AW, Bouquets and McCoy

As the cold weather shows no sign of abating it is time to ride one of my perennial hobby-horses, the misleading epithet that is “all weather” racing.

As we all know “all weather” racing was introduced to reduce the decimation of the racing program when the weather, as now, was inclement.

From the outset these fixtures have proved to be anything but “all weather” with fog, rain, frost and snow all conspiring to prevent racing at various times.

As I write this today’s “all weather meeting” at Lingfield has been abandoned due to snow and they are currently inspecting at Wolverhampton.

Now I freely accept I am not a great fan of “all weather” racing, so I may be jaundiced in my view, however I do accept it does have a place alongside the more traditional forms of racing.

What really irritates me though is the insistence that it is still called “all weather” racing, when it clearly is not.

Indeed one could go as far as to say it is positively misleading and to persist in calling it “all weather” racing when it is patently is not is not only disingenuous, it is positively misleading.

Indeed it would be interesting if there was an advertisement somewhere which emphasised the fact the racing was “all weather” and said advertisement was referred to the Advertising Standards Authority. I would suggest it would be 1.01 the complaint would be upheld.

Now I realise the BHA have bigger fish to fry but how about putting to rest, once and for all, the fallacious epithet “all weather” to be finally but to bed and replaced with something like “artificial surface” or “synthetic surface”.

I am surprised such a suggestion has not come from Racing For Change (RFC), then again expecting anything half decent from RFC is asking too much – “half-cocked” probably best describes most of their suggestions.

I am starting my own one-man campaign to get this change and henceforth the fixtures information on my web-site will no longer refer to AW fixtures but to AS fixtures, a small gesture I know but a stand nonetheless.

However it is not all criticism for the BHA. They are far more proactive than their predecessors in adverse weather conditions.

Last weekend saw a rapid rescheduling of the Fighting Fifth when Newcastle was lost to the adverse weather and there has been a rapid attempt to reschedule Friday’s lost Exeter meeting from Friday to Sunday.

There has also been the provisional of additional all-weather fixtures and, at least they have not been marketed as “replacement” fixtures because replacement fixtures they are not.

Although, again in defence of the BHA, it is hoped we will once again see some additional NH meetings

Apart from Southwell switching their NH meeting to an AW fixture the courses losing the NH fixture do not benefit.

The trainers of the NH horses unable to run do not benefit, nor do the horses themselves or the NH jockeys who lose out on riding fees and win percentages.

So who does benefit?

Well trainers of generally low grade all weather horses benefit, however it is a moot point if there should be more races staged for the benefit of such low grade runners.

Flat jockeys who should now be on holiday will benefit, albeit at the expense of their NH cousins.

However a clue to the biggest beneficiaries of these additional meetings can be found in the race titles.

Is it simply coincidence the additional fixtures invariably end up being sponsored by bookmakers?

Actually I don’t really know why I put a question mark at the end of the preceding paragraph as it was, in reality, a rhetorical question.

Perhaps that explains why Paul Roy is so often railing against the bookmakers – is it a form of envy as he realises his role is actually meaningless. He has actually realised the tail of racing (aka The Bookmakers) actually wags the dog (the BHA).

If all NH racing is called off due to adverse weather conditions then why do extra fixtures need to be staged?

At last AP McCoy has finally made it to the shortlist for Sports Personality Of The Year (SPOTY) and not before time.

How ironic, therefore, having finally reached the shortlist he hits the headlines for the wrong reasons. Instead of acting like the consummate professional he usually is, he decides to have an attack of petulance and throw his toys out of the pram and not speak to Racing UK (RUK).

McCoy’s “justification” for the boycott is, and I quote from his own blog, “ It was the accusations made by two of their TV presenters who in my opinion were very persistent in insinuating I was allegedly cheating on ‘Get Me Out Of Here’.”

I’m sorry AP but, excuse the vernacular, that is an absolute load of bollocks.

Anybody who reads my race reports will know I am one of AP McCoy’s greatest fans and time and time again I have commented on rides where only he could have got the winner home.

However it is almost universally accepted, even implied by McCoy himself, that he was gentle on Get Me Out Of Here.

It was a ride which was worthy of being questioned and has been throughout the racing media, often in terms a great deal stronger than those expressed on RUK.

I have watched the replays of the comments McCoy has taken exception too and I found them to be neither persistent and, more importantly, at no point did they suggest or insinuate McCoy cheated.

I’m not sure if McCoy has some other agenda with the presenters involved, however his behaviour is unedifying and it does nothing to enhance his reputation.

I was going to chivvy up as much support at possible for McCoy in the SPOTY voting, now I am tempted to encourage others not to vote for him.

Do I really want a such a petulant person winning a top award?

I have always held McCoy in the highest esteem, however in this latest episode he has done little to endear himself. Perhaps during his current enforced break he will take some time out to view a recording of the race in question, then reflect on what he has said since the Get Me Out Of Here Ride ….. which was a shocker.

Then, maybe, he can eat a portion of ‘umble pie and apologise to those he has himself defamed and stop behaving like some spoiled prima donna.

In truth I do not think McCoy is guilty of anything more than a “bad day at the office” when he rode Get me Out Of Here. He cites welfare concerns for his ride yet he seemingly neglected to report these to the appropriate authorities on the day.

It also has to be said the Stewards at Ascot on the day did little to assist the situation in failing to look into the run on the day. This is not the first time the actions, or in this case inactions, of the Ascot stewards have been called into question. I will not start banging my “professional stewards” drum again today.

So until McCoy admits he has overreacted I will not be voting for him in SPOTY and I would actively encourage others to vote for one of the other candidates as well, as long as it is not Phil Taylor as there is no way darts can be considered a sport.