A Symmetrical Year

In terms of racing there has been a certain symmetry to 2009.

The year began with the racing program being decimated by bad weather and the year is ending the same way.

Both the flat and National Hunt scenes have been dominated, literally, by stars.

We have seen the 25th anniversary of all-weather racing in the UK and continued decline of racing coverage on the BBC.

Also the sport is having to face the realisation of the wider economic slump.

It is ironic with all the talk of global warming racing has been badly hit by freezing conditions in 2009. January and February saw the loss of 52 meetings, whilst December is also seeing a spate of weather related cancellations.

Racing authorities responded to the spate of cancellations by scheduling extra all weather meetings, mainly – or is that exclusively – at the behest of the bookmakers, who seem to be champions of the sandpit racing. Presumably because it is fodder for the mug punters.

Indeed the bookmakers have again been flexing their muscles in 2009. To the extent one seriously has to ask who actually runs racing – is it the BHA or is it the bookmakers. One sometimes wonders.

Hindsight is wonderful but I must confess if I could turn the clock back to 1961 when betting offices were “legitimised” I would fight the bill tooth and nail. Looking back I do not believe the bookmaking industry has been good for racing and racing would have been better served has we had a Tote monopoly with a fixed percentage going back into the sport. With such provision the sport would, I believe, be in a better financial situation than it currently is.

We are now faced with the situation where the industry basically has to go “cap in hand” to the Levey negotiations to try and get money from the bookmakers, most of whom are now based offshore.

Indeed the Levy is archaic. With racing accounting for only a small percentage of bookmakers turnover it seems incongruous the industry should be treated as a special case. If racing receives a levy then why shouldn’t football, rugby, tennis, golf or cricket?

On the track we have been treated to two super stars, one in either code. This year it is impossible to claim the two champions are not stars as it is in their name. In the yellow corner, for the flat team we have Sea The Stars and for National Hunt, in the green and yellow corner, we have Kauto Star.

John Oxx’s Sea The Stars is the undisputed star of the flat in 2009. He overcame a training setback to win the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The Derby was the next target, a race he approached with doubts about his stamina over 1½ miles. As he demonstrated his fantastic turn of foot The Derby was won without even breaking into a sweat. His detractors claimed he was lucky in the race was run to suit him


Next up was the Coral Eclipse at Sandown, down to 1¼ miles but taking on his elders for the first time. This time he had to work hard for victory but victorious he was beating fellow three-year-old Rip Van Winkle by a length with their elders four lengths plus in arrears.


Then the Juddmonte at York, only three rivals all from the O’Brien yard with Mastercraftsman his only serious rival. Riding a waiting race jockey Mick Kinane asked for an effort a furlong out and Sea The Stars eased into the lead for another length victory.

It was back to home territory in September as he lined up in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. Once again his main challengers came from the O’Brien yard and although O’Brien runners took 2nd, 3rd and 4th places the winner was invariably Sea The Stars with a comfortable 2½ length victory.

His swan son was in, arguably, Europe’s greatest middle distance race the Prix De l’Arc De Triomphe at Longchamp. Two furlongs out it looked as though he was going to blot his copy book. However his veteran rider Mick Kinane did not panic and when a gap appeared he weaved his way through, the horse showing fantastic acceleration and a furlong out he was in front.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I was privileged to be in Paris that afternoon. I have never seen or felt such raw emotion at a racetrack. Standing in the press viewing area, surrounded by wizened and hardened hacks I wasn’t the only one to have tears running down my cheeks.

The brilliant horse, having achieved the unique Guineas / Derby / Arc treble has been retired to stud. Hopefully next year he will cover Zarkava , the 2008 Arc winner.

His rider Mick Kinane also decided to hang up his boots – not sure if he is off to stud as well – after a brilliant career and a season it would be impossible to better.

Also on the flat Ryan Moore was, once again, champion jockey.

Kieran Fallon finally returned to the saddle to show what a good rider he can be and he can put his demons behind him he could be the one to give Moore most to worry about next season.

On the jumps it was the other star Kauto Star who has taken most of the plaudits.

Having won last years King George for the third time his 2009 debut was in the Blue Riband Cheltenham Gold Cup, where he faced stablemate Denman (returning after a heart scare) and his old rival Exotic Dancer.


The race was over three from home when he hit the front and powered clear to record a 13 length victory over Denman with Exotic Dancer a further 2½ lengths back in third. In winning the race he became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup.

After his summer break her returned to Haydock for the Betfair Chase, where last year he unseated Sam Thomas at the last. He put in a clear round this year but his backers had a fright as Imperial Commander made him fight all the way to the line, with many observers thinking the champion had been beaten. After what seemed ages Kauto Star was awarded the race by a nose.


His final appearance this year was his attempt to win a fourth consecutive King George. Lining up against a high class field he put in what can only be described as the perfect performance.

His jumping was sublime and foot perfect. Taking the lead turning for home the judge needed binoculars not a camera to determine the winning distance as he came home 36 lengths clear of his rivals.

Of course his stablemate Denman cannot be ignored. Coming back from his heart scare he had an easy introduction back, coming second to Madison du Berlais at Kempton.

Next up was the Gold Cup, where he was arguably still not fully fit, and his second to Kauto Star.

He reappeared quickly in the Totepool Bowl at Aintree where he took a crashing fall two out. The screens went up and he was taken away in a horse ambulance but luckily the worse he suffered was a bad cut. The news was not so good for Exotic Dancer, runner-up in the contest, who sadly collapsed and died in the stables after the race.

After a summer break Denman was back at Newbury for the Hennessy. Burdened with a top weight of 11st 12lbs he was giving 17lbs plus to his rivals.

Despite this welter burden he came home a convincing 3½ length winner.

Elsewhere Venetia Williams became only the second woman to train a Grand National winner as 100/1 outsider Mon Mome took the Aintree showpiece.

It is hard to believe 2009 saw the 25th anniversary of all-weather racing. To some a great racing format to others the spawn of the devil.

It was mixed news for racecourses in 2009. Attendances seemed to buck the recession with a slight year on year rise on 2008.

January saw the demise of the ill-fated Great Leighs a course seemingly fated from the outset, late opening and seemingly dragged down by poor management.

By contrast the UK’s newest course Ffos Las opened to near universal acclaim. Its well drained racing surface attracting praise from some of the toughest critics – the top trainers.

Mixed news for those who rely of terrestrial for the television coverage. The BBC announcing they are greatly reducing their 2010 coverage on television.

BBC Radio has fared little better with their plumbing the depths and turning their racing coverage into a pantomime farce on the Friday of Royal Ascot.

A new agreement has been reached with Channel Four, however at a cost to racing where the industry is paying C4 to cover the sport – another case of the tail wagging the dog?

As in the real world the recession has hit the sport. The Levy being reduced with a consequential drop in prize money. Even the top owners are cutting back, some reducing their strings others leaving the sport entirely.

It will be interesting to see what impact the financial crisis in Dubai has on the Arab involvement in the sport. They are saying the funding issues are separate and unconnected. However I fail to see how, morally, the rulers of Dubai can continue to inject such huge funds into the sport when their country is verging on bankruptcy.

All in all 2009 has been an eventful year – I wonder what 2010 has in store for us?

A Real Star

I have to confess I do not believe in ghosts and the supernatural. Those that do tell me that when they walk into a room where they feel a “presence” the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end, they feel a shiver down the spine and they get goosebumps.


Those are exactly the feelings I experienced at Longchamp on Sunday afternoon, although in my case they were provoked not by the supernatural but by a superstar, or to be more precise super Stars.


Win or lose on Sunday, John Oxx’s Sea the Stars was already, by any yardstick, amongst the greats winning the 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, not to mention the Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes along the way.


I was fortunate enough to have press accreditation to the meeting which gave me access to a fantastic viewing area near the top of the huge, sweeping stand at Longchamp. I made sure I was in position long before the big race and I was not the only one.


For the earlier races there were no more than a dozen hacks taking advantage of this prime viewing position now there were a couple of hundred and I was so pleased I had managed to grab one of the prime positions.


It was just before the runners left the parade ring for the main parade that the strange feelings began. Like a gently breeze on the back of the neck and the hairs stood on end, it also seemed unusually quiet – a feeling of expectation. Next came the shiver, the goosebumps and an almost sixth sense feeling something special was about to happen.


And I wasn’t the only one, speaking to others afterwards, they also experienced the similar feelings, a similar sense of anticipation.


The first runners came onto the course, headed by the runner-up of the last two renewals, Youmzain. Sea The Stars should have been one of the last to emerge but the order shifted somehow.


Then it started – it began just as a small ripple of applause, then some cheers, then more cheers.
Sea The Stars was emerging from the walkway and was already being welcomed like a winning hero and this was before the race began. I can’t recall ever seeing such a welcome for a horse just coming onto the track.


Not everyone seemed to be happy at the adulation being given to John Oxx’s star. The French filly Stacelita, who along with Cavalryman was supplemented for the race at an eye watering €100,000 last Thursday, could not have be more on fire had someone doused her with rocket fuel and ignited the blue touch paper.


Indeed at one point it looked as though she was going to cannon into the back of our hero as they paraded.


There was a roar as the field set off, granted nothing like the famous, or should that be infamous, Cheltenham roar but a roar nonetheless – followers of flat racing tend to be a little more restrained and conservative, with a small “c”.


Sea The Stars is almost a Jekyll and Hyde horse. He copes with the pre (and indeed post) race formalities with almost contempt, looking totally at ease within himself.


Once the gates spring open it is a different story. Like a championship boxer primed to respond to the bell, Sea The Stars responds to the gates opening in the same way.


No more Mr Nice Guy, beware the fighter.


His jockey, by contrast, is Mr Relaxed. Now in his second half century, he is no young buck looking for glory. He is a mature, unfazed rider, who seems to be at one with his mount.


He rode his first winner back in 1975, when Frankie Dettori was a five year old in Milan and a full eight years before Ryan Moore was born.


When Sea The Stars was out of the stalls the horse wanted to be in front, but the calm Kinane, calling on his years of experience just calmed him down, relaxed him and settled him well back in the field.


Contrast Kinane’s cool riding with that of young Mr Levy on the pacemaker Set Sail – who allowed the horse to run away with him, totally negating his role as pacemaker.


Kinane kept Sea The Stars held up most of the contest and, as it typical in French races, all the action began in the home straight.


Sea The Stars looked to be in a hopeless position against the rails, it looked as though he would be a shooting star – fading into the night and memory.


Then it happened and I was in the absolutely perfect position.


I have seen the television replays of the race – they do no justice to what happened.


For those of you who know Longchamp my viewing position was on the third tier of the main stand, between towers nine and ten. If you don’t know Longchamp all you need to know is it is very high up about a furlong from the line.


There is a line in the Bible about getting a camel through the eye of a needle – well I think I have found a man who can do it. My binoculars just happened to be trained on Sea The Stars as he began his move off the rail.


Even though I saw it with my own eyes I still cannot actually believe what I saw. Whether it was Kinane’s jockeyship, or Sea The Stars natural talent, or even a combination of the two, the duo weaved their way our of the impossible position, Houdini like and it was race over.


They were away, leaving a high class field in their wake and the rest, as they say, is history.


I will swear there was a nanosecond of absolute silence, as there was a collective intake of breath as the crowd took in what they had just seen, followed immediately by a cacophony of sound. Raw human sound.


It is very rare for me to shout and cheer a horse home, even less so a horse I have not backed but, along with everyone around me, I was cheering a wonder horse home.


I was surrounded by a veritable United Nations of journalists, from all corners of the globe, for a brief moment all were united. Sharing a common celebration, each cheering Sea The Stars as their own.


I am not ashamed to admit I had tears streaming down by cheeks and I was not alone.


Not a single journalist left their vantage point – filing copy could wait – this was a moment to savour.


Kinane and Sea The Stars made their slow, majestic, progress back along the straight seemingly soaking up the adulation of their adoring fans, even the horse knew he was something special.


Then came the moment I kicked myself, all around me had cameras and were taking photos of the winner, my camera was downstairs in my bag.


I don’t care though – I was seeing it all unfold before me. I did not need a camera. Everything I had seen in the previous ten minutes or so was being indelibly etched into my memory. I can shut my eyes now and see the race rerun.


I don’t know what the future holds or how many more years, months, days I may have left on this third planet of the sun.


One thing I do know is on Sunday, 4th October 2009 I saw the best horse I have seen in my lifetime, and will probably ever see again, run the best race he has ever run at an emotionally charged Longchamp.


I am proud to say “I was there” and that is something nobody can ever take away from me.Sea
The Stars you are a real star.

Disillusioned With Racing

I am about to say something I never thought I would say.


I am falling out of love with racing.


I could quite happily walk away from the sport, never go racing again and it would not worry me one iota.


The last time I felt this way about anything was when I gave up the booze.


I used to drink for England, I virtually lived in the pub. If I missed a night, they would ring to make sure I was OK.


Then one morning I woke up with, as usual, the bird cage bottom mouth, feeling dehydrated, feeling rough and I asked myself why I was doing it?


From that day I went from being a ten unit a day drinker to being a ten unit a year drinker and I have never looked back, never regretted it, certainly not missed it.


With the drinking it was the waking up feeling rough that did it for me.


With the racing it is harder to put my finger on it. There is no one single reason for my disillusionment just a trickle of niggles.


Partly it is the realisation I am getting older and I can’t do the things I did twenty years ago.

Then driving hundreds of miles a day was nothing. Now I am absolutely knackered if I do a 300 mile round trip, do two or three in a week and I am almost done for.


Of course even the shorter journeys are not without their problem – any course that involves having to negotiate the M25 during rush hour automatically increases the stress levels.


That is only a periphery issue though – the racing experience is not as enjoyable as it once was.


Too many meetings fall into one of two depressing categories.


They either have crowds that are so small, the atmosphere – if it can be called an atmosphere in the first place – is depressing.


At a wet, winters Monday afternoon at Wolverhampton small crowds are expected. But when you go to a course like Epsom and it is almost possible to individually greet all your fellow racegoers, it makes you realise something is amiss.


This afternoon at Epsom there were 37 runners and no more than a couple of hundred racegoers – and in a course like Epsom that looks very little indeed.


Read that again – 37 runners and that on a card which had guaranteed prize money of over £54,000 and owners have the temerity to complain about levels of prize money. And that’s another part of the problem, there are too many whingers in the sport but more of that anon.


On the other extreme the courses can be filled with morons who have no interest at all in the racing and their only aim is to pour as much alcohol down their throats as possible, resulting in them becoming obnoxious bores and, as an added bonus, they will throw in a decent punch up as well.


The courses do little to stop the trend, why should they, after all the booze sales are positive goldmines for the courses. I used to hold a licence to sell alcohol and I know from first hand experience it is not only a licence to sell alcohol, it is also a licence to print money.


Lest some poor sop has to queue too long to top up the alcohol levels some courses have big signs encouraging punters to buy their beer in two pint glasses, or they provide mobile vendors to pass amongst the crowd.


And they wonder why new fans cannot be attracted to the sport.


Of course there are fundamental issues with how the sport is run. First of all there is too much racing, spreading the product too thinly.


There are serious and justified concerns around the reduction in the levy, yet what happens the number of fixtures increases so the decreasing money is spread even further.


The influence and power of the bookmakers is spreading like a cancer through the sport.


The more observant will have noticed a sudden increase in eight race cards since the beginning of September. This is not some magical change, it is a change at the request of the bookmakers so they can have more races in which to take money off the mug punters.


More is not better. The races that are being divided are low grade, uncompetitive events.


Take Hereford’s card on September 2nd, one of the first to “benefit” from prolific dividing. Four of the eight races were won my margins of ten lengths or more and the others were 5, 4½, 2 and 1½ lengths – only one of which could really be considered competitive.


There needs to be a significant decrease, not increase, in the amount of racing and that is something I will return to in a future musing.


Earlier I mentioned the number of whingers in the sport.


Wherever you turn there the pessimists whose glasses are always half empty.


Punters who when they have a losing bet, which tends to be most bets, always blame somebody else – usually a “bent” jockey / trainer / horse / official – indeed it is anybodies fault but theirs.

After all heaven forbid their judgement may be wrong and they just happened to have selected the wrong horse.


Of course of the rare occasions they do pick a winner and statistically it will happen once in a while, the result has nothing to do with the skill and ability of the jockey / trainer / horse but it is down to their superb perception, skill and foresight.


Of course it is not all doom and gloom. There are the equine stars which brighten up the otherwise dull firmament.


Sea The Stars has done nothing wrong this season, yet trainer John Oxx comes in for unjustified criticism for not running him in the St Leger, a race that is palpably unsuitable for the horse.


It seems some would rather run the horse into the ground just to claim a meaningless “Triple Crown”.

Greyhound racing used to be a sport for the masses, nowadays it is staged in near empty stadia, run mainly as a benefit and numbers game for the bookmakers.


Racing is in danger of going the same way. I do not want that to happen, it is like watching an old friend go into decline, knowing there is nothing you can do to save it.

Like a passionate affair that has run its course it is better to walk away with dignity and remember the good times – far better than staying and becoming bitter and resentful.