Champions Day & Channel Four Presenters

There are, I admit, times when I’m standing in the pouring rain, on a wet Monday afternoon with a couple of hundred other racegoers when I wonder why I bother following this sport of horse racing.

Then again there are days, like last Saturday, when I know there is nowhere in the world I would rather be. 

I’m referring, of course, to British Champion’s Day at Ascot last Saturday, where I experienced one of the best atmospheres at a racecourse ever. For one it seemed over 90% of those present were actually there for the racing.

Although there were five championship races most were there to see the one race, indeed the one horse, the mighty Frankel who was there to make his last appearance on a racecourse.

However it almost didn’t happen as the wet weather threatened the horses participation in the race and was dependent on connections walking the course on Saturday morning.

As Racing For Change’s Rod Street put it to me afterwards it was “squeaky bum time” – imagine the sense of anti-climax has Frankel not run.

Both the pre-parade ring and parade ring were surrounded by massive crowds wanting to get a glimpse of the unbeaten wonder horse, something that added another irony to the day.

Excelebration after winning the QEII

The race before Frankel’s was the Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the mile, the very race Frankel won last year and it was won in devastating style by the horse who has lived in Frankel’s shadow, Excelebration. A brilliant, gutsy horse in his own right who would have been an undoubted superstar had he not been of the same generation as the once in a lifetime horse.

Even on Saturday, the day he wasn’t racing against Frankel he still managed to be overshadowed and many at Ascot missed the brilliant turn of foot, reminiscent of Sea The Stars in his Arc run, which salvaged the race from a seemingly impossible position.

As Frankel entered the parade ring he was greeted by applause, not unprecedented at Ascot, what was unprecedented was the cheers and applause as he came out onto the track, although there was an amusing moment when some racegoers applauded his brother Bullet Train as he led the runners out in the second colours of the owner.

After the parade the runners set off to the start, all apart from Frankel who held back and slowly cantered past the packed stands to milk the appreciation of the fans, it was almost as if he was doing a lap of honour before the race.

Of course the race itself was heart stopping as Frankel almost fell out of the stalls, giving four to five lengths to his rivals and Ian Mongan on Bullet Train, supposedly in as the pacesetter, had to do som quick thinking to drop back and find his stablemate.

Of course the worries were unfounded and the roar of the crowd told you what was happening as he pulled upsides the defending champion Cirrus Des Aigles before edging clear to make it 14 wins from 14 races.

The crowds went mad, looking from my high vantage point you could see people running towards the rails so they could get a glimpse of the superstar.

One thing I really like though was the second and third, Cirrus Des Aigles and Nathaniel were both given a rapturous welcome back from the crowd, who appreciated what good horses they were and their contribution in making it a competitive race.

It was a brilliant atmosphere, it’s a shame it cannot be bottled.

Channel Four have finally announced their presentation team for next year, a mixed bag with some surprises.

It is, of course, no surprise Nick Luck will be there as a main presenter alongside Clare Balding. There were some surprises in the “supporting” team.

The biggest surprise for me was the inclusion of Emma Spencer, who for me is the most lightweight member of the team, both physically and as a presenter. I’m told by many that she is considered pretty and “eye-candy” although that is something I fail to see, as the saying goes beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Graham Cunningham was the surprise inclusion in the team, he’s an astute analyst not afraid to have an opinion and I can envisage some chippy exchanges with Jim McGrath and Mick Fitzgerald who will be the other paddock commentators.

The dropping of John McCririck has sparked some debate but it cannot really be a major surprise, he really is past his sell-by date and, unfortunately he has become a caricature of himself.  His rant at being omitted from the line-up exemplifies why he was omitted.

Three of the other droppings from the team are more questionable.

Alastair Down isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, like an avuncular Uncle, sometimes tetchy he wasn’t really a TV natural but his way with words and his passion for national hunt racing was unsurpassed.

Mike Cattermole is a very accomplished presenter and a very decent chap, as demonstrated by his very graceful reaction to his not being included in the line-up (Take note McCririck) and I think his omission is a mistake especially when Spencer is being retained.

The dropping of Derek Thompson is also something of a mystery, yes he is a Marmite man, but from a TV producers perspective he is an absolute Godsend. He will do the interviews nobody else wants to, he can get across the atmosphere and work the crowd and, most importantly from a TV production perspective if you need somebody to fill for 23 seconds he will give you exactly 23 seconds, not a second more, not a second less.

This brings us onto the other Marmite character, Matt Chapman – who isn’t in the team. This may come as a surprise but I am slightly disappointed by this.

Yes I know I have been Matt’s biggest critic over the years but a “tamed” Matt would have been a good addition to the team.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, when he plays it straight Matt is one of the best interviewers we have in the sport, he can get even the most reluctant of trainers to open up.

However Matt is his own worse enemy in that he tries to be controversial, he always denies this, but he does and it is so frustrating. If he could just calm himself, reign himself in, he would have been a shoe-in for a Channel Four role and a great addition to the team – it’s a terrible waste.

It’s good to see Simon Holt and Richard Hoiles will continue to be in the team, Richard once again showed why he is head and shoulders our best commentator with his excellent call of Frankel’s race as Ascot.

I am also disappointed there is no role for Stewart Machin in the line-up.

A Flat Start To The Season?

In case you have missed it the 2011 turf flat season begins today, not with a high profile meeting at a big course, not even with Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting but at Catterick Bridge.

Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Catterick and I have had many a pleasant afternoon there, however I am not sure how this fits in with the much vaunted “narrative” to the season that Racing For Change has been banging on about.

Sure enough we have the new Champions Day in October but even then the flat turf season limps on for another three weeks before finally ending at Doncaster, talk about “after the Lord Mayor’s show”.

However I wonder if Rod Street and his Racing for Change friends are playing a game with us?

Are they deliberately having a low key beginning and end to the 2011 season so they can announce, with a fanfare and flourish, a new structure next year which will start with a big meeting and end with Champions Day?  

Whilst I am generally positive about the new Champions Day, certainly moving it to Ascot is inspired, I still have concerns about the timing and its proximity to Lonchamp’s meeting at the beginning of October. Having Champions Day on the first Saturday in November, as the only flat meeting of the day and the final flat meeting of the season, would be more logical in my view.

Indeed, much as I am a great fan of Ascot I would not even object if the Champions Day meeting alternated between Ascot and York giving racegoers in the north the chance to see the action live.

A big news story within racing this week has been the u-turn from the Horsemen’s Group in relation to their tariff protest.

I have to say I am not in the least bit surprised at the turn of events.

The "top operators" were never going to play . . . . they were quite happy to let the small owners play the game, especially in the National Hunt season  but when it comes to the top races no way would they would take part.

It is akin to the imbecilic generals in World War One who made stupid, ill-considered decisions from the comfort their desks, safe in the knowledge it was the foot soldiers who would pay the price. In this case the top owners are the Generals and the small owners have been the foot soldiers.

As owner David Parry rightly put it “I feel I have been shafted.”

Even the so called  "support" of big trainers is questionable. The vacuous statement from the boys in blue last week is the biggest pile of bullshit and meaningless platitudes I have read in many a long day.

Then we had the bold statement from Hannon threatening to boycott Windsor but including the "get out" clause about running horses "if the owners insist".

At the end of the day when it comes to the big races on the flat the big players are not really that interested in the prize money. The real money comes from getting black type and increasing the stud value of their horses. The prize money, even at the tariff level, is peanuts in comparison.

The tariff was never going to work . . . it makes no odds to the likes of Arena or Northern whether the tariff was in place or not it would have no impact on their bottom line and would only impact if there was 100% support and races ended up as walkovers or with no runners and that was never going to happen.

Yes prize money is terrible but the solution / causes are more fundamental than what will be solved by the tariff protest.

Rod Street of Racing For Change has kindly responded to the above comments.

“There are no games from RfC regarding Flat season! Not involved in Catterick scheduling, though agree it's odd and Donny start would be ideal.

“On subject of seasons overall my view is that 'official' starts and ends of season are for the aficionado. For occasional or new consumers milestones are more significant. In which case the promotion of premier events and finales is where the focus needs to be. Both audiences can be catered for and co-exist IMO.”

Rod has now posted a fuller response, which can be found here

Racing Quango

I am writing this on Monday 11th October 2010.

Yes I know it isn’t the usual thing to begin an item with the specific date it is being written, however in this case it is significant.

Earlier this morning I popped over to our local supermarket, the one where the colour orange predominates. It is a modern supermarket with two floors of underground parking and some snazzy moving walkways to whisk you from the car parking to the store itself.

I was half way to the store when I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, I was hallucinating surely?

But I wasn’t – looming in front of me was a 12’ tall, fully decorated Christmas tree.

There was worse to come, when I reached the shop floor the entire supermarket was festooned with Christmas decorations and, yes, it is only October 11th

Christmas seems to be beginning earlier every year.

OK I know winter is approaching as the evenings are getting darker noticeably earlier.

Also this weekend heralds, what for many is the traditional start to winter, Cheltenham’s first meeting of the season.

This weekend also sorts out the National Hunt followers from the flat followers as Newmarket hosts Champions Day, or at least the last Champions Day in its current format.

This year, as in previous years, it is a no brainer as to where I will be this weekend – it will be amongst the rolling hills of the Cotswolds rather than the open plains of Suffolk / Cambridge.

Although actually it isn’t quite true about it being a no brainer as, originally, I was not going to either. It was going to be a week long holiday, taking in Amsterdam and Brussels.

However with both sets of parents giving us assorted health concerns we have decided to remain in the UK. So Cheltenham it is.

Next year, however, it will be a major dilemma as to where I will be.

Next year Cheltenham’s first meeting of the season will not clash with a Champions Day in name only it will (no pun intended) be clashing with the Real McCoy, the new all singing, all dancing Champions Day at Ascot, featuring Britain’s most valuable card ever staged.

Part of the Racing For Change initiative it is designed to provide a fitting end to the flat turf season and, in theory, I have no great issue with the initiative.

However I do have a couple of concerns with regards the timing.

Firstly is it the most intelligent planning decision to have such a major fixture on the same day the jumping season has its first major fixture?

Some, but not all, racegoers are polarised into the flat and NH camps. There are many like both codes equally, or almost equally. For people like me, having two big, contrasting, meetings on the same day will produce a major dilemma as to which meeting to attend.

I have a suspicion I may have to compromise and do Cheltenham on the Friday and Ascot on the Saturday.

My other concern, and it is one I have touched on previously, is the proximity of the meeting to the Arc meeting at Longchamp.

For me we already have a championship day here in Europe, held the first Sunday in October where Longchamp stage six Group One races – culminating in the Prix de l’Arc deTriomphe.

Could having the British Champions Day just 13 days after Longchamp end up diminishing both?

Part of the fixture changes relate to having a “narrative” throughout the season, to this end a champions series of races has been formulated.

To me it looks suspiciously like the ill-starred Sovereign Series in just another guise.

More worryingly a new company called British Champions’ Series Limited (BCS) is being created to oversee the marketing and media rights for the entire series.

Is this not an incredible waste of money and does it not add yet another level of unnecessary administration into a sport which is already bloated with far too many vested interests.

Frankly the industry should be looking at rationalising not further fragmentation.

By creating BCS are the powers that be suggesting Racing Enterprises, who are supposed to be marketing the sport are not capable of marketing the Champions’ Series.

Or is it yet another example of unnecessary expense to line the pockets of the marketeers?

Another criminal waste of money along the lines of Racing For Change, money that could be better spent, for example, on prize money.

Looking at Racing For Change, what has all the money invested actually returned.

As far as I can see the only “benefit” I have seen has been the larger number cloths.

We had a week of free racing, by all account well received by courses and punters alike, yet what has happened to that … or are we awaiting responses from focus groups?

Then there was, in my view, the excellent suggestion to look at decimal odds. In the end there was a half-hearted “experiment” at one meeting, which was doomed to failure.

One enduring, and I mean enduring in the painful sense, aspect of Racing For Change is the “enhanced” on-course presentation. Usually hosted by Derek Thompson, Matt Chapman or, for reasons which defy all logical explanation, James McQuillan.

These are aimed to enhance the racegoing experience – take it from me they don’t, for every person the approach attracts you will alienate many more. Choosing two of the most Marmite characters in racing, Derek Thompson and Matt Chapman, for these presentation roles is a short sighted decision.

Those who like them will accept what is happening, those who do not will be alienated and driven away. Unlike the television where you can press the mute button or switch off, on-course the only escape is to go home.

It seems Matt Chapman has been employed to host Towcester TV, making his first appearance last Wednesday.

Now if you meet Matt when he is not near a microphone he is a pleasant, personable enough chap.

Put a microphone in his hand and I am afraid his ego takes over and he becomes unbearable. His performance at Towcester was, to say the very least, excruciating last Wednesday and, despite it being my local course and very convenient for me, I’m afraid I shall not be returning to Towcester as long as Matt is doing the course presentation.

Perhaps racing should take a note from the coalition Government who are cutting back on Quango’s – perhaps racing should begin the cull with Racing For Change and, even better still, put BCS out of its misery before it even sees the light of day.