BACK IN THE DAY.......

Those of us who become dispirited by what we view as needless changes in the fixture list, by original non-commercial race titles being dropped by sponsors, and by new racedays designed to have a quick hit effect, will have been surprised and pleased by the boost the Middle Park Stakes received over the weekend.

While this is an event with a purposeful role in the calendar of being a source of future pretenders to champion sprinter status, gone seemed the days when it was a stop off on the journey to the top mile events of the following season. In that sense it had gone out of fashion.

Since the Brigadier took the race in 1970, only two winners have gone on to be triumphant in the 2,000 Guineas, Known Fact by fortune of Nureyev's disqualification in 1980, and Rodrigo de Triano in 1992.

Irrespective of the reason why an exciting field of potential top class milers came here instead of the Dewhurst, it was refreshing to build up the race as one that could turn out to be a genuine Guineas trial. In fact the last time I can remember such a buzzing run up to this event was the renewal that Diesis won in 1982, where he also faced rivals with potential to be top class milers.

Diesis followed up in the Dewhurst in the race more famous for the crumbling of the Gorytus hype. He did not train on like his famous full brother Kris but did prove his equal at stud.

Racing fans tend to be guilty of becoming too cute with recent trends. And when such a long established race like the Middle Park confounds those who had become dismissive of its importance, it can only be a positive for the sport and is armoury for supporters of keeping the present programme intact without any further meddling.

Ironically,  in the spirit of London buses, if Earthlight trains on and is allowed to make another journey over to Newmarket, his biggest obstacle to success is likely to come in the form of a Woodcote Stakes winner, an ancient event long considered outside the boundaries for potential classic horses.

It would nice too for the Gimcrack to receive a similar fillip. Only Nebbiolo and Rock Of Gibraltar have won both the York race and Newmarket Guineas in the past fifty years but don't get too blase about it never happening again, though the odds will be stacked against another Mill Reef (in picture) appearing in the race.

Mind you, once we reached the late eighties most had consigned to history the times when a future Derby winner ran in the Coventry. Mill Reef would be the last of them, some opined. Even the days of future classic winners appearing early in their juvenile career were considered gone for ever.

Then, making fools of most, two future winners of the Epsom showpiece, Generous and Dr Devious, both ran in the Coventry in the early 1990's. The race continues to throw up animals who are able to train on into classic contenders, three Newmarket Guineas having run in it since the turn of the millenium.

Of the events for the classic generation, one race that seemed dead and buried as a serious event of consequence is Epsom's Blue Riband Trial , which from nowhere was given a massive boost when Cracksman took the race two years back.

Certainly, those who hate to see races that had a role in the calendar rendered  insignificant were quite chuffed that John Gosden chose the race for his three year old reappearance. In fact, the decision to run him there cast doubt in some eyes on the level of consideration connections had for the colt.

Gosden had won the race the previous year with the future high class filly So Mi Dar, though her eligibility for the race, as with Midday a few years earlier, had been due to the authorities calling time on the matching Oaks trial, the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, which was firstly switched to Kempton, then discontinued, before the title was adopted for a new event run at the Epsom June meeting.

If they would have held firm it was an event that held out hopes of coming back into fashion, though the last Epsom Oaks winner to be successful in the event was Homeward Bound in 1964.

Returning to the Blue Riband Trial; founded in the 1930's, the race has only thrown up one Epsom Derby winner in Blue Peter but right up into the 1970's was still deemed as a respectable trial.

In 1976, when the meeting was covered on ITV racing in the three channel era, Oats was trained by Peter Walwyn to win the event and was to be Seven Barrow's leading Derby hope, a race he would finish third in.

Then, the following year, Be My Guest looked visually sublime when quickening smartly and leaving an impression, along with a staminia doubt too. He would finish an also ran in the Derby behind stable companion The Minstrel, but would successfully drop back in trip and went on to outshine his more illustrious stable companion at stud.

One year later the Duncan Sasse trained Roland Gardens took the Blue Riband Trail before causing a mini shock in winning the 2,000 Guineas a couple of weeks later.

In 1979 Henry Cecil ran Jim Joel's Main Reef, who had been highly considered in the early stages of his two year old career. He was beaten but to be fair his career was already at a point were his limits appeared exposed.

Two years later it was a last chance saloon for another hyped up colt to fulfil it's potential. Michael Stoute's Centurious was a half brother to Grundy and was still quoted at twentysomething for the 1981 Derby, not everyone sure whether he or a certain Shergar would be the better three year old.

After the Futurity winner Count Pahlen won in 1982, before his career went downhill, the race then became something far removed from its original intended purpose - it was even taken off the calendar for a few years in the 1990's.

It returned and within a few years was won by two horses of note in Daliapour and Storming Home, but much time elapsed between those two taking in the race to Cracksman using the race to kick start his three year old career.

The Derby runner up Dee Ex Bee was placed in the event last year, while this year's Ballydoyle trained winner, Cape Of Good Hope, now promises to carve out a lucrative career Stateside, judged on his latest run at Saratoga.

These examples beg the question ; which of the races lying in purgoratory could suddenly rediscover their mojo ? Aside the conditions, listed and group contests, there are a handful of long established handicaps that retain their original titles, that were of a significant status in days long gone, some from as far back as the century before last, but have fallen behind by not attracting the sponsorship they might deserve.

We know which races these are, as if you asked racing fans to make a list of a dozen events fitting the description, the same names would crop up. It is not being syrupy to suggest that these races are in a sense institutions, forming a link with the past, while standing as a testament to the longevity of the sport.

It would be warming for these contest to experience a resurgence. Sponsors would surely benefit from adding their name to the original title as opposed to swallowing it up, as what happened with a bunch of races at one major recent meeting.

In the meantime, those who wish renewed vigour and buoyancy to the race titles that have become relics, hope that Godolphin allow what would be a fascinating clash over the Rowley Mile next May between a winner of the Middle Park, and a winner of the Woodcote. Doesn't that sound surreal ?

image owner Karen Nutini reproduced under CC license

HOPE BUT NO EXPECTATION

It feels like we've been here many times before. An English St Leger winner who has too much pace and class to be pigeonholed as having a future in the Cup events or a mere support act in the showcase middle distance races.

That, however, is how it normally unfolds and will probably do so again with Logician, despite the glass half full brigade predicting differently. Not that no one with racing's interest at heart would wish this.

And while the blessings must be counted that the Doncaster event has not had its soul taken by being modernised into an all aged event, it still has to compete with an increasingly competitive autumn fixture list both here and throughout the rest of  Europe.

While one must never say never, with the future of the sport hard to predict, particularly with the blase attitude to making changes to the calendar, Nijinsky (in picture) may still prove to be the last English Triple Crown winner in the sport, even with the present Ballydoyle having a bash out of the blue at it in recent years with Camelot, in addition to eyeing it up when Saxon Warrior looked set to dominate.

In a way it would be fitting for Nijinsky to be the final horse to achieve the feat.  For let us not kid ourselves that the purists amongst us really wanted Camelot to join that elusive list. Sounds harsh on a top class juvenile who trained on well and was unbeaten at the point he made the journey to South Yorkshire.

But he was no Nijinsky. He beat a substandard Guineas field, won the Derby most decisively but the runner up needed the benefit of Lasix to later run up a Group 1 tally of wins in the States. There was not much for Camelot to do to win at the Curragh then, unfortunately, not one of the summer all age events were contended.

His defeat in the St Leger by an inferior animal who is so forgetful we may as well just call him thingyo, and who was trained by the soon to be disgraced Mahmood Al Zarooni, is rarely touched upon.

Admittedly it's unsporting to knock a horse whose connections were attempting a feat that we'd given up hope would ever be achieved again, but it would feel right and proper to have this accomplishment achieved by an animal who would be labelled outstanding.

In the aftermath of the defeat, Camelot was well beaten at Longchamp then disappointed when kept in training, although the weights and measures brigade will point out the figures had him reproducing his best form on his first two starts.  And despite siring last year's Irish Derby winner he, like some other sons of Montjieu, may fail to truly make the grade as a stallion in the flat sphere.

That again would be unfortunate as it would buck the trend if a horse ran well in the Leger who had been a top class juvenile and turned into a top notch progenitor on the level. Just like Nijinsky did in fact, with his three Epsom Derby winners but plenty of high class animals over shorter.

Another animal who could have emulated Nijinsky proved a huge let down in his limited spell at stud. It's not fanciful to believe that if Reference Point had been trained for the 1987 2,000 Guineas, he would have put in a bold front running performance and went close to winning.

Returning to Logician, if you go back over the past fifty years, you have to go back to the first decade to find the animal that promised to have the most exciting future out of the St Leger winners that remained in training beyond their three year old careers.

That was the grey colt Bruni, who won the Doncaster classic by ten lengths, a memory that was not blighted by his subsequent disappointing performance in the Arc.

Trained by Captain Ryan Price and owned by Charles St George, Bruni received an Annual Timeform rating of 132 , the Halifax organisation billing him as , " one of the most exciting prospects for 1976."

History tells us the he went close to hitting it big in the King George Queen Elizabeth Stakes, despite being handicapped by his newly acquired habit of looking like he wanted to down tools in the early stages. Ten lengths off the pace entering the straight, he made relentless headway to finish a one length runner up to the Wildenstein filly Pawneeese.

That was the highlight of his career beyond three. Connections did revert to the norm when, after keeping Bruni on in training as a five year old, they targeted the Ascot Gold Cup where he ran disappointingly behind the mighty French stayer Sagaro.

Bruni did win Group races at four and five but never fulfilled what many hoped for and some expected. He is perhaps the best example to consider before digesting hopes and hype for winners of the race.

Eight years later Willie Carson drove out the wide margin Epsom Oaks winner and King George third Sun Princess to win the concluding classic. The highest hopes were held for her when she was kept in training but she was a let down.

Maybe we should be judging Logician by looking to two positive examples. When Luca Cumani kept the 1984 winner Commanche Run in training as a four year old he was under no illusion of the potential of Ivan Allan's colt had to shine in the top grade over shorter distances. Remarkably, he even gave him a Lockinge entry, which would be something for true racing eggheads, if they still exist, to touch upon over a pint.

Despite throwing in some below par performances, Commanche Run won the Brigadier Gerard by a wide margin, then later inflicted a famous defeat upon Oh So Sharp in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup, then notched up his second Group 1 win of the season in the Phoenix Park Irish Champion Stakes.

In more recent times Conduit was also kept on  for another year and succeeded where Bruni failed by winning the King George Queen Elizabeth Stakes, albeit in an era when the race was taking a hit quality wise. He also won his second Breeders Cup Turf but his two respectable runs behind Sea The Stars showed him a likeable high class colt, but not an outstanding one.

Let's hope the race is kept in its present format and in the same spot in the calendar but that, from somewhere, it gets a massive boost in kudos. Just maybe, Logician will defy all us miserable put downers and become the dominant middle distance colt of 2020.

image in public domain

ONE SPORT IS THRIVING, THE OTHER WITHERING

Whenever those within cricket circles self -scrutinise the health of their own sport, then conclude that there are aspects to worry about, it's hard not be be a little tickled by their negativity.

You feel like telling them they should thank their lucky stars that, compared to the sport of horse racing, everything is in rude health and their house is in order with a bright future ahead.

When I purchased a ticket for day one of the Old Trafford Ashes match, it was in the lap of the Gods how kind the weather would be. Then, being the fourth test, the series may already be dead, taking the edge of it. Being wishfully picky, I was also hoping both Jimmy Anderson and Steve Smith would be fit to play with Australia batting first.

As things turned out, going into that first day the series could not of been at a more finely balanced point. Smith was able to play with the Aussies batting first. But Anderson was crocked and the rain interfered resulting in a few hours lost play.

It also provided an excellent opportunity to observe how the attending audience related to the game itself. I went with an expectation that they would be more attuned and in sync with their sport, than the horse racing crowds are with theirs.

I came away left in no doubt that here was a sport with a vastly more knowledgeable mass of attendees than those who waste space at our racecourses at weekends and evenings.

Admittedly, just like at the racecourse, large volumes of alcohol are consumed, but the behaviour that it influences, while often boisterous, tends to fall on the right side of acceptability - though I did have some fast drinking slow thinking character, with a member's badge, seated nearby who opened a giant fishing size brolly rather carelessly, causing someone on the row behind to caution, " careful mate you nearly took my eye out, " to which the brolly man replied, " Sorry, I thought you were Steve Smith". He then made a thrusting motion with the umbrella in the direction of the players, uttering,  " Up Steve Smith's arse !"

Surprisingly, from listening to his conversations he seemed a knowledgeable cricket fan. I could not imagine a Wetherby racegoer with an annual membership, stood around the paddock carrying binoculars and Raceform loose leaf acting in the same manner. Then again, racegoers fitting this description have almost died out.

In fact most within earshot at Old Trafford sounded learned disciples of the game, sharp eyed in noticing changes in field positions and predicting the tactical angle in the bowling what would follow, and offering insightful thoughts on what changes will or should be made.

It's pleasing to witness yet at the same time makes you realise what a mess horse racing is in. It is only horse racing where at certain meetings the courses could get away with changing the sport at late notice.

Make no mistake, at the calvacade of wimsey that is the overpriced Chester, or the rough and gruff Haydock Park, and at some other venues too, a sizezable chunk of the evening or weekend audiences would not bat an eyelid if motor bike or rally car racing replaced the equine sport. Not all of them, but enough to realise that a problem exists in their engagement level with the sport.

The traditional cricket fans have mixed views on the shortened versions of the game, particularly the Twenty 20. Comparisons have been drawn with concert nights at racecourses. They are chalk and cheese, the so called racing audiences are there only for the concert and would not be there otherwise, while the cricket crowds, who will drink just as much, have come to watch the game play out before them. For many, it will also lead to a lifelong interest in the longer, more traditional forms of the game.

Interestingly, in his book Over But Not Out, Richie Benaud welcomed the additional arm of the twenty over format, hailing its popularity and opining that it is easier for someone who had made his name in this version to adapt to the four and five day game than vice versa.

Gambling and related match fixing are another that those within cricket are embarrassed about, believing it's harmed the image of the game. Well, they should consider themselves damn lucky for in racing, horses are prevented from running on their merits on a daily basis.

In fact, cricket needs gambling less than bookmakers need cricket. By contrast, horse racing could not survive without gambling.

Then, there is the matter of the sparse crowds that attend English county cricket matches during weekdays. Lets face it, it's been the case for a long, long time but should not be used as a barometer.  Given normal modern day committments, how many cricket fans are readily available to attend during the week, all day starting at 11am ? Probably only Ballard ' Boycott made a century ' Berkely, types from Fawlty.

Another area in which cricket can be proud of is the general quality at local league level. I suppose in trying to draw a racing comparison, local league cricket would be racing's flapping circuit, which is almost non existent. The minor counties cricket could be racing's point-to-point.

There are some incredibly strong local leagues all over the UK. The most famous has hit hard times, the Lancashire League, the one where all the clubs seem to be within a twenty mile radius of Blackburn. In the 1970's and the first half of the 1980's it was held in such high esteem that Australian cricketers use to play in it to keep favour in the eye of their test selectors.

It's the equivalent of Neymar being advised it would not do him any harm to play for the likes of Droylsden, Marine, Winsford United or Runcorn !

While cricket's Lancashire League is going through a quiet spell, with some clubs struggling financially, other leagues are thriving. The Liverpool & District League which now has clubs as far apart as Colwyn Bay and Lytham, has county regulars and has had it's fair share of test players down the years such as Grant Flower, Neil Wagner and Sherwin Campbell. There was also a certain Curtly Ambrose who played a season for Chester Boughton Hall as he rose to fame. Chester Boughton Hall have since moved to the Cheshire Counties League, another competition that is thriving at the moment.

In these leagues some players receive a wage, many are full amateur. So when Curtly Ambrose was turning out for Chester Boughton Hall in the Liverpool & District League, there would be anxious players in nine to five day jobs, anticipating having to duck for their lives at the weekend.

This quality level of local league competition does not exist in the tarnished but worshipped world of top level football. As for racing, point-to -points fly the flag but when compared to the number of regional cricket leagues all around the country, they are few and far between with their future threatened by those who pull the strings at the top end of racing, who threaten to withdraw support and sacrifice them to the modernists.

Cricket has no such concerns. It's future is safe, assured and rosy. Racing should be very jealous indeed for it cannot boast of any such guarantees.

image taken by author

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