Posted in Sport on Aug 31st, 2022 No Comments »
Prize-money: This section is based on an excellent Jonathan Harding article in the Racing Post. in which he compares prize-money funding models around the globe. I quote: ”Prize-money is the lifeblood of racing, but there are growing fears the returns on offer in Britain are not nearly enough to maintain its position as a world-leading […]
Posted in Sport on Jun 29th, 2022 3 Comments »
The Bigger Picture My reaction to Joe Saumarez Smith’s appointment as Interim Chairman of the BHA was fairly lukewarm. The fact that he was a long-time BHA insider counted against him in my opinion. Subsequently I have done my research, and find him very impressive. He must have a brain the size of a bus, […]
Posted in Sport on May 31st, 2022 No Comments »
Owing to the state of my Information Technology I cannot provide my usual critique of the facts of life in Britain’s Racing Industry. This is a good thing: I have spent far too long being disgusted by the performance of the BHA. My only consolation in this regard is the increase which I think I […]
Posted in Sport on May 14th, 2022 No Comments »
SPORT 129 This is a mid-month update, because events are beginning to run away from me and weaknesses in my IT technology has let me down bigtime. More likely I have let it down, but the result is the same: a sense of “don’t panic” threatens my comfort zone. Chairperson Mrs Annamarie Phelps leaves the […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 30th, 2022 No Comments »
CHELTENHAM Tuesday: 3 False Starts Wednesday: 3 False Starts The starters’ team adopted emergency tactics for the three big-field-races on Thursday. The first stage was to send the Rolling Maul (the close packed and as yet unstressed runners) back down the track away from the start until it was almost out of sight, and then […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 7th, 2022 No Comments »
has bitten the dust AS A RESULT OF your editor’s incompetence with regard to usernames and passwords. Just now Windows Live Mail isn’t very pleased with me; nor is g-mail. Two vital matters were dealt with by post, and I now have three weeks to put my house in order. I wish you a happy […]
Posted in Sport on Feb 2nd, 2022 No Comments »
PARTIES The two battles of El Alamein (in 1942) were preceded by several months of high tension as Rommel waited for more petrol from Italy and Montgomery for better tanks from America. During this period it became normal for Monty’s junior officers to be sent into Cairo at regular intervals, under orders to indulge […]
Posted in Sport on Jan 1st, 2022 3 Comments »
In terms of British Racing, it is impossible to say Happy New Year because there are so many imponderables and uncertainties, plus an overload recently of the sewage which the human race coughs up from time to time. The festive season was not designed for Robbie Dunne and Graham Gibbon. The Bryony Frost case began […]
Posted in Sport on Dec 3rd, 2021 5 Comments »
INTERFERENCE A month ago, at a hearing conducted by the BHA’s Independent Judiciary, Mr John Berry (racehorse trainer) gave a masterclass on the Interference Rules and their application (See SPORT 123). John warned of the horror story that was surely on it way, when he mentioned the almost unbelievable fact that no Dangerous Riding judgement […]
Posted in Sport on Nov 3rd, 2021 No Comments »
SPORT 123 (3RDND NOVEMBER 2021) I cannot resist the temptation to make use – in a good cause – of a wonderful bit of writing by the Racing Post’s Chris Cook. It is a vital bit of evidence about the critical situation in which the BHA’s Interference rules find themselves. As follows: John Berry (trainer […]
Posted in Sport on Oct 2nd, 2021 No Comments »
I quote from September’s SPORT 120: The House of Commons for example used to treat the difficult relationship between Racing and Betting as a rather charming facet of the British Character. Recently it has changed its tune: it seems to have noticed that gambling as a national pastime is a positive threat to the health […]
Posted in Sport on Aug 31st, 2021 No Comments »
Lingfield, UB40 Concert after racing, a fight. There is a view that if the racecourses will make themselves more interesting they will attract bigger crowds and allow the management to make more money. Time and again, however, we have seen that more people does not mean more racing fans. It means the same number of […]
Posted in Sport on Aug 2nd, 2021 2 Comments »
Stewarding Paul Struthers, the Chief Executive of the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), recently wrote the following in the Racing Post, in the debate concerning the cooperation (or lack of same) between the Racecourse Stewards and the Independent Judiciary. I paraphrase: “As regards penalties incurred by jockeys for rule-breaking on the racecourse, there are approximately 800 […]
Posted in Sport on Jul 1st, 2021 1 Comment »
A War Zone Early in the month of June I took part in a healthy exchange of views with a high-ranking member of the BHA’s top table. We agreed that I could express my views on any number of subjects, but if I criticised named officers of the BHA I should expect legal action, visits […]
Posted in Sport on May 1st, 2021 No Comments »
SPORT 116 (1ST MAY 2021.) Not so long ago Mr Rust (BHA Chief Exec) and Mrs Phelps (BHA Chairperson) announced that the Kingsclere Apprentice Academy was violating human rights, because the management was taking too much of the income generated by its apprentices on the racecourse. They said that the rights of young people in […]
Posted in Sport on Apr 2nd, 2021 No Comments »
MUSHROOMS Once upon a time, one of the ultimate pleasures was watching horses work up on the gallops and returning to breakfast with a hatful of large flat mushrooms which added something so, so, so special to the fried breakfast. Have I mentioned that nowadays large flat mushrooms are available at Tesco’s? No kidding, they […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 2nd, 2021 No Comments »
SPORT 114 (March 2nd 2021) STARTING Today, March 2nd, is the 17th 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 […]
Posted in Sport on Feb 1st, 2021 No Comments »
SPORT 113 PRINCE KHALID Prince Khalid Abdullah was a prince in more senses than one. So was the man who introduced him to the top level of British racing, the late Jeremy Tree. That’s a mistake. Mr Tree was never a prince, not even in one sense. What am I trying to say? I […]
Posted in Sport on Jan 1st, 2021 No Comments »
KING GEORGE VI CHASE, KEMPTON PARK, BOXING DAY The ground (good to soft, officially) played a major part in the way things turned out. Bryony Frost and Frodon set a pace that was comfortable for them and perhaps just a bit demanding for most of the others on that ground, and the winning team’s jumping […]
Posted in Sport on Nov 30th, 2020 No Comments »
FENCES On the subject of riding over fences, here are two quotations from the best book ever written about horseracing, “Men and Horses I have known,” by George Lambton. Reminiscing about the l88Os, he wrote: “Old John Hubert Moore, Garrett’s father, was a wonderful old fellow, a great, rugged, tall man (about 6 foot 4 […]
Posted in Sport on Nov 1st, 2020 No Comments »
REFLECTION This virus is hell, but it gives one time to reflect. I reflect on the subject of the BHA. For the last sixty years this organisation has been claiming sick benefit, acting dead, or possibly just cheating the racing community by playing games which are designed exclusively for the benefit of the BHA itself. […]
Posted in Sport on Sep 30th, 2020 No Comments »
RACING AND THE VIRUS In my opinion, Racing has responded to the virus in a manner that is exciting and remarkable and a delight for anyone who holds the sport in high regard. As far as I can see, everybody has put shoulder to wheel and applied best endeavour to job in hand. As regards […]
Posted in Sport on Sep 1st, 2020 No Comments »
MORE THAN A TRIPLE CROWN In the spring of 2014 California Chrome won the first two legs in America’s Triple Crown, and finished 4th in the Belmont (the third leg). This alerted “Donec” to the world of Triple Crowns, apart from England’s own combination of 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger, so we applied ourselves […]
Posted in Sport on Jul 31st, 2020 No Comments »
NO SILVER BULLET I take this opportunity to flog a dead horse, because it refuses to give up the ghost. It seems to be impossible to stop otherwise intelligent people from insisting that British racing’s survival and prosperity depends on the sport somehow or other converting into passionate enthusiasts several million people who have for […]
Posted in Sport on Jun 28th, 2020 2 Comments »
HOT STUFF Richard Forristal’s brilliant account of the Irish 2000 Guineas (Racing Post, Friday, 12th June) should be read in full and cherished indefinitely. I quote Mr Forristal: “Social distancing rules in Ireland provide for gatherings of no more than six people and Aidan O’Brien had sought to make full use of that quota with […]
Posted in Sport on May 30th, 2020 2 Comments »
RESUMPTION (OF RACING) If the BHA has prepared a resumption plan that will work, it has done well. If it has decided to factor in the greatest good for the greatest number of those afflicted by the virus (i.e. the bigger picture), it has done even better. The industry has everything to play for. Fingers […]
Posted in Sport on May 1st, 2020 No Comments »
Here is something that I note with more than passing interest: Racing Post 26th April 2020. Henrietta Knight: Questions and answers. “If you could change one rule in racing what would it be?” David Gable asks. Answer: “Improve the starts. I hate standing starts, especially in the big races. You can’t have 25 super-fit horses all […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 31st, 2020 No Comments »
SPORT 103 A GLANCE AT THE Stewards Report for the Betfair Hurdle, Newbury 8th February and one finds the by-now-normal verdict: “Having reviewed recordings of the false start the starters were satisfied that no riders should be reported….” It really is embarrassing to read such rubbish emanating from the top brass of a great sport […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 20th, 2020 No Comments »
CORONAVIRUS 1 In 1914 racing was stopped by the government because of WW1, and then resumed on a limited scale in response to public opinion. It turned out that the men at the front found that news from the racecourses of England provided vital relief from the horrors of killing and being killed in mud […]
Posted in Sport on Mar 1st, 2020 No Comments »
Apprentice pay changes I understand that the new arrangements come into force at the beginning of the 2020 Flat season. Just about now, I imagine. The BHA was asked to deal with a small number of trainers who do not reimburse the legitimate expenses incurred by, and paid by, their apprentices. This project was well […]