that your punting costs, or an extra holiday so good that you need to take a book to read.

I recall speaking to a former work colleague who had been on and won Sale Of The Century in the 1970's. Apparently, before you choose which of the main prizes to pick, Nicholas Parsons would take you to one side off the camera and strongly advise against the holiday on the basis that when it's over you've nothing left to show for it.

For all of us, probably 99%, who lack discipline in punting, who throw in the odd chasing spell, the odd playing up spell, undoing any good work done, then this is where we've been going wrong all long. We should have been saving up our would be stakes and investing in antiques and ornaments instead.

Of course, in reality the whole modern day charade is all box ticking dressed up to suit modern interfering edicts that proclaim to be a sign of a more caring society than those nasty 1970's

Rigsby, Paula Wilcox, Richard O'Sullivan, Sid James, Basil Fawlty and Spike Milligan. Give me the glowing, warmer, safer free speaking world of that era anyday.

image pixabay licence

A DAY TO YAWN OVER

Even without any distraction from the modern day God of football, we are now immersed in what is arguably the busiest and most important sporting weekend of 2019 in Great Britain. Horse racing is involved but the drawback is that the few quality events are lost in a maze of endless handicaps after handicaps.

The race many of us still fondly refer to as the Magnet Cup has terrific prize money on offer but this produces what is now the norm in valuable handicaps; a compact weighed field that renders it unlikely for a progressive three year old brimming with potential to get into the race.

It is not only the unexposed maiden or conditions winner from a showcase yard that will not make the cut; even the progressive handicappers from the classic crop tend not to have attained a rating high enough at this stage of their careers. And anything that fits that rare but pulse racing category of one who has shown themself a different beast since the weights were framed, would be just as unlikely to have the rating to get a run.

These events yearn for the extra angles they once offered. A  runner in the Medicean mould would have had today's event buzzing. After the framing of the weights for this race back in 2000, he showed himself a high class colt to finish a close third third behind Giant's Causeway in the St James Palace Stakes.

We know he ran disappointingly, never getting into the thick of things from an outside draw, but his presence was the talking point on the run up to the race. It grabbed the attention. Side with him or against him. A poser that may have endeared a few new people to the game.

Medician did eventually win two Group One events. The rating he raced off at York, a 102 on the strength of successes in conditions events, would have gained him access on the 2019 final line up but that is generally not the norm now.

The pattern changes in the heart of Autumn with most of the slow maturing three year olds who are potentially Group class showing a tangible level of form by this stage to make the cut in these events. As an example, even Halling would have got in by the skin of his teeth in last year's Cambridgeshire.

What would benefit from addressing though is the fact that up to and including the Ebor meeting this is rarely the case, with most of the progressive three year olds now finding themselves rated out of these races.

This is not to say that the massive prize money injection into the Ebor itself is not welcome. The sight of Listed and Group class horses, some still on the upgrade with the potential to reach the top, racing in big field events run at a true pace is far preferable to a six runner, tactically run Group 3.

What would add a welcome arm to a race of this status would be a potential St Leger winner taking his place in the field. The chances of this would be secured by going with the spirit of the day and having quotas, whereby say for example three places are reserved for the three year old entrants with the three highest ratings.

Understandably, if you were connected to an older horse who under the present rules would have got in you would be raging by your place being stolen by a lower rated animal, but for the good of the game it would surely be worth it.

Some would say that the three year olds now have their own valuable Ebor in the Melrose, not to mention that the Great Voltigeur is there for the Leger horses. But the Voltigeur is hardly going to be damaged by probably no more than one entrant being diverted and adding oomph to the Ebor.

Come to think of it, when was the last time an Ebor winner was considered a serious St Leger  challenger?  Probably Mediterranian eighteen years back who was to be pulled up after sustaining an injury at Town Moor. But before then you have to go back to Guy Harwood 's grey Crazy after his York success under Walter Swinburn in 1984.

Three three year olds ran in that renewal, all winners in handicaps last time out and reappearing under penalties. Joining  Crazy, who had won at Newmarket, were two Epsom trained runners. The Geoff Lewis trained Rough Pearl was backed down to 3/1 favouritism after a comfortable success at the big Goodwood meeting. The other in the category was John Sutcliffe's Diabolical Liberty, another winner from the same festival.

The presence of these three added that something little extra to the race. It took little away from the following race on the card, the Great Voltigeur as nothing stood a chance with Rainbow Quest anyway.

Crazy next ran the race of his life in an above standard renewal of the final classic, finishing fourth, beaten less than two lengths by the superb Commanche Run.

And to hammer home the sparkle that those of classic age can add to a race like this, how about 1976, with Ryan Price's Sir Montagu, another arriving after a comfortable success at Goodwood, taking up the running before three furlongs out on the Knaveshmire and drawing clear under Willie Carson to win by eight lengths pulling up.

Another three year old, the Michael Stoute trained Shangamuzo finished third. He would win the 1978 Ascot Gold Cup. Oddly enough, the runner up at York was the future Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Alverton, then a six year old.

Returning to the Magnet Cup; it's thirty six years since the admirable and future top class Bedtime won the race off  7st 9lb. Since then, ten three year olds have taken this prestigious event but signficantly none since Wigmore Hall in 2010. This is unlikely to change today and this is to the detriment of these events.

It cannot be repeated enough that a love for the sport will result in lifetime punting. Apart from the July Cup it is mainly bland fare on offer today in which those looking into the sport are more likely to be put off than drawn in.

Fields of mainly exposed solid stalwarts are all good and well but these showcase handicaps need the conundrum of a runner that gets the fizz into the fans. We seem to remember these runners years after, far more so than your win in turn horses. Unfortunately, the valuable handicaps run today will pass by unoticed and soon forgotten, something that is becoming the norm on most weekends now.

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FEELS LIKE A CHORE

The season does not feel that far gone, yet when we get past Royal Ascot the truth is the pinnacle of it has already sailed by. It is the stage at which you step back and dread the come down. It's akin to coming to the end of a holiday and dreading returning to work the following week.

What is so important for racing is that the seasonal narrative leads on to the next big meeting in  which there will be an anticipated build up as the key races take shape. While it is a narrative that must be must be drummed home to those casually tuning in to the sport, it is now harder than ever before to generate a buzz from what follows.

A further downside is that it gives a window of opportunity for those very persistent supporters of some of the proposed daft innovations, such as team style racing based on a Grand Prix points system, to air their voices. Only two groups of people could possibly support such nonsense; those with their finger in the pie who will make a quick buck from it, and secondly those think it benefits to try any new idea sod the consequences. These have no traditional feel for the sport.

So, as we get the pulse back to norm after Ascot, we have to live with the new look Pitman's Derby, the nearest event we had to the Melbourne Cup but now a dreary spectacle run on sand. Yesterday's race was interesting to watch as the final stages unfolded but anyone claiming that the contest has not had some of its soul taken from it since it was taken off turf is either a liar with an agenda, an in vogue modernist, or a twenty something year old.

Then at teatime came the Irish Derby, a race that can range from an above average looking Epsom winner confirming his standing, or in a year such as this, a mumbly jumbly group reopposing from Epsom looking more like Leger and future Ascot Gold Cup sorts.

It turned out to be a ' what was that all about ?'  accompanied by baffled exhaling. No idea what casual viewers would make of it all. The winning jockey could be the subject of a comic strip. Leading the normal life in disguise, mowing the lawn, food shopping, painting the gate. Then the call comes in, he has been chosen for an assignment in a big race.His mission, to defy all odds and win. Off come the cap and dark shades, on go the silks.

In fact such little interest does the sport per se generate with the general public you could tell people that Padraig Beggy is kept fresh for the big occasions, and that whenever he is booked for a ride in a big race it means connections really fancy their horse. Keep a straight face and they will belive you.

 We know now that the one who came on by a ton from the English version was not in the line up. If Japan missed had Ascot and turned up yesterday the talk would have been of how he cut down and passed the runaway leaders having appeared to have given them too much leeway.

Looking to the near future the Eclipse can be a real buzz race, seeing the three year old classic crop taking on the elders, but following on the King George has partly lost its mojo down the years.It was once the duty of connections of a Derby winner to line up at Ascot if they considered their colt to have claims to being a champion.

Nijinsky, Mill Reef, Grundy, The Minstrel, Troy all succeeded on the 1970's, Shergar, Nashwan, plus Teenoso a year later in the 1980's, Generous and Lammtara in the 1990's, but none since Galileo in 2001. In fact no Epsom winner  has attempted to win the Ascot race since Workforce in 2010.

For racing fans it leaves a void. That final weekend in July, the weather generally agreeable, schools breaking up for holidays, and a Derby winner facing the cream of the older middle distance brigade. The race had now adopted a different shape and is not the must go for event it once was. As a result we don t count down the days as the race approaches anymore. Just another Group 1.

Maybe this year the field will include the the Eclipse winner, plus Japan, Masar, Crystal Ocean, Magical., Anthony Van Dycke, plus that group of solid true Group 2 performers who may have nicked a Group 1. They will provide some depth to the event. We live in hope.

The July Cup fixture once possessed an almost gentle quaintness, concluding on a Thursday. It's now another fixture that has lost its identity, the big race crammed into a hectic peak of summer Saturday with its importance diminished, along with it's presence diminishing the John Smith's Cup which had been long established as the focus of that mid -July Saturday.

Chester,of course,has its original and what was at one time it's only summer fixture on the same day. A visual gaudy mess of corporate tents, joined by the increasing number of solid fittings that are bars, along with the Pim's stands and theme bars such as the one that takes the shape of a traditional red bus.

The latest innovation is to be a brand new stand after the winning post, not the most viewer friendly location for those who would consider themselves racing fans. However, when it was stated that " the City of Chester needs a conference center", then we realise that the once enjoyable venue has a covering all options agenda.

Even in the eyes of the glass half full brigade, the first half of the 2019 flat season has not been a vintage one for both the fans of the sport, and the sport itself. We need some fireworks in the next few months to come from top class thoroughbreds, not trashy concert evenings.

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