A WHOLE LOT OF FUN AND GAMES AWAIT

   

There can never have been a time when the general media in the UK have treated the sport of horse racing with such cold indifference as they do so now.

Whether it be the amount of space apportioned for racecards and articles in the daily newspapers in relation to the other sports, or whether it be the carelessly prepared newspieces on general sports programmes, it is pretty clear that the game is treated with scant regard.

Late on Boxing Day afternoon, Sky News showed a few, sewn together seconds of the King George V1 Chase, with the narrative giving a general viewer the impression that the destination of the prize may have been changed when Clan Des Obeaux jumped across Cyrname three fences from home. The fact that Sky Racing don't cover Kempton should surely not preclude the news desk asking one of the Sky Racing team to pen the script for them.

As bought by the hand newspaper sales decline across the board, with the young adult populations choosing which news items to search for online, horse racing will be one of the big losers. For unlike with printed copy where an article connected with one of the sports that have not waned might be on the opposite page to a racecard that cannot avoid the eye, the new generations can happily exist while being oblivious to the sport.

As an example, this past week they would have searched and found the football related news on their tablets and phones, maybe the cricket and rugby too. But what else ? A group having a chat would be unlikely to encourage the others to look up a story about the King George unless it was connected with the Alex Ferguson link. But undoubtedly, they would have been enthusing over the progress made by Fallon Sherrock in the World Darts Championships.

It blew any racing related story out of the water, but was still secondary to the likes of football and cricket news, but not by far.

There are time windows in which racing should really make a push to get through to the passive. International breaks in the football season form such opportunities as the popularity of international football in the UK compared to the Premiership - even the Championship - has rarely been so far behind.

Boxing Day 2019 was another opportunity begging to be taken advantage of. Amazon had full rights to the Premiership Football on one of it's traditionally anticipated days, yet the multitudes already paying Sky and BT would not have been prepared to add in the expense of yet another pay channel, or have even have been bothered to take up the trial and cancel offer if they knew that one was available.

So it was left to horse racing, on one of it's showcase days staging one of the showcase races of the season, to make a concerted effort to draw in viewers. With the cricket winding up just as the racing was beginning and the darts not restarting until the following day, horse racing had the stage to itself yet it did little to advertise itself. There wasn't even an Opening Show !

As the curtains are drawn on a year and a decade, racing has never since WW2 had so many uncertainties hanging over it. As the 1970's reached its conclusion, it would not be taking a stab in the dark to make predictions for the following ten years, with many foreseeing a rapid expansion of international competition.

Now you struggle to predict what will happen in a timespan of a single year such is the variability of how horse racing issues disrupt, destabalise and instill worry amongst the many different factions, some deeply involved in the sport but at loggerheads with one another, others wanting to gatecrash and do harm with their blinkered, beatnik beliefs.

One of the pressing issues where the aggrieved tend to skirt their preferred solution is what we are told is the lack of prize money in the middle to lower ranks. Most of the owners, seconded by the trainers, who claim that they deserve more reward for playing their part in keeping the bread and butter everyday fare going, want what they see as a shortfall to come from punters.

As this is not realistically going to involve bookmakers taking a further cut in what they feel are decreasing  profit margins, these owners would like it to come direct from the punter via a levy on every bet placed. A return to a tax on stake, or taken from winnings.

For racing fans, the only benefit from the colossal rise in betting on other sports is that they cannot be taken for granted anymore. A levy on each racing bet incurred by the punter ?  No problem, plenty of fish in the sea regarding sports to bet on. Stuff you racing !

Owning horses outright or in small number partnerships is a privelige, a costly one for most who will get little if any return for their outlay and continued monthly expense bar the excitement of being a player with a horse running in their name and colours. If they don't consider the expense to be worth it then no one is forcing them to be involved.

Course closures on a scale not previously seen, the end of the high street betting office, job losses, trainers handing in licences, jockeys handing in licences and the whole breeding and racing industries downsizing. Not the most insane set of predictions by a long chalk.

image in public domain

TAKING A LEAF FROM THE MOVIE WORLD

One of the downsides of the knowledge at beckoning internet age is that it has decimated the old fashioned chinwag when those involved discuss their shared favourite subject, with the detail and supporting evidence for a particular view proudly recalled from memory alone.

When the subject matter is horse racing, it is only really pre 1980's that embedded knowledge is used alone, for eras since can be referenced very quickly by Google search. Particularly since the late 1980's, from at which point the online Racing Post form book is available, the spoiler of most quizzes.

In fact anyone setting an online quiz has to ensure that the questions put cannot be found at the touch of a button. Some will tell you that researching on the internet is really no different than visiting a dusty storeroom containing old newspapers and books, and while specialist research does bring the two methods closer together, it  just doesn't feel the same, with the newer, more clinical method, lacking the kudos attached to the now less needed traditional form.

It is why we enjoy listening or reading people reminiscing over an era not as meticulously recorded as the present. Some of it may just be conjecture, rumour, with details dressed up for effect, or in some cases maybe not. It's up to the listener or reader to judge.

I love to hear and read about Crepello. We are told that this is the animal that highlighted best, the genius of Noel Murless. Nevertheless, when you get down to the nitty gritty of the colt's performances, you cannot sum him up as being anything near outstanding unless you make provisions for his fragile pegs,

In contrast, it is disconcerting when you hear some fans talk of a need for past greats to be reassessed. They will cynically point out that if both the Timeform ratings of Arkle and Flyingbolt were anything near accurate, then it must of been a miracle that they were in the same yard at the same time.

They will then add that while they will accept that Arkle was very likely the best steeplechaser there has ever been, his rating is still exagerated and should be downsized.

Those of us too young at the time to have memories of Arkle may be able to understand how those who witnessed his career feel when we read similar views about how the ratings of Night Nurse and Monksfield are too high.

These people will champion the Istabraq age, when the ranks were weak and the dominant force was followed home in his Champion Hurdle victories by his run of the the mill stable companion Theatreworld twice, and Hor La Loi on the other occasion.

By contrast, Night Nurse and Monksfield were properly tested on regular occasions during the greatest hurdling era ever. There was no adding a subjective amount of pounds on for ease of victory over opponents a couple of tiers lower; their ratings will be as accurate as can possibly be.

Returning to the issue of the internet spoiling raw, recall chatter. There is no turning back so we'll have to live with it. It does indeed have many strengths and in truth far more positives than negatives.

But one facility that horse racing does not have is an equivalent to the IMDb database. Some us cannot now watch an old movie, series  or sitcom, without a tablet on the knee opened on the IMDb site.

There is no need anymore for your enjoyment of a programme to be disturbed because you are racking your brains trying to remember what programme you have seen a familiar looking actor or actress in. Or maybe you are just curious to know what became of them, or whether they have passed away, or the film locations used.

The other night I was watching, for the umpteenth time, an early Columbo episode called Murder By The Book. It's the one in a which a character played by David Cassidy's dad murders his co- writing partner who wants to go it alons as a sole writer.

In the episode, a goofy looking lady with a distinctive voice had sussed out what had happened. She too is then murdered by Jack Cassidy after attempting to blackmail him.

With IMDb at the ready, I discovered that the actress who played the unfortunate goofy woman was in real life called Barbara Colby(pictured). In 1975, she and a fellow actor were in a car park in Los Angeles, having just left an acting academy, when they were both shot dead in cold blood. No motive has ever been established in the many years that have since passed and it remains an open,unsolved case, stranger than and just as intriguing as most Columbo episodes.

A horse racing IMDb equivalent would be welcome. It could be based around the results of all of the top grade races worldwide, and with a similar approximate one hundred year history at least. The cross referencing facilities would have links to all of the jockeys, owners and trainers involved, in addition to the horses and their sires and dams.

The links would be  more than just stats and figures; in the IMDb spirit they would be to biographies, the depth of which depending on the level of success of the subject, or whether there are titbits of note.

It is the modern way of gathering knowledge and for those in favour of so called ' keeping up with the times ', yet who champion some of the stupidest innovations, then something what would be an addition, that may help consolidate interest amongst new fans, and would not be objected too, would surely be worth setting up

Image Wiki - Fair Use

NO SIGN OF THE DEPRESSING TREND BEING REVERSED

The crumbling structures hidden beneath racing's grandstand are spread far and wide. You need to search for them but they are there, nuts and bolts visibly coming loose, if you care to look deep enough.

Germany has never been a major racing country. It has nevertheless always punched above its weight for the quality of horse produced in relation to the relatively small number of animals in training. It is likewise a nation that has had an impact on the equine breeding scene, with stallions having to fit certain rules to prove ability and soundness to be allowed to stand. Many successful pedigree lines have a German influence, including the bottom line of the pedigree of the best current progenitor in the world, Galileo.

On the betting front, it had aways been easy to find access to British, Irish and French racing in high street outlets. In fact, during the 1990's the Racing Post carried a piece from a writer reporting his visit to a Ladbrokes shop in Munich. He was impressed by the enthusiasm of the inhabitants chatting about the likes of Martin Pipes best chances at the forthcoming Cheltenham Festival.

The 1990's seems only yesterday but by God things have changed dramatically. You won't find any Ladbrokes offices in Germany anymore. In fact, if you are over there and try logging into any of your UK betting accounts you'll find that you are unable to put bets on racing back home. You are fine for UK football or other sports, but not the horses.

This is born from legislation taken to protect revenue from betting on racing and to ensure a cut is taken by the state. If you wish to get stuck into the novice hurdle at Hexham you will have to seek out an outlet with a licence to take bets on foreign racing but sadly many have disappeared, or show no racing at all.

One well known LBO has lately gone under. It was the shop (in picture) close to the main station in Cologne. It would show all the UK and Irish racing, even the UK greyhounds. I'd nickname it the ' Trabolgan shop' , as I once remember going in and being dismayed at the headline on the front of the Racing Post, announcing that the fast progressing Nicky Henderson trained gelding had sustained an injury and would be on the sidelines for a long period. I also watched Sea The Stars's Eclipse from there.

The last time I visited the shop it had followed the pattern of the UK shops by installing several FOBTS. Sadly, the premises where the shop stood is now a jewellers.

Close to the main station in rival city Dusseldorf lies a plush Bet300 shop. Inside a plethora of sports are available to wager on. Football at all levels in all corners of the world, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, handball, snooker, boxing, baseball, American football, and others too, but no horse racing.

 If you go deep into the shop you enter a cinema type complex, massive super HD screens, and a seating area in the centre reserved  for  ' members only '. It is generally depressing to think that many get entertainment from entering a shop with screens showing in play live scores and place a bet on the likes of Mauritian second division football, no matter how seducing the facilities are.

Further on into Graf Adolf Strasse, I entered a Tipico shop. Some Tipico shops show British, Irish and French racing, this particular outlet did not, nor did the one down in the Altstadt. Just general sports. There was approximately half a dozen customers in each shop, most sat there watching the scores for the low grade in play football matches. Very, very depressing.

There was one particular LBO I needed to visit. Situated at Karl Rudolph Strasse 167, it had been an old fashioned betting office run by a firm called KG the last time I visited it a couple of years back. Then, they had a Racing Post on the wall, had live British, Irish and French racing, and there was even a customer wearing jodpurs and riding boots ! This area of course forms part of which may be termed as the heartland of German racing.

On a side note, Karl Rudolph Strasse is a continuation of Ostrasse, the scene of an incident engraved in Dusseldorf folklaw.

On Wednesday 6th September 1978, Baader Meinhof gang member Willy Peter Stoll walked into the Shanghai Restaurant which was situated at Ostrasse 156, sat down, then ordered a Chinese meal and a beer. Stoll was on the most wanted list; he had played a leading role in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Hans Martin Schleyer in Cologne the previous year, where he was one of the gunmen who murdered Schleyer's bodyguards as the industrialist was snatched.

Stoll was instantly recognised by some in the restaurant. As the group had support amongst many far left leaning members of the public, not all who recognised him would be prepared to inform the police. However, one lady popping in for a takeaway was having none of it and immediately went back out and raised the alarm.

A single police officer entered the restaurant, Stoll stood up and went to draw his pistol but the policeman was quicker and shot Stoll dead. Reports of the incident appeared in newspapers world wide; perhaps the most curtly put description was one I found in the archives from a Canadian newspaper.

It showed a picture of Stoll with the the caption, " Willy Peter Stoll - too slow on the draw."

Returning to the nearby LBO; to my initial dismay, the shop had also been taken over by Tipico. But on entering spirits were lifted on finding that they had Racing TV and Sky Racing, in addition to the French racing channel. Strangely enough, although they had cards on the wall for Cagnes du Ser and the French trotting, they had no Racing Posts, and only basic cards for the British racing without any form or tips.

Leicester, Lingfield and Hexham were on, and they had the sound, plus the Racing TV and Sky Racing post race summaries, including the odd interview, such as Matt Chapmans with Danny Cook whose ride he'd been eulogising over. The French racing channel was shown without audio. Throughout the afternoon there was never more than eight or nine punters present, with roughly five or six of them betting constantly on the UK racing.

One pertinent point is that those betting on the British racing were all at the very least over fifty years of age and appeared to be ethnic German. This is a strict pattern I have noticed in betting offices up and down this country and must stem from the fact that this age group would have been introduced to betting when a multitude of LBO's existed, all showing UK and Irish racing, along with UK greyhound racing.

I have also noted that the ethnic minorities amongst the population, such as those from Turkish and African roots, tend to stick to football betting and you rarely see them in the offices where racing is the main fare.

One cannot help wondering how shops such as the aforementioned one in Karl Rudolph Strasse can sustain themselves, having to pay for British and French racing chanels with so few numbers inside and betting.

I would not be surprised if the days of showing British, Irish and French racing in German high street betting offices are numbered. And being left with no option than watching screens showing updated football, tennis, ice hockey and basketball scores, as opposed to a Carlisle novice chase, is such a soul destroying prospect to consider that I think I'd rather visit Baader Meinhof locations than have a bet !

image - taken by author

BE VERY CONCERNED

We know that away from a handful of showcase fixtures the French racetracks pull in a mere trickle of racegoers, but  you were still left a little downbeat to hear Joffrey Huet failing to provide any encouragement that things would change anytime soon when interviewed at Auteuil for Attheraces on Sunday.

The present health of French racing was not the intended subject of the interview. It was on discussing his role in purchasing Cyrname for his current connections, Huet spoke of the lack of atmosphere at the Gallic tracks compared with the British ones.

It doesn't seem anything like the twenty years ago that John Hammond, lapping up the plaudits of the racing media for his exploits with the brilliant Montjieu, observed that the horse would hardly be known in France as it's all about cyclists and football players.

This is something we should be worried about. European racing is still arguably the best in the world and when one of the three nations that dominate it operate in half empty and silent arenas, you cannot view it as a dilemma independent from the others.

Some say that the Parisian tracks have suffered right from the beginning of the long established custom for the masses to travel out to the provinces for relaxing weekends. Even if any truth exists in this it cannot be cited as the reason for present day lack of engagement with the sport.

What seems more likely is that similar to Britain, the emerging generations in France are smitten with the in vogue sports that you are likely to find reference to within a few minutes of switching on the television. Therefore you would expect, like here, betting on horses would be in a steady, continuous decline.

But surprisingly, for the time being at least, this is not the case. Pari Mutuel betting on horses has made a small recovery. Whether in the long term this will prove to be a blip, no one really knows. It is certainly hard to believe that there is an emerging generation of the French populace that are endearing themselves to wagering on the racing game in greater numbers than the one before.

Returning to last weekend, the Altior v Cyrname clash was stirred up by sections of the media as something that was reaching out and touching those outside of racing's fanbase. Such nonsense is spouted without any supporting evidence whatsoever.

This is not to downplay the build up to the duel,which did not disappoint. But the fascination was for those in the racing domain. In the present day of hundreds of channels TV, X Boxes and Internet, the racing game can sail along on the horizon, out of sight and mind.

Compare this to to  an eagerly awaited steeplechasing clash from yesteryear.  Boxing Day 1975, Captain Christy v Bula  in  the King George V1Chase.

From the yard of Arkle's rider Pat Taafe, Captain Christy had triumphed in the 1974 Cheltenham Gold Cup while still a novice, then had consolidated his status by winning the Kempton race at the end of that year. He had formerly been a classy hurdler, good enough to finish third in the Champion Hurdle.

Bula had been out of the top drawer over hurdles, taking the Cheltenham crown twice. He was now promising to become the first horse ever to win both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. He had been third to his inferior Ten Up in the latter earlier that year when disadvantaged by the quagmire underfoot, so bad that the remaining races had to be abandoned.

There was another angle to the 1975 King George Chase. Bula hailed from the powerhouse yard of Fred Winter. In the 1974 running Captain Christy had prevented one of the most popular chasers of any era, Bula's stable companion Pendil, from completing a King George hatrick.

The countdown to the race had spacious write ups in the Sunday newspapers five days earlier. This was when the sport was afforded more prominence and everyone under a roof read a Sunday newspaper.

Tom Forrest wrote, " Never before have they clashed without something going haywire for one, or both of them. This time, their latest races show both in blinding form. Now we should know which is the master."

A field of seven lined up but but the expected duel materialised into a rout with Captain Christy, under the relatively inexperienced Gerry Newman, jumping off on front, building up an early advantage, then drawing further away from halfway to beat his main rival by thirty lengths, with the future winner Royal Marshall 11, in third.

Irrespective what we are told by the broadcasting media, who don't seem to understand that repeating spin will not turn it into reality, these showcase  events do not have anything near the same percentage of the population counting the days down as in generations past.

Moreover, despite the achievements of the wonderful mare Enable over the past few seasons, none of her races, and not even those of the supreme Frankel, had the same build up as the days drew nearer than that Nashwan v Indian Skimmer v Warning, Eclipse in 1989.

In the following few years after that race took place, sports betting exploded outwards, changing the whole betting scene, with racing 's dominance being eaten away at to the point were the emerging generations can bet without it.

France may for now, have managed to halt this downward spiral but betting on horses on the other side of the channel had never been on comparable levels to here, thus believing the decline can stemmed here is stretching hopes.

It is also worth noting that Japan's signature race, the Japan Cup, pulled in a crowd  of approximately 80,000 last week. Sounds fantastic, but when you compare it with the 180,000 that turned up in the flesh in relatively recent times, then it is an issue for concern.

What can be said with near certainty, is that since the end of WW2 the worldwide racing scene has never had so many dark clouds forming in the backdrop as it does right now.

Image from Pixabay 

A MIXTURE OF ALL SORTS

With Christmas approaching, many will be taking more than a cursory peek at the books available to add to our racing collections, which in truth are likely to have ceased expanding many years back.

There are various reasons for this. One of them glares at us in the form of the Tiger Roll book now on the market. Whether this fascinating animal lines up or not at Aintree next spring, the fact is that the final chapter of his career has yet to take place.

Of course, this is not the first time there has been a rush to claim the honours in getting a book into print on an equine subject. Ivor Herbert's first edition of his Red Rum book first appeared  in 1974 , with three Grand Nationals left to compete in. Updated editions followed but the haste to be the first to get the foot in the door first lacked etiquette.

There were no updated editions on the otherwise excellent Jonathan Powell book paying tribute to that little terrier Monksfield. In what was apalling timing, the book  was completed in late 1979 and released early 1980, before what could have been termed as the ' Sea Pigeon strikes back ' part played out.

Maybe the idea is that releasing these books when the subjects careers are still active will pull in a quick hit of sales, though I would guess the number of racing books sold has diminished in sync with genuine interest in the sport falling, and the gap between the number of books sold on the likes of football, cricket, and rugby, to that of horse racing, has widened further.

It has to be said too that over the last couple of decades it just ain't an even playing field for the authors of these books. Those turned out by the well oiled publication machine of the Racing Post have a significant head start on the others.

The blurb, often from Brough Scott. The in house review - let's face it, an in house reviewer is going to add a positive slant on an in house publication, even hyping up just a fairish offering into something of significance.

Thiry years back Michael Church produced a tad pricey but pleasant on the eye book under the Racing Post banner documenting the champion sires going back to the very beginning of the breed. Titled, Three Centuries Of Leading Sires 1721 - 1987, there was a limited edition of 500 published accompanied by a wall chart tracing back the sire lines.

While it was a useful for casual browsing, at the end of the day it comprised in the main of a list of champion sires with pedigrees and you would certainly not go as far to describe it as a publication to be ' celebrated ', as claimed by Tony Morris in his book review, who himself is not afraid to get critical to the bones, particularly when it comes to the indy publications.

On a brighter note, those of us who hold a copy will observe that anyone now wishing to get their hands on one will have to fork out at least £80.

With regards to what some may at one time have considered to be one of the great racing books, an obituary penned by Morris in 1994 brought something to light that would have previously only been known to a certain clan within the sport.

It is likely that a large number of racing fans who became smitten by the sport during the 1970 's would have read John Hislop's book, ' The Brigadier - The Story Of Brigadier Gerard ', and John Oaksey's,  ' The Story Of Mill Reef '. You could not read one without the other, many would have read each presentation more than once.

Leaving aside which horse was the superior one, I would guess that the favoured book at the time would have been the Brigadier Gerard one, helped by the fact that it was written by the owner, meaning the reader was offered an insight into the planning and decisions taken during the mighty animal's career.

But the tier on which the publication stood in the mind might have dropped a couple of levels on reading Morris's frank assessment of Hislop in a summary of the man's life in the Racing Post after he passed away. This involved the reasoning behind Hislop sending his mare Lady Pavlova to Queens Hussar.

In an early chapter in the book Hislop had explained why, on his pedigree reading, he considered the stallion ideal for his mare and thus executed a masterpiece of a decision which produced one of the greatest horses of our time.

Morris concluded that Hislop got pure lucky. That Queens Hussar was chosen as a mate purely because he stood nearby and was cheap.

Reading this, you then start to view similar books with a cynical perspective. There exists a most enjoyable book to read about the dual Melbourne Cup winner Rising Fast, published many years ago, and written by the horse's owner Leicester Spring.

Problem is, this publication takes a similar path in the early stages to that of the Brigadier Gerard book. The author goes into extensive detail in what he gleaned from his pedigree analysis in the sales catalogue that led him to bid for the future star at a New Zealand yearling sale in 1950.

A further drawback with horse racing books in general are the omissions. What if we have been told something about someone from a trustworthy source then have to read a glossed over account?

Or what if we just suspect, as the nature of the sport and it's unbreakable tie with gambling will mean quite frankly that it sits at the top of all sports for both the percentage and aggregate of uncsrupulous persons.

One must undoubtedly conclude that pound for pound the biographies of the top achievers in the other major sports contain more factual meat on the bone than the racing ones - save of course the odd exception, such as the Richard Dunwoody book Obsessed, in which the man who came across as one of the most articulate and level headed members of the weighing room painted himself as a rather dislikeable, wife bullying nutcase.

So with overall adherence to truth and sincerity, searching outside of racing's bubble is more likely to produce a good read. I have recently finished a Richie Benaud book and have begun an old publication concerning the 1956 Suez Crisis.

I would then quite fancy picking up another Australian cricketers book, maybe someone playing in the 70's or 80's, though I am told that both the Frank McAvennie and Kevin Keegan books must be read. Andre Agassi's too sounds fascinating, while the golfing one that I keep saying I must read is Rich Beems.

As for racing, maybe it's safer to look only to the historical ones that escape the libel laws and whispers. Treasure Of The Bloodstock Breeders Review was a fine compilation of historical work that needs the white mould removing and re -reading.

Whatever, for many the height of the book buying season has arrived. And for the declining number of racing fans still alive, it may be time to look outside and appreciate the characters from some of the other, much more thriving sporting fields.

A SPORT THAT IS IMPLODING

Toward the end of its days, each Waterloo Cup was staged amid the speculation of will it, or won't it, be the last ever one.  For fans of National Hunt racing, irrespective of their thoughts on hare coursing, the Altcar event could be viewed as a protective buffer between jump racing and the animal rights alliances.

Admittedly, racing had to fasten up for a rocky ride for a couple of weeks after the occasional Grand National weekend, but overall it was a sport in the clear if not quite in the untouchable zone.

When Dark Ivy fell to his death at Bechers in the 1987 running of the Grand National, the fall out that followed and the authorities response to it, shows by comparison how the racing powers have now become jittery and over reactive to almost all incidents that they feel cast a negative image on the sport.

As was the norm during the 1970's and 1980's, decades when the numbers opposed to racing far outweighed those of today, the Sunday newspapers each carried a picture of the deceased animal, along with quotes from those who demanded change.

Criticism of the most feared obstacle in the sport was not confined to those on the outside. John Oaksey had long been of the opinion that the fence was a trap, and once, during a Channel 4 broadcast, added that all drop fences were traps. The Timeform organisation too were of the belief that the slope on the landing side of Bechers needed levelling with the brook filled in.

The Jockey Club held an investigation involving Aintree officials and the RSPCA. The resultant finding was that racing's ruling body concurred with the course committee that the obstacle was a fair one and did not require any modification.

So the race that formed the window to the sport in the UK looked a long way away from becoming the 'Grand National In Name Only Chase ', the future of National Hunt racing was safe and secure, the buffer that was the Waterloo Cup was still eighteen years off being stripped away, and from a global perspective the sport of horse racing had far more years ahead of it than behind.

Oh Jesus how things have changed !  And this in an environment that the opposition to the horse being used for sport is grossly exaggerated by crafty utilisation of social media, akin to a small posse of Gremlins gaining access to the control room of the national electricity grid.

Those rocky rides for the sport now occur weekly instead of annually. These meticulously organised opponents of horse racing are firing bullets from all angles in all corners of the globe, doing untold damage by stirring fear into the authorities who give them credibility by backing down and attempting appeasement.

The impression given going into the Breeders Cup meeting last weekend made you think that a full force of the the anti racing brigade were somewhere near with an artillery of bulldozers, cranes, lorries and freight containers, ready when given the signal to go in and dismantle Santa Anita. They had to wait until the very last race for a fatality to arise, so the whole saga will continue on to its next chapter and there is much to be worried about.

In Australia, the powers that be ridiculously stating a belief that the way forward for the sport was for the whip to completely go, does not yet register in the light of the fall out of the secretly recorded footage of healthy racehorses being abused prior to being slaughtered in an abattoir.

Let's face it; we probably knew this sort of thing happened. The gruesome  case involving the top class globetrotter Exceller, was an eye opener for many, though just like when we dig in to our meat, poultry and offal, we really don't care to think about these matters. But it should not surprise many; I would guess the mental balance of those wishing to work in abattoirs is overall less stable than, for example, someone striving for a position as a librarian.

Then back home we have a journeyman rider chipping away, hoping for a break, who is now left wondering whether his career is over after an oversight caused an elastic band to remain on his whip which caused marking on his mount.

The rider has not only been disciplined but has had to endure threats to his self on social media including a wish the he ended up in a wheelchair. In retrospect these should not have been alluded to by both the rider and the media, as it is almost certain that the intention was to give the perpetrator a feeling of achievement by putting his deed in the limelight, something for his scrapbook.

Finally, if all this hasen't been enough, there was then the stupid city racing issue, something many hoped would go away, raising its ugly head again. And this time the omens are not good for those vehemently opposed to the concept, for it would seem they have progressed far more than we could have imagined.

They now are far enough down the line to name the first venue which is The Strand on Liverpool City centre waterfront. This is a total recipe for a grim happening that would do untold damage to the sport.

The iconic location is capable of pulling in large summer weekend family crowds from a highly populated catchment area. Any sensible racing affiacionados will keep clear but will rightly fret over the possible consequences of it all going pear shaped.

What happens if there is a fatality amongst the horses ? This cannot be hidden. The venue is surrounded by high buildings in which the mobile cameras will be clicking away. The pictures will be all over social media, and what better click bait could you find for a newspaper website -  a time frame montage. Pictures of children laughing and sharing an ice cream with their parents, then disaster strikes,  glimpses of a horse carrying a catastrophic  injury, then the children again, now with tears replacing the laughter.

The prospect of city racing could not be summed up better than by that of a poster on the Betfair Forum who warned the idea is " ....rolling the dice with the whole future of the sport." Hopefully those in power will take heed before it is too late.

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KEEPING THE PAST ALIVE

One of the few advantages of becoming old is that you can go ahead and purchase a DVD box set without worrying whether, like the VHR format, they will become redundant, as you are most likely not going to be here to to fret over the dilemma, or if you are will probably not be in a sound enough state of mind to follow an episode of Columbo, Rising Damp, Van Der Valk, Fawlty Towers, Quincy,  Inspector Morse or Man About The House.

What will prove to be the last generation that had a worthwhile number of genuine racing fans contains many souls hoarding large collections of recorded racing on VHR. We taped hundreds of hours of footage, with all races of worth covered including interviews that have long been forgotten.

A Cheltenham Festival in the early 1980's when Julian Wilson was given a demonstration of a newly designed recall system intended to deal with false starts. It involved blinking lights and a siren. The facial expression on Wilson accompanied by a dry observation made it clear he was unimpressed. It was never introduced.

On to the following decade when replays of Ascot Gold Cups were being shown with Wilson doing a talk over narration, which he was not expecting, as when they moved to a renewal with the commentary from the day, you heard Wilson snap, " Listen, I don't want this bloody talkback ! ".

Many will find that if they have still clung on to their VHR collection they'll discover that they are full of mould and either past the point of no return, or too costly to be salvaged, with too few hours in the day to follow a You Tube tutorial and try and salvage yourself. The next step would be to find a discontinued VHR to DVD copier on the likes of e-bay, and edit properly, as you'll find some peculiarities such as an episode of Sons And Daughters in between the Welsh National and Challow Hurdle, or one of Prisoner Cell Block H separating the Imperial Cup from the Supreme Novices Hurdle. 

Most will be aware that there are saviours out there in the form of some You Tube contributors who have uploaded a wide, impressive collection of material, with Espmadrid a legend for many. Eddie Cr has also uploaded some terrific stuff.

Some of these have extended coverage and it was pleasing to see they have those memorable post race interviews from the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Jonathan Powell's with Graham Bradley is a cracker and makes you realise how futile these present day tacky immediate post race interviews with the jockey aboard really are.

Likewise, it's delightful to stumble upon a race that you have not seen since the day. Henbit's Chester Vase. Looked a bit of a clumsy boat to me but connections knew better and went to Epsom with him. And for the first time since the day of the race I've watched the full running of Ile de Bourbon's 1978 King George Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the final few hurdles of Night Nurse's 1975 Irish Sweeps Hurdle. The last time I watched that was on the day of the race on Christmas Grandstand.

It cannot repeated enough that once you take the sport to heart, you will be punting on horses for a lifetime which is what is required on a wide scale for the sport to be able to continue to operate on its present scale.

A point worth raising about viewing old clips, and one in which racing holds an advantage over other sports, is that it takes only a matter of minutes to view even the long distance events. This means that you can watch the whole event unfold from start to finish.

Football, cricket and rugby fans cannot watch several full matches in one sitting. They'll search through the matches, watching abridged versions with many just showing the goals, wickets and boundaries, and tries.

The television companies must have vast archives of material. They should stuff copyright and allow open access. Let's face it, no one is going to be able to make a living flogging quality copy pirate tapes in their local pub of, for example, the 1986 Flat Season, no matter how vintage it was, so it should not be an issue.

Whether the BBC have retained all their reels is also an unknown. I believe the established television companies went about the task of digitilising their archive, but whether the beeb retained all of their originals may be doubtful as they washed their hands of the sport.

While it may be true that the healthy crowds who attended both days of the Cheltenham October meeting were genuine racing fans, the vast majority probably reside in the Cotswold catchment area that would have a larger percentage of racing enthusiasts per head of the region than most other areas.

Therefore to use this as a sign that all is well within the sport is misleading. In short, while they will likely contribute well to the sport through punting,  they make up a declining portion of the betting fraternity compared with the masses amongst the emerging generations who see betting as mostly about football, supported by the likes of cricket, tennis, rugby, golf, snooker, darts and the like.

We know ITV have an endless archive of racing going back many years, including the C4 era. We see bits of pieces of it, a few seconds here and there. If they really want to save the continuation of the sport at its present level then it would do no harm for them to make it accessible to all.

Repeating what they wish audiences to believe in the form of factual statements serves no useful purpose. For below the glossy exterior the sport has never been in a more precarious state than it is at this very moment.

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