SPORT 114 (March 2^nd 2021)

STARTING

Today, March 2^nd, is the 17^th Anniversary of the letter I received from the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club in response to a critical letter of mine on the subject of starting Big Fields under NH Rules. He assured me that the matter was under review and all was well.  As it turned out, the review was worthless and all was not by any means well, apart from a healthy growth in the number of False Starts.

On the 5^th of May this year we celebrate the 10^th anniversary of a letter on the same subject I received from Mr Jamie Stier, director of Raceday Operations for the BHA at that time. The BHA, he confided, was committed to “monitoring and improving.” In fact nothing was done and False Starts  became a feature of his regime.

In October 2014 a conference of the powers at Cheltenham Racecourse which included Stier decided that changes in the starting arrangements for big fields under NH rules must be made, and Mr Stier himself said he would review the situation. The result was no action whatsoever.

Most recently the newly recruited international team of Dunshea and O’Meara have allegedly subjected the starting of big fields to a three-months experimental period. Strangely the option that would have worked (a return to the system that had proved successful for 200 years before the tampering began) was not on their agenda. We now look forward…. to a Cheltenham Festival that may or may not be about to take place, and we will see what we will see.

WOMEN

I quote from SPORT 112 (issued JANUARY 1^ST 2020, @ www.donec.co.uk.):

The Chairman of the BHA, who has been in place for some months, is Annamarie Phelps, a woman. The recently appointed Chief Executive is also a woman. Her name is Julie Harrington. Whether by accident or design, both these ladies had recent experience in the field of “Sporting Authorities which were not performing properly,” and in each case the ladies made a difference. Is that important? You bet it is.

For the last sixty years British Racing, in spite of supposedly being the best in the world,  has fumbled and stumbled from crisis to crisis (usually financial) because it cannot put its house in order. And why is that? Because every time there is a vacancy at the top of the BHA the job has been given to a friend, or a good fellow, or a jolly nice chap, or someone who has two hunters down on the farm.  Result? Fumbling and stumbling and another four years down the drain.

It is not a sickness that pervades the whole of the industry. At the coalface British racing is indeed the best in the world. It is just the top tier of the BHA that consistently lets the rest of the industry down.

This is the first time that the two top people have “form”: they know how to change things for the better. This is an interesting time for both of them, and a vital one for the industry.

Annamarie Phelps was comparatively new to racing when she took office; this would certainly have limited her confidence up to now. Julie Harrington, in contrast, has done plenty of jobs in racing and has been on the BHA Board in a previous era. This means that she can do wonders on her own account, and can advise Mrs Phelps if and when the latter needs advice.  As a team they could be exceptional. I wish them the best of luck.

Not for one minute do I hold them responsible for the dreary story of Big-Field Starting. But if the upcoming Cheltenham Festival suggests that it is still a serious problem – which it will,  I would expect the two top ladies to take action, and I can assure them that they will find the so-called problem is an absolute piece of cake for anybody who  understands that correct starting procedure is absolutely essential for any racing authority that  prides itself on its position in the world of sport.

Here’s how it goes:

1. Horses leave the paddock and make their way to start.

2. There, final preparations are completed.

3. An interval follows as the field waits for the official start time.

4. During that interval there is only one priority – to keep the horses calm and relaxed.

5. Big fields should spend this interval circling, nose to tail, at the walk, 20/30 yards behind the starting gate. They stay there until the starter calls them and then they respond – still walking.    Job done.

6.  This system proved satisfactory for 200 years, whereas the present mess has been a disgrace on a regular basis for twenty years.

PS Here’s what Henrietta Knight has had to say on the subject (Racing Post, 26th April 2020):

Asked “If you could change one rule in racing what would it be?”

She answered  “Improve the starts.… I thought the starts at Cheltenham this year were appalling [7 false starts in 3 days]. “The system’s wrong and something has to be done. It makes a mockery of the races.”

Best wishes,

donec