The week that was - 1st to 7th March

Hi all,

Given I haven't watched much racing this week, and the below explains why, I hope someone can give a review of the weeks racing and send this thread on a traditional route!!


Having seen a week of bizarre and peculiar news and debate take place in racing, I wanted to share my thoughts about the sport and my honest and frank opinions on where it needs to go.

Firstly, I have spoken about the Gordon Elliott case and my views on it, so this blog isn't particularly about that, but obviously given how awful I have found that story it is bound to hold a part of what I am going to post.

I have a financial interest in racing, with syndicate horse with Fergal O'Brien, and as an avid racegoer (member at Cheltenham and often go to many other courses in the South West throughout the year) and I do like to have a bet on the racing. I put a decent amount of money into the sport and I do it because as Fergal has said previously - It is an entertainment industry.

I like going racing, the whole feel of seeing new horses in novice races and following the careers of horses from the early promise, through their careers in racing over hurdles and fences. I like the spectacle of a horse race, the tactics, the skill and the thrill of seeing a selection being in contention.

I also really like studying the form, predicting if horses are likely to improve enough to feature in a race at big odds and I like winning. All of which led me to contact Fergals yard a few years ago. I went to see Sally at their old yard and chatted about their FOB horse Project Mars. The whole idea of going to a yard was new for me, I am the first in my family to go to University and to work in a "professional" industry, we have had very little interaction with horses other than through my Auntie who rescues and looks after as many animals as she can!

Given that I am an outsider to the sport I didn't know what to expect at a racing yard, and whilst the old yard was in need of some TLC, the one thing you could tell was the work and effort that went into making sure the horses were looked after to make them the best sports animal they could be. They are well fed, meticulously turned out and also get plenty of time in the field to relax and enjoy their surroundings.

However what impressed me most about Sally and the team was their friendliness and openness to talk to people about their industry and their team. I felt welcome and that I wasn't an imposter in their yard, which to me is one of the main reasons that I wanted to see if I would like to be involved in a horse.

Now owning a racehorse is an expensive hobby, even if its only a relatively small share in one!! You get very little pure return on investment but you should know that before getting involved. You get involved because you have other reasons, mine was I wanted to feel even more a part of a sport I have followed for ages.

Now, with the pandemic and the lockdown of our lives, racing has become a solice for many who watch the racing daily/weekly and it provides welcome distraction from lifes monotony. However the lockdown has meant that visiting the yard hasn't been possible and going racing is also off the cards. Watching racing on TV is fine, but it doesn't give me the thrill of going racing and to be honest I have become pretty uninterested with racing on TV.

Racing as an entertainment industry therefore hasn't been interesting or entertaining, it has become frustrating and with the lack of funding of prize money and lack of going racing it has become pretty pointless. The run up to my favourite four days of sport has become tedious, I don't like listening to racing broadcasting community tell me which horse they like for the Champion Hurdle. I don't value your opinions, I have my own and lets face it, how much of what you hear on the previews is absolute bunkum? I'd argue at 90%.

So, when racing then gets dragged through the mud, via the Gordon Elliott saga and also other issues like Dubai and the Godolphin kidnap story, I end up asking myself - is this the sport that I love?

At the minute it isn't, without going racing and going to the yard, racing isn't what it should be. It has been made even worse by the awful stories, the awful return on investment and the awful entertainment value. I am sick of seeing horses die on TV, I am sick of hearing the same old lines about the horses being beloved and images of stable lasses and lads hugging their horses.

I say that not because I think racing is bad, the love the lads and lasses have for the animal is true, I can assure you of that from everything I have seen at Fergals yards, but the sport damages itself in the UK and Ireland. Through betting exchanges and the poor funding for prizemoney we have left the sport in tatters, the UK isn't competing well with Ireland in NH racing and it isn't attractive to many who aren't bred into the industry or who are close to the sport.

So it begs the question - Will you continue to support the sport?

I will, but it is teetering very close to the edge for me, I hope the sport can take massive positive steps out of lockdown and allow people to go racing again. The thrill of that might change my views on whether racing is the entertainment industry for me. If not, I might well be going to more football games and less racing fixtures in the coming years. That would cost the sport my money, and whilst that is a small amount in the grand scale, I am sure the sport has many others who may be turning away with bigger investments and bigger implications. ​

 

thanks nass , a very heartfelt and obviously honest opinion, whilst not engaged remotely at your level , it’s obvious that racing industry has both structural and image problems . As it’s run by the upper class old school network, i doubt it can adapt to a modern world . Shame really as it has huge potential as an entertainment industry , needs more FOB types steering it and less of the tweed suited bunters . This of course won’t happen , the power that lies within won’t be relinquished, it will bumble along , closure of courses , yards , and more fodder type all weather racing , sprinkled with the grade 1 events , but the grass roots will be left to fend for itself . Hope i’m wrong !

 

Racing has loads of issues currently, the funding and distribution of funds for me is a massive issue and one that needs major restructuring of the sport. The whole ethos of the sport is to get a horse well handicapped to land a punt, rather than to see how good a horse is.

As you say, and it’s one of my major issues, I don’t think change is likely or wanted by the majority of those in the powerful positions. It’ll just bumble along as a fodder for the big bookmakers and those who want a day out on the beer.

a small corner of the sport will still be around whenever you’ve got yards who are inclusive and want people involved. However that’s always going to be a small minority.

Hope I am wrong, but I doubt it!

 

Think you’ve misunderstood, I’m all for the big owners, they deserve the success they get for their investment and probably they get as little financial ROI as the rest of us.


I think racing needs a fairer deal with bookmaker revenue or a return to a monopoly like in other jurisdictions. The issue is the Government not helping the sport get the books balanced and the only folk who miss out are those funding the horses in the first place.

Not sure if people saw the interview with Kevin Blake this week on the financial impacts of government spending in racing over in Ireland and their ROI for doing so. Well worth trying to dig it out.

 

It's the same in show jumping, with the rich paying fortunes for the best horses and paying for top trainers and riders. But, it is so bloody fantastic when you beat them