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SPORT 45: END of MAY 2015

WHIPPING EXCITES BARONET Sir Mark Prescott is a man for whom I have recently developed a profound admiration. He is very knowledgeable. I have no doubt that he knows all about the late Jim Mahon. He surely knows that the BHA, in one of its better moves, encouraged, authorised and made available to racing throughout […]

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SPORT 44 (A HISTORIC EDITION)

THE ELECTION I first noticed Cameron when he stole Winston’s gift to Racing – the Tote – and sold it to Fred Done. After that I kept a jaundiced eye on him and couldn’t help noticing that he made endless mistakes and was (and still is) entirely charmless. That was when I started begging influential […]

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STARTING At Cheltenham the starting was so much better than in previous years. However the present system has an Achilles Heel, which will betray it sooner or later. Flat racing in Dubai – at the start an atmosphere of calm and quiet. Flat racing in England – the same thing. All relaxed, with the excellent […]

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SPORT 42: END OF FEB 2015

PORRIDGE A report from our gourmet: I spoke about porridge in the last outpouring but at that time I was unaware of an extra special delight which can be gleaned from Scotland’s national treasure. As follows: if one devours the warm contents of the pre-heated bowl while pacing calmly round the dining room table carrying […]

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SPORT 41 (END OF JAN 2015)

BITTAR Donec regrets Paul Bittar’s resignation and is astonished. Since the 1990s, when Lord Hartington (now the Duke of Devonshire) and Christopher Haines took racing by the scruff of the neck and dragged it into the modern world, Bittar has been the one and only quality act to appear on the scene. He extinguished the […]

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Happy New Year!  First the very best news CALIFORNIA CHROME In Sport 38 we praised him for finishing third (beaten a head and a neck) in the Breeders Cup Classic, and rejoiced to hear that he stays in training in 2015. We also wondered if he might be seen in Europe. We then forgot him […]

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MARATHON (Update) I suggested in Sport 38 that you should Google “running form comparison” and notice how Mo Farah takes longer strides than  Gebrsellassie and Bikele – longer and therefore using up more energy. Now here’s something equally important. Look at the same filmclip and hold a biro up against the level of the runners’ […]

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SPORT 38.5 (DIRTY WORK AFOOT)

Ex-jockey Graham Bradley served a five year ban (for talking to the wrong people and saying the wrong things for gain) and has since made it clear that he wishes to train. Since the end of his ban (2009), it is my understanding that he has behaved impeccably. However it would appear that High Holborn’s […]

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STARTING  UNDER NH RULES Donec returns to this subject reluctantly and with apologies. Needs must, because the signs are ominous. Recently the BHA’s Mr Stier issued a press release to the effect that he, the jockeys‘ association and the Cheltenham and Aintree authorities had conferred on the subject of large-field starting, and had agreed measures […]

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SPORT 37.5 (STARTING UPDATE)

STARTING UPDATE (12th October 2014, 12.43 p.m.) The two-week bedding-in period for the amendments to the starting process under NH rules (with particular reference to large fields) begins tomorrow at Sedgefield. The BHA announced this  in a press release issued on Thursday 9th October. It’s on the BHA website under Press Releases. It is interesting, […]

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GBB Toby Balding, who died recently, trained winners at the highest level. His record is superb. What stopped him from doing even better was his belief that there was more to life than training. And he wasn’t just referring to tennis and his various other recreational interests, important though he considered them. Quite early on […]

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SPORT 36 (End of Aug. 2014)

RACING The prospect of Paul Bittar’s departure from the BHA is a source of great sadness. Before he was even in the hot seat, in 2011, he had taken stock of the Whip controversy and sorted it out. One lived in hope (expectation, even) that he would do the same to all racing’s ailments. Three […]

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SPORT 35: End of July 2014

STARTING (big fields under NH rules) The sporting world is abuzz with the rumour that the perfect big-field start has not only been seen in Britain, but has actually been filmed. Following instructions imparted in the utmost secrecy, I dialled up Google and typed in:  “2013 Grand National Youtube.” See it for yourself, reader, and […]

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SPORT 34 END OF JUNE 2014

C4 Racing  –  Waving or Drowning? We are looking for reasons why 20 percent less viewers (than last year) watched C4 Racing’s Ascot Gold Cup  coverage. Possibly it’s because the programme’s lead presenters are just a little bit dull. Step forward Messrs Luck, McGrath, Cunningham and Fitzgerald. I believe the IMG plan was to make […]

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SPORT 33: End of May 2014

STARTING The Grand National Fall-Out has yet to hit the ground. A Disciplinary Hearing is due on 11th June. It would be nice to find it applying itself to improving a starting system which is flawed and, where large fields are involved, responsible for an unacceptable number of unfair starts and false starts. That seems […]

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SPORT 32 (End of April 2014)

STARTING I am pleased that chaos (at the start of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National) has not triggered the kind of knee-jerk reaction that can only make matters worse. If one can take the “Whitbread” weekend as the end of the jump season (even though the new season bounces into action with […]

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SPORT 31 (End of March 2014)

THE BUDGET. I understand that the recent budget contained provision for a measure requiring offshore bookmakers to contribute towards racing’s finances in the same way as bookmakers based in Britain. It also contained, I am led to believe, a measure which would allow the racing industry to charge bookmakers for the right to bet on […]

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HARD WORDS

Ten years ago the BHB (British Horseracing Board, as it was called in those days) went to court to establish that the data generated by the racing industry was the copyright property of the racing industry, which that industry was entitled to sell to parties who wished to make use of it. Litigation between the […]

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A LETTER TO MR STIER

Dear Mr Stier, During your discussion with Nick Luck on Channel 4 television in July (or was it early August?), you explained your belief that the Rules of Racing concerning “Interference” should be interpreted in such a way as to enable the “best” horse in a race to win it. This philosophy swims against a […]

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FALMOUTH FALL-OUT

Falmouth Stakes, Newmarket. 12th July 2013. (Group 1, £102,078 to winner, £38,700 to the second) PART 1 At the 2-furlong marker, Elusive Kate, ridden by Buick, is galloping close to the far rails, with her head turned slightly to her right, towards the rails.  Sky Lantern, ridden by Hughes, is a length behind her, and […]

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SIR HENRY CECIL

I never met Henry Cecil.  Very, very attractive human beings are rare, and superb trainers are even rarer. To have passed a lifetime not that far away from one who earned both accolades and to have neglected to find my way into the presence is negligence indeed, and I have already started living to regret […]

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I have read with interest the post-Aintree reactions of those most closely concerned with that meeting in general and with the Grand National in particular. I was reminded that the racing authorities maintain good relations and a continuing dialogue with the RSPCA. Both parties have an interest in animal welfare and the exchange of ideas […]

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Sport 29: THE AINTREE IRONY

What new evidence has Aintree 2013 added to the Great Starting Debate? “Thursday, 3.40  Foxhunters. Large field wandering around at the start, under no form of direction or control. Followed by the Demented Carousel and a False Start. Eriday , 3.40 Topham. Large field wandering around at the start, under no form of direction or […]

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“Look at them now. They’re all bunched up and getting competitive.” A description, not of galloping horses  reaching the top of the hill at Cheltenham, but of the “holding area” down at the start of the 2.25 at Warwick on 12th January, 2013, where 18 runners were in the first stages of the starting process. […]

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In recent weeks, watching racing on TV, I’ve noticed that down at the start there is a lot more walking going on, where once one saw horses milling about in a mildly chaotic fashion quite a lot of the time. If my eyes have not deceived me, I congratulate whoever is responsible for this change. […]

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The start of the Badger Ales Chase at Wincanton on November 10th was interesting. The horses were on the track when the TV cameras first focussed on them, 13 runners walking round  in threes or fours: horses and riders relaxed, comfortable, at ease and ready to go to work.   When the starter asked them […]

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I question the necessity of taking the runners off the course at the start, and it is certainly true that with large fields (15 is about the tipping point) it is the return to the racing surface that triggers the flaw in the system. However, let us suppose that the present “holding area” continues to […]

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24: FRANKEL, PART TWO

  My one worry about Frankel’s run at York, on Wednesday, 22nd August 2012,  concerned the journey from the racecourse stables on the far side of the back straight to the racecourse proper. Normally, runners are led across, between races, and this can be a period when a high-strung horse can get upset.  I thought […]

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In 1946 Fred Darling of Beckhampton, England’s premier trainer (seven Derby winners to his name), had in his care Tudor Minstrel, a two-year-old well enough bred to win him another Derby.  In 1946 Tudor Minstrel was unbeaten in four races and ended the season as the highest-rated two-year old in Britain. In 1947 he won […]

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Sport 22: JULY LOCAL SURVEY

FOOTBALL The bare facts of the Eurochampionships speak for themselves. England were beaten (not at football, but at penalties) by Italy, who ended up as losing finalists. That means that, at European level, England is competitive. It was also quite a good result in another way. Losing their semifinal saved them from a hammering at […]

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