3-year plan, vindicated, point-to-pointers & race titles.

​My initial thought when reading in today’s Racing Post that a 3-year strategic plan is in place to encourage more people to see horse racing as a career and to then keep those people in employment within the industry for the long-term, was ‘about time the industry coordinated around a scheme to stop this issue becoming ever-more critical to the survival of the sport. No good-quality staff equals no racing. Plain fact.
I do not accord with Dan Skelton that the owner is the most important cog in the racing wheel, they are though as equally important as stable staff, jockeys, trainers, farriers, etc etc. Everyone who works in the industry is as important as each other and everyone must do what they can to take the sport forward.
I can easily come up with an aspect of the sport that would encourage retention of stable staff – less evening racing, especially through the winter months. I am not suggesting no evening racing, though I would argue that having staff, and, also importantly, horses, working through a time of the day when throughout history, going back to the stone age, darkness equalled rest, can only be detrimental to the health and welfare of both human and horse. Circadian cycles of biological activity, and all that jazz.
I would also argue that if trainers were limited to x-number of horses, the number of experienced staff in the industry would then better fit the number of licenced trainers and therefore would cut the work-load of every stable in the country. We do not operate in a land of plenty, and the B.H.A. should recognise that reality and act accordingly. It is not about punishing the successful but doing what is right for the health of the sport and the well-being of those who work day and night to earn a living from the industry.
My second suggestion to the problem, which is now better addressed with the success of the racing schools, is for trainers to train newcomers to their payroll, or at least have a senior member of staff assigned to the task, rather than just throw them in at the deep-end, hoping one or two will learn to swim. Working with horses is a skilled job, but it does not take either abnormal intelligence or a great intellect to master. Just good quality training and advice.

My little head swells with pride when I hear someone with far more expertise than I have, extoll excellence upon a jockey who I hold in high regard. When I heard Paddy Brennan say that Charlie Deutsch is the most naturally gifted jockey riding today, I became light-headed for a brief moment. Of the jockeys riding in this country at the moment I would list Deutsch, de Boinville and Cobden as the top three, though not necessarily in that order. If and when Bryony Frost returns to this country, I would add her name to the list.

Too many good horses are drifting into point-to-points at the moment. As listed by Claire Hart in her point-to-point column in today’s Racing Post, Saint Calvedos, My Drogo and Summerville Boy are all running in the amateur side of the sport. I suspect it has always been so, though with the sport in the place it finds itself in at present, can we afford to let talent slips through our fingers? Reading the point-to-point round-up this morning, it strengthens my belief that point-to-points should be more fully aligned to the professional element of the sport, with those training point-to-pointers regarded as permit-holders, with professional trainers allowed to run a certain type of horse in point-to-points and those who own and train point-to-pointers regarded as permit-holders and allowed to enter certain races ‘under rules’, though both elements of the sport operate ‘under rules’. Experience and competence, winners trained, should be a determining factor, of course, when it comes to someone being given a ‘permit. You could not just give any ‘tally-ho’ a licence to race within the white rails.

Finally, hammering home my point-of-view on a matter no one else cares a jot about. This Saturday we have the Ascot Chase -sponsored by Betfair. The Kingwell Hurdle – presented to you by Bet M.G.M. (no one does Vegas like Bet M.G.M.) And the Rendlesham Hurdle given to you by W.K.D. purveyor of the loveliest soft-drinks on the market. Or whatever W.K.D. sells to the public. Is that form of race-title less confusing when it comes to the history of the sport than the present ‘Betfair Ascot Chase’? After all, the Ascot Chase does not belong to Betfair, does it? They are just fostering the race for a year or two to increase the brand reach of their business. And if W.K.D. want to better get to know whatever service or product they provide to the public, surely my preferred way of expressing the title of a race would provide them with more marketing zing for their money?