SPORT 109 (1 oct 2020)
Sep 30th, 2020 by admin
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 the professions (breeder, trainer, jockey, work force), that doesn’t surprise me: they have a tradition that in every situation problems are there to be solved, and that where horses are concerned there is only one way – the proper way.
I also have the highest regard for racehorse owners. They wouldn’t do what they do and pay the price that they pay if they were not in love with racing – and British racing in particular. They are not just fair-weather friends.
As regards the management of the sport I am pleasantly surprised to find the BHA trying hard to see that there is a sensible cohesion about the policies that are promoted, adopted and pursued. I also get the impression that if the BHA misses a trick somebody from another section of the racing community will sound a warning. That is how things should have been since forever – the constituent parts calling the shots and cracking the whip when necessary. They should think about making a habit of it.
One has seen people responding to the situation so well that one thing is clear to this observer: when this disaster is over, the racing industry will have a good idea of what needs to be done and a good idea of who is capable of doing it. They must insist that only the best is good enough for British Racing.
My advice to the government while the going is knee-deep? Carrot and Stick. First, how about a bit of virus-related fun, if such a thing is possible? Weekly virtual competitions for the best mask, the best mask plus traditional headgear, the best mask plus amazing headgear (antlers, what?) Big cash prizes – which will be peanuts compared with the damage being done to our economy by the virus. Song & dance. Prime time TV material! Lord Lloyd Webber, have you any ideas?
Second, the government should be locking up people who flout the rules. They should emphasise the link between yobbo bloodymindedness and old gits (me, for example) dropping off the perch. Boris, some things are beyond a cheeky grin and a fleeting wave! Hang tougher!
I WAS A SIXTIES ICON
This morning I wore a tie.
Dark blue background, covered with cream polka dots. Do you need to know this? Probably not, but I feel an urge to share my concern. May I ? Thank you… Partly this is about awareness of the recent public gravitation towards the open neck, and partly it is something to do with a subtext of doubt: lurking in the shadows of my mind was/is/has been the suspicion that the open neck was/is/has been a mistake.
Indeed? Why?
Because a man’s neck is seldom a thing of beauty, especially as he grows older. The Adam’s Apple, glimpsed in a passing mirror, can cause one to duck and dive, eyes tight shut, and perhaps walk into the wall. Why on earth would one want to draw attention to that distorted moonscape? No reason at all, and as long as the tie was there one had every chance of avoiding blood on the carpet.
A tie also reduces the draught that finds its way down the neck, hinders the raindrops that encourage pneumonia, and supports the head.
Now for something more significant. A tie says something…. it says everything…… it says all that you want the world to know…. about your culture and your mood. You can send messages and play games and impress (if you wish) by your use of colour, shapes, design, balance, and movement. It is your flag.
One last word. The collar, the neck and the despised Adam’s Apple combine for just one purpose that is breathtaking in its charm: to provide the perfect setting for something beautiful A beautiful tie is just what the Great Stylist in the Sky had in mind.
THE GREAT COPYRIGHT SCANDAL
I seem to remember that in 2003 racing’s financial experts ad come up with a scheme to increase the sport’s income from the betting community by charging a reasonable price for every bit of paper that Weatherbys handed over to the bookmakers for nothing every day so that they could turn racing into the goldmine that it has always been – for them. (Don’t take umbrage, gentlemen! Remember – in adversity we must stick together!)
What happened? Two British Courts looked at the scheme and gave it their blessing. Whereupon the trading house known as William Hill took the matter to the European Court of Justice, where three men in skirts came to the conclusion (described in several languages as “unbelievable” and even “perverse”) that British Racing did not have copyright over its own paperwork.
Today the dreaded ECJ is no longer capable of gainsaying British Judges. I don’t know whether the facts of copyright in this day and age are the same as they were in 2003. If they are, I recommend that the best brains in the Jockey Club, Weatherbys and the BHA scrum down, kick on and take no prisoners.
Meanwhile racing survives to a limited extent and in a disciplined way and it certainly adds to the happiness of the nation, as it did throughout two world wars. Does that entitle me to use the phrase “There is a war on, you know”? Well, there is, and the enemy shows little sign of giving in, so far. Completely new, completely different and incredibly hard to get on top of. Looking around the world, has any nation found the answer? Not as far as I know. We must try harder.
KAMEKO
He won the 2000 Guineas (one mile) in record time, and then finished 4th in the Derby. Pretty good, but Connections decided that he didn’t stay a mile and a half. They set about finding what his best distance is.
He ran next over one mile at Goodwood and had traffic problems which prevented him from showing his best form. Finished 4th again.
Then he went to York (a mile and a quarter) and finished 4th a third time. That might have been a distance problem, or it could have just been a bad day at the office. However, time was passing and a certain amount of nail-biting was noted among his entourage.
Most recently he was entered in a mile race at Newmarket. The conditions stated that the winner of a Group 1 race must carry an extra five pounds. So Kameko’s win in the 2000 Guineas (Group 1) meant that four good class older horses were carrying one pound less than him, when they would have been carrying five pounds more than him if it wasn’t for that penalty clause.
No big deal. We are talking about something that could make a difference of one length or a little bit more at the finish. In such cases a trainer would perhaps say to the owner, “Let’s not run him there because he meets the others on bad terms.” A cautious approach.
However a trainer might say, “Let us go for that race. Never mind the bad terms. We want to see how good our horse is, and we need to find out what trip suits him best.” A bolder approach which, I suspect, was the thinking in the Kameko camp.
Newmarket, one mile, September 25th, off they go. Kameko is in third position, or maybe fourth, going easily. As the third furlong ends, approaching halfway, all of a sudden he starts going backwards and jockey Oisin Murphy is seen pushing for all he’s worth. One just has time to think of all the horrors that might be going on out there on the track, and then the camera angle changes and we see Kameko galloping gracefully into an empty space on his left hand side, then sauntering up to the leader and straight past him. When he passes the post he is I think a length and a bit in front, and he wouldn’t have blown out a candle. He decelerates down to a trot and turns left-handed towards the exit from the track. He is now walking and there is nothing about his action to suggest injury, imbalance or discomfort.
Your author takes a deep breath as he realises what he has seen. It looked – did it not? – as though Kameko had tried to pull himself up in mid-race! It had taken all the strength of the champion Flat race jockey to persuade him to resume normal service. What on earth was going on?
What makes it even more wonderful is the fact that his time was even faster than the one that won him the 2000 Guineas. Any explanation for those few electric seconds when his magnificent body hiccupped for three, four, five strides? No explanation has been suggested. Could he have been distracted by a butterfly or a particularly juicy dandelion? Maybe he was hyping himself up for the finishing burst which produced the phenomenal time of the race. Maybe he was aware of the anxieties of his human associates and wanted to convince them once and for all that he was indeed a Miler – a Miler of Amazing Talent.
DATES for your attention:
SATURDAY 3RD OCTOBER, perhaps 1036 GMT, THE PREAKNESS, LAST LEG OF THE UNITED STATES QUADRILATERAL (SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TRIPLE CROWN) SKY TV. Check the time.
SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE, Longchamp 3.05 ITV (ENABLE etc)
Better racing you will never see
Best wishes,
Donec