appreciation of privilege, p.r.a. & amy murphy.

​Of all the people throughout the history of National hunt racing privileged to have owned a horse, or even part-owned a horse-in-training, only a minute few have experienced owning a true champion. It was disappointing to me to read ‘The Persian War Story’ co-written with Sid Barnes, that Henry Alper had no real appreciation of the privilege bestowed on him by fate to own a three-times Champion Hurdler. It was, to read his book, all about him, how clever he was.
What is gratifying at the moment, is that both the owners of Galopin Des Champs and Constitution Hill both acknowledge the privilege of owning such a great horse. With both, the horse comes first; it is his own person and they both give the impression, the Turleys and Michael Buckley, that they tag along for the thrill of being part of it all.
There is little worse for me than to be confronted by an owner with the mind-set that as he pays the bills everything must be about him. Or her, obviously. It irks me, for example, whenever an owner, be it an Arabian prince or noble or Joe Soap, grabs the reins off the groom leading in their winner. Trainers should educate their owners against the effrontery of stealing the limelight from those who do all of the work in order for the owner to have his or her winner.
Audrey Turner held the off-side rein of Galopin Des Champs on Saturday, which is as it should be. She also embraced the groom in the winners’ enclosure, demonstrating her gratitude for the shared experience. Good people deserve good winners, no matter how rich they might be. I do not know the Turleys but from a long way away they seem as rich in good manners as they might be in wealth and I hope their great horse wins his third Gold Cup in five-weeks. Though I do not hope for it, as three-more for Galopin will just prolong the Irish dominance, but there has not been a horse in my lifetime, apart from Arkle, of course, with the potential likelihood of achieving five Gold Cup as I believe might be the legacy of Galopin Des Champs, equalling Golden Miller’s total.

While it is easy to criticise the Professional Racing Association, led by Peter Savill, for its hob-nailed boots approach to achieving forward momentum in negotiations with the Racecourse Association and other professional racing bodies, there is good intent at its core. The ban on trainers connecting with the public through the camera lens was so far off-side it should have been noticed by someone within the P.R.A., if not Peter Savill himself, and not left to the public to point out the crass silliness of the strategy.
Today, Peter Scargill in his Tuesday column in the Racing Post, tells us that several well-known and successful trainers have let it be known to him that their business hardly makes them a bean, with one-trainer only having to pay the taxman £5,000 for his twelve-months labour. Yet, I would argue, as desperate as his assertions may be, apart from the elite few, trainers have never made a fortune from training horses. Not that I am arguing that is a fair situation. It is not; far from it.
I have always maintained that efforts should be made to ensure everyone involved in our sport should at the very least have the opportunity to make a fair living. I maintain that there should be a race or two each week restricted to trainers with less, for example, than ten-winners on the board in the previous 12-months. I also suggest there should be 4 or 5 races a week restricted to jockeys with less than 12, 20 or 30-winners during the previous 12-months, and meetings wholly restricted to such jockeys. Without a happy everybody, the sport will end-up with nobody.
Yesterday at Punchestown there was a race confined to people who work in a stable but have not ridden under rules or in point-to-points. Sir Gerhard won the race, ridden by Amy Morrissey, led-up by a certain Paul Townend, showing his appreciation to the staff at Closutton for their work ethic and in making his job so rewarding.
It seems to me, an outsider looking in, that the P.R.A. is more interested in bolstering the earning capacity of the few, rather than doing what they can to help everyone in racing pay their bills on time. What is needed if for there to be a conference, attended by all sectors of the sport, including representatives of the B.H.A., where everyone can pitch proposals that might put right all that is wrong with the sport.

Disappointing to read that Amy Murphy is the latest trainer to jump ship and take her business to France in hope of achieving a French Euro fortune. The only good light that can be gleaned from this exercise in betrayal is that the staff she leaves behind will help swell the staff at other Newmarket yards, easing the shortages that make life ever more difficult for trainers. Yes, it is an indictment of the state of British racing that someone as relatively successful as Amy Murphy feels that her business can only fail if she stays at home and must relocate, yet I would argue that if everyone stayed loyal to the sport in this country, and contributed a small amount to help sustainability, the core product is not so holed as to make it certain to be scuppered.
For instance, if only those owners with large or moderately large strings of horses were to send a horse to a trainer outside of the trainer who at the moment has all or most of their horses, an extra pebble on a pebble beach, perhaps, but it might make the difference between a trainer going under and having a profitable business.