​A quick summary of my thoughts regarding the punishment given to Oisin Murphy for being a very, very naughty boy.
Does the punishment fit the crime? I am swayed towards saying no to this question. If you compare ‘the crime’ he is adjudged to be guilty of, against, for example, persistent whip abuse or dangerous riding, fourteen-months, reduced to eleven-months to take into account the three-months from when he handed-in his riding licence, is the stuff of the jackboot. Yes, he is a persistent offender and has shown a belief that as champion jockey he is above the law of both the land and the sport in which he earns a very nice living, yet the only person he has hurt is himself.
As an alcoholic, to be cast into the racing wilderness for the best part of a year will shackle him to the precipice of falling back into drink. As an addict, a young man with little or no will-power, it seems, he should have been offered the life-line of a return to the sport far closer than next season. The St.Leger meeting, perhaps. Initially, when his misdemeanours were first made public, I thought six-months out of the sport would do him good, allow him time to unwind, seek all the help afforded to him by people trained to get alcoholics back on track and his friends and family.
What Oisin must realise is the sport will get by quite happily without him. Horse racing does not need Oisin Murphy as much as Oisin Murphy needs horse racing. Yes, the Covid rules were senseless and ineffective but in circumventing them by telling porky-pies he committed a grave injustice to the sport and muddied his already shaky reputation. I like Oisin and I hope he can get himself together during his enforced absence, improve his show-jumping skills and return next February a more rounded and sensible human being. 

Willie Mullins will have at least sixty horses running over the four-days of the Cheltenham Festival. Sixty! That is more Festival runners than most trainers will have in their lifetime! He will have more runners than Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Dan Skelton put together. It’s not just Ireland v Britain. It’s Mullins v Britain. He has so many horses coming across the Irish Sea that the Racing Post did not have room to accommodate them all in their Festival Stable Tour which today set down at Closutton. And not just two or three were left off the page but close on thirty. And you can guarantee that one of those thirty will breeze in at a ridiculous starting price.
What this remarkable fact exemplifies is that the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival has become the essential element of life for both the major owners and those who train their horses. In its self this is okay. It is something to be proud about; that horse racing has a product that all sporting editors and t.v. outlets must keep at least one eye on. But for the overall health of the sport, it is counterproductive. More and more horses are being kept ‘fresh’ for Cheltenham in March, though these same horses, win or lose, horses, that apparently love ‘to be fresh’, will turn-up at Aintree three-weeks later and again at Sandown and/or Punchestown. This ‘fad’, though, can only lessen the quality of the season leading-up to Cheltenham, diminishing the sport rather than enhancing its richness.
The Cheltenham Festival should not become an out-of-control monster munching all the competitiveness and leaving only crumbs for the races that historically have helped make the sport what it is today. What can be done to stem the tide?
As some horses may be trained solely for the Festival due to inherent weakness or injury problems, it might be worth giving some thought to preventing any horse having its first race of the season at the meeting. If this rule was in place for this season, Appreciate It would have run before now. Willie Mullins more or less admits that once his chase career was stopped in its tracks by a small injury, he had no intention of running the horse before the Champion Hurdle.
Perhaps, and I am only thinking out loud, there might be a stipulation for running in any of the three Blue Riband races that a horse should have run in one of a number of selected races during the season to qualify.
I do know that trainers hands need to be forced to run their star horses more often than is becoming the norm. Given his liking for sticking to tried and tested routes, if Appreciate It were to beat Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins may use the same first-time out strategy for all following Champion Hurdle attempts, which though an added ingredient to the mix this season, will pale into ‘See You Then’ in succeeding years.

​The first race-cards in the first Racing Post were the 4-day declarations for Newmarket and Cheltenham. Three of the races at Newmarket were sponsored by Remy Martin, Charles Heidsieck and Krug – oh would it not be nice if racing could attract similar sponsors today.
The Craven Stakes attracted 20 horses at the 4-day stage, one of which was Dancing Brave. Other entries that jog my memory were Huntingdale, Sure Blade, Faraway Dancer and Sharrood. I am ashamed to say not one of the eight horses in the Champagne Stakes have left their mark on my memory. Likewise, not one of the eighteen entered for the Boldboy Sprint Handicap have left any impression on me, though Boldboy, that admirable horse owned by Lady Beaverbrook, will never be forgotten.
The main race at Cheltenham was the South Wales Showers Mira handicap Chase, with 20 possible runners, headed by another admirable horse, Half Free. Also entered were The Tsarevich, Mr.Moonraker, Roadster, Pan Arctic, Run To Me and Bishop’s Yarn. What knocks the eye out, though, is that the novice handicap chase, attracted thirteen, whereas the opening handicap hurdle had thirty-six, the novice handicap hurdle forty-seven, the Hunters’ Chase nineteen and the juvenile handicap hurdle twenty-nine.
Amongst the thirty-six in the opening hurdle was Panto Prince, then trained by Les Kennard. He was five back then and was set to carry 11st. Amongst the thirteen for the novice handicap was Gee-A, then trained by Josh Gifford and set to carry only 10st 1Ib, a horse that will always be associated with Gee Armitage, of course. The novice handicap hurdle was graced by the presence of Pegwell Bay and Mrs.Muck. The latter being the horse that launched the training career of the always under-rated Nigel Twiston-Davies, now one of the best trainers either side of the Irish Sea. Eliogarty was the best horse in the Hunter Chase.
Oh, I’ve just turned the page and discovered a seventh race, a National Hunt flat race that had – stand back in disbelief – one-hundred and eight entries. Those were the days, no doubt.
There was also a meeting at Perth, with entries of twenty-three, fourteen, twenty-one, twelve, fifteen, and twenty-two. Following the Perth entries, there are the entries for Newbury on the Friday, sadly only the first two races feature, with the direction that the rest of the card can be found on page fifteen, except it isn’t and I cannot find it on any page. Oh dear, stewards’ enquiry in the editors’ office, no doubt.
On the first day of Cheltenham’s meeting, Badsworth Boy was to be asked to carry 11st 12Ib in the handicap chase. The Piper Champagne Golden Miller had amongst the entries Charter Party and there was the final of a series that ought to be revived, The Steel Plate and Sections Young Chasers Championship. There were also meetings at Redcar, Perth and Newmarket.
Incidentally, the lay-out of the four-day declarations was a mess. One might almost say amateurish. Yet the cards for the day’s racing, April 15th, was far neater.
There was a very promising amateur riding at Fontwell by the name of L.Harvey, claiming seven. Also, a good number of female amateurs, more than I would have imagined for 1986.
Wolverhampton was noticeable for two things. The ground was soft and only two turned-out for the two-year-old seller, one, obviously, trained by Jack Berry.
Sonic Lady was favourite for the Nell Gwyn. I imagine she won. In the following race the then eleven-year-old Popsi’s Joy was ridden by Richard Fox.
Durham Edition carried top-weight in the 3-mile chase at Catterick and Samantha Dunster rode White Penny in the conditional jockeys novice hurdle, also in the race were Judy Blakeney and Jacquie Oliver.
At Devon & Exeter (now just Exeter, and still nowhere close to the city) Samantha Dunster was down to ride Mr.Peapock. How she achieved the fete of riding at both Catterick and Devon & Exeter I cannot say. Martin Pipe had runners that day and Peter Scudamore rode there but not for the master trainer. Samantha Dunster and Tracy Turner rode in the final race. I mention this small fact as I am gobsmacked by the number of female jockeys who were riding over hurdles and fences back in 1986. In fact, more than have licences today, it seems.
The day before the Racing Post graced newsagent shelves, there was a meeting at Folkestone, where Steve Cauthen rode the winner of the Privy Councillor Stakes for Henry Cecil. There was a meeting at Wolverhampton, where, in truth, nothing much of note occurred. At Wetherby, Drops O’Brandy beat the thirteen-year-old Honourable man in the 3-mile Chase.
At Oakland Park, the Fantasy Stakes, worth £191,888 to the winner, was won by Tiffany Lass. The Champagne Stakes at Randwick was won by Bounding Away. Oh, and I have now found the rest of the Newbury declarations on page 45, so perhaps there was no stewards’ enquiry, only a rap on the knuckles for the employee responsible for the oversight.
Monica Dickinson was had in by the stewards’ at Wetherby and had her attention drawn to the rule governing schooling in public. She was not best pleased, seemingly. Desert Orchid was finished for the season after an exhausting run behind Repington at Ascot. The horse Princess Anne hoped to ride at Cheltenham was one of the one-hundred and eight entries and Jimmy Fitzgerald was waiting to find out what the ground would be at Ayr before deciding whether Blue Tarquin or Bally-Go would represent him in the Scottish National.
Liverpool and Everton were battling it out at the top of Division 1, Norwich were clear at the top of division 2 and Bristol Rovers were mid-division in league 3.
To my surprise, on page 52, there was both a general t.v guide and a summary of world news, with a photograph of Margaret Thatcher. I shouldn’t think she ever imagined featuring in a horse-racing newspaper. One headline you’ll never see now ‘Blacks die in unrest’. Far from woke back in 1986. I think it is fair to say that the Racing Post has improved out of all recognition since publication of the first edition.

​Michael O’Leary is perhaps right when he says it would be wrong to ask Tiger Roll to carry 11-st 10Ib in the Grand National on April 9th. He is not right, though, to complain about the 11-st 4 the handicapper has allotted the great horse and if he doesn’t want him to carry top-weight all Michael O’Leary has to do is to run Conflated, thereby allowing every horse to carry the weight given to them by the official handicapper.
I must admit I would have regarded 11-st or around that mark as being fair to Tiger Roll, though I suspect the O’Leary boys wouldn’t have been any happier and would have gone off on a rant anyway, and I cannot accept the handicapper justifying 11st 4Ib based on his Cheltenham Cross-Country win when he ran away from some really quite moderate horses. But again, if the O’Leary boys had wanted to diminish Tiger Roll’s handicap mark they could have run him in any number of handicap chases in both Ireland and over here.
Personally, I don’t think Tiger Roll could win this year’s race if he was on 10st as the indications are, sadly, that the light has finally got out in one of the sport’s great legends.
My eye this year is drawn to more horses than last year. Usually, I find it pretty easy to draw a list and reduce it to six at this stage. This year my eye was drawn instantly to one horse, with a dozen others making me think twice and three times.
Melon is intriguing and I hope Willie Mullins gives it a go with possibly the best horse in training that hasn’t won a race in three-years, has never won beyond 2-miles and has only ever won three-races. He’ll either win or pull-up, I suspect.
Chris’s Dream was running a big race until unseating 4 last year out and was going equally well in the Becher Chase in November until having a disagreement with his jockey at the Canal Turn. Jonjo O’Neill jnr was seen having a little tantrum as the horse galloped away.
I was hoping Franco de Port would be entered as he is the sort of quiet horse that can sometimes come good at Aintree, though I am bemused he is allotted 11-st 4, making his form as good as a two-time winner of the race. I was expecting 10st 8 or near about, though anyone fancying Longhouse Poet off 10-12 must expect, all being well, that Franco de Port will be close to his tail for most of the race.
Of the Closutton battalion, Burrows Saint looks the best bet. He ran a blinder last year and was going equally as well as the winner until getting tired between the last two fences. Willie Mullins has managed to campaign him in the interim to keep him on the same mark as last year and I can’t think why Paul Townend would reject him in favour of one his stable-mates.
Mount Ida is interesting, as is Two For Gold, Escaria Ten, Fiddlerontheroof and Dingo Dollar. One I really like at longer odd is de Rasher Counter. This horse was an eye-catcher to me in the Denman at Newbury behind Eldorado Allen, his first race for 16-months and is being trained specifically for the race, apparently. A former Ladbrokes Trophy winner, he is quite leniently treated to my mind with 10st 6 and I fancy him significantly more than the other, and more fancied, Emma Lavelle possible, Éclair Surf.
Whichever horse I select at this stage, though, would be changed on the day if by some miracle of a divine deluge Secret Reprieve got into the race. He missed by one last year and will possibly not even be a reserve this time around. If the whole ethos of the Grand National handicapper is to ‘get the right horses’ in the race, then explain to me how a Welsh Grand National winner is rated lower than thirty-horses above him, a list that includes Plan of Attack, Hill Sixteen, Smoking Gun, Fortescue and Milan Native. Makes no sense.
My idea of the winner is Santini, a horse that has had ‘Grand National’ written all over him since he was a novice. He’ll jump, he’ll stay and he is classy, retaining most, if not all, of his ability judged by his run behind Chantry House in the Cotswold Chase last month. 10st 10 for a former runner-up in a good Cheltenham Gold Cup is a fabulous weight, receiving perhaps 10 to 14Ibs from those at the top of the handicap depending whether Galvin or Conflated turn-out.
His next race will be the Gold Cup and if he runs well his current price of 50/1 will tumble. Yes, he will need soft ground and without it he may not run but the same could be said for a whole lot of the intended runners. If I see any wavering on the part of his connections to not take up his entry, I shall be sending begging letters to the Polly Gundry stable, reminding her that this could be her only chance to win the Grand National.
I agree with Henry de Bromhead that the handicapper has gone overboard by putting Minella Times up by 15Ibs as he’ll need to be Red Rum-esq to win under that burden. No amount of ‘seeing round corners’ will get Rachael home in front this time around, I suspect. I have the suspicion that Snow Leopardess will not stay, though I am sure whoever rides her will not be allowing her to roll away in front as Aidan Coleman did in the Becher. She may have been idling that day but I cannot get away from the image of her stopping to a walk at the finishing post.
My three for the race – and remember one of my three last year (the only one of the three to take part) was Minella Times – is Santini, Burrows Saint and de Rasher Counter.

​The clock is now ticking louder than ever; the National Hunt Festival is just a month away. This is the time jockeys have nightmares about men in white coats asking ‘where does it hurt most?’; trainers dread the hours after their horses have galloped, imagining injuries occurring even as their horses stand at ease; with owners, too, especially those with only one hope for Cheltenham glory, finding sleep less easy to achieve as the calendar knocks off the days to that famous Cheltenham roar. The horses, bless them, don’t really care. I doubt if Bob Ollinger has given Galopin des Champ as much as a single thought.
Unlike Bob Ollinger, I have given Galopin des Champ quite a lot of thought and as with others I believe he might be the latest second-coming and I hope Willie Mullins doesn’t have one of his infamous last-second change of plans and diverts Galopin to the 3-mile novice as Bravemansgame is my banker for the meeting.
As Ruby Walsh commented, pay less attention to what the horse does in the race, even if at times he is a wonder to behold, but the struggle Paul Townend has in pulling up after the winning post. The horse loves what he does, that is obvious. It is also obvious that he’ll get every yard of 3-miles, with nothing yet seen to suggest he’ll not get every yard of the two-extra furlongs of the Gold Cup itself next season. As mighty as the experts described Bob Ollinger after the Ballymore last season, I think the only part of Galopin he’ll be seeing come Cheltenham will be his backside. Rachael Blackmore will have to have more than the superpower to see around corners to find a way of beating Galopin des Champ. I would not be surprised if it is Henry de Bromhead who has the last second change of plan and diverts Bob to the 3-mile novice and a clash with Bravemansgame, thinking him the lesser of two evils. If that situation manifests, I will still be siding with Paul Nicholls’ latest star chaser.
It is my opinion that Bravemansgame was more impressive last Saturday than Edwardstone at Warwick, even if he only did win a handicap. He beat two fair horses at Newbury, giving them lumps of weight, when not 100% straight according to his trainer and when his string is only just emerging from the doldrums of a poor run. It shouldn’t be missed that though Nicholls had two winners on Saturday, more of his horses disappointed than won, so his poor form cannot be categorially said to be over.
I hope Edwardstone wins the Arkle, I really do. It would be a great result for Alan King and a career-defining moment for Tom Cannon, a rider who has added big-race success to dependability since his elevation to first jockey at Barbury Castle. It’s just that it’s hard to believe that Mullins, Elliott, de Bromhead or some other Irish trainer hasn’t got one better. Just because Ferny Hollow will not be there, does not mean the Arkle is a shoo-in for the home team.
I would not be at all surprised to see Glory and Fortune chase home Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle, after all someone has to come second. But Honeysuckle will have to suffer a major reverse for him to stand any chance of getting within a dozen-lengths of the great mare. He was, though, a satisfying winner of the Betfair Hurdle, shining the spotlight on a jockey and trainer enjoying breakthrough seasons.
If the connections believe they can beat Allaho in the Ryanair, then please remain with plan B. Eldorado Allen can’t though, can he, on all known form? On Saturday, in the Denman, on his first try at close on 3-miles (2m 7-furlongs and 86 yards to be precise) he displayed a level of ability way above anything he has shown in the past. I didn’t see a horse that was flagging as the finishing-line loomed-up. I saw a horse doing enough to win and in Royal Pagaille, a horse I would fancy in the Gold Cup if the ground came up very soft, and Clan des Obeaux, the best 3-mile chaser in the country when in the mood, he defeated two horses of the highest rank. No one knows if Eldorado Allen will stay the Gold Cup distance and no one will ever know if they don’t give it a go. The Tizzards other two, though I quite like Fiddlerontheroof as an each-way bet, are more likely to turn up trumps in the Grand National, so why not buy a ticket and chance your luck. As Ted Walsh said talking about Conflated, some real poor horses have won the Gold Cup in the past and Eldorado Allen is better than most of those Gold Cup winners to fall into that category.
And do you know what, if they are going to run Clan des Obeaux in blinkers next time, and given the openness of this year’s race, I would give some thought, and, yes I know the whole of Ditcheat believe Clan has a dislike of the Cheltenham hill, to supplementing him for the Gold Cup. He wouldn’t be the first horse to stun his connections by running a blinder in first-time blinkers.

​‘We’re Off! Welcome to the Post’. So wrote Graham Rock, the Racing Post’s first editor in a brief opening statement of intent.
The Racing Post came into my life on April 15th, 1986. It is now 36-years old. To my amazement, I was only 31 back then and the paper has become for me the birthday present that keeps on giving. The paper cost just 25p, a working man’s price. Now it is £4ish, only affordable by the monied society. And me, a working man still.
On page 5 there is to be found a story titled ‘The Mill Reef Mystery’. Page 9, Derby blow for Biancone. Page 49, Ballyregan Bob’s big date. The first horse to be photographed in the paper was Sonic Lady.
Page 2 is dominated by Ray Gilpin’s report from Wetherby, with Jimmy Fitzgerald’s high hopes for Artful Charlie, a half-brother to Burrough Hill Lad. Opposite was the story of the £5,000 match race between Dawn Run and Buck House arranged for Punchestown. The two were expected to meet at Gowran Park but Dawn’s Run trainer, Paddy Mullins, had missed the supplement in the Irish Racing Calendar listing the extra meeting.
Will O’Hanlon reported on page 2 of a Nicky Howe double at Wolverhampton and there was a birthday greeting for Tom Waugh, 71 that day. George Ennor reported from Folkestone on Henry Cecil’s first runner and first winner of the season, Tussac, ridden by Steve Cauthen. Michael Dickenson had his first runner for Robert Sangster in the same race. Bolivia, though, finished 32-lengths last of 5.
Botterill’s sale of 2-year-olds in training, described as a deserving enterprise, disappointed. There was also a report on the previous day’s racing at Limerick, headed by another winner for Robbie Connolly since his move to The Curragh.
Colin Mackenzie, in his Post Diary Column, reported there was controversy over the premature death of Mill Reef at the National Stud. The horse was 18 and was said to be suffering from a heart condition. It seems many people were unhappy at his condition prior to the decision to put him down.
Lester Piggott sacked his agent, Mike Watt, who defended himself by claiming that Piggott was ‘almost impossible to work with’.
The Queen Mother held a party at Clarence House to celebrate her treble at Sandown the previous month. Special Cargo, Insular and The Argonaut were the three horses responsible. 
Bill Wightman took one look at the trophy for a race won by his horse Single at Chepstow and exercised his right to accept cash instead. ‘I didn’t come up the Thames on a motorbike,’ he said.
Sir Mark Prescott, 38 at the time, whose ambition was, to quote the Racing Post, to ride as many winners as possible over the sticks and between the sheets. In a whirlwind finish at Hereford, he beat future champion Graham Thorner. ‘I was as pleased as Punch, especially as old Graham was moaning like hell. I took my girlfriend off to a local hotel to spend a pleasant night.’ Unfortunately, the following morning he read in the paper that unbeknownst to him, the judge had changed his mind and awarded the race to his rival. ‘Try explaining that to a girl who didn’t understand about racing!’
Heading a story about ‘lovely redhead Tarnya Davis, there is a photograph of her with Another Duke and her fiancé Paul Nicholls. It might be Paul Nicholls and I’m not saying it isn’t …… it’s just the full head of black hair and lean figure suggests otherwise. Tarnya was one winner behind Gaye Armytage and Candy Moore in the female jockey championship, though at the time she was coming back from a dislocated shoulder.
Page 6 is dedicated to mug-shots of the ‘Racing Post Stable’. Tim Richards, Tony Morris, George Ennor, Ray Gilpin, Adrian Cook, Colin Mackenzie, Paul Haigh, Howard Wright, Simon Crisford (now trainer, then ‘Newmarket Man), Mike Palmer (Greyhounds) Neil Morrice (Lambourn Man) and Paul Johnson (Football Editor). There was also an advertisement for the much-missed J.A. Allen Horseman’s Bookshop in Lower Grosvenor Place.
Page 8 is a full-page advertisement by Robert Sangster’s Swettenham Stud, listing its stakes winner over the past 3-years, yet headed ‘Don’t Write Us Off Just Yet!’
Page 9, Racing Post News, featured Patrick Biancone’s Derby hope taken out of the race because of Epsom’s ‘unique lay-out’. The trainer had wanted to give Pradier and three companions a work-out at Epsom but was denied permission. Biancone took the decision with good grace. Mahmoud Fustok, though, was planning to run 2-fillies in the 1,000 Guineas, Rose of the Sea and Prospect Tora.
Derek Candy, it was reported, had one to ‘conjure with’ come the St.Leger. Ile de Roi had been impressing on the gallops at Lambourn.
Michael Stoute had a strong hand in the coming week’s big races, including Green Desert in the Free Handicap and Jareer in the Greenham.
Kit Patterson, Britain’s longest-serving racecourse official, bid farewell to Catterick on April 15th, 1986, having called-off 5 Catterick fixture that season. He was to be replaced by Charles Enderby, a former army officer.
And, finally, for now, Budweiser were to sponsor all 7-races on Irish Derby Day, contributing IR£290,000 towards the prize fund, with the main race having a guaranteed value of IR£450,000.

​When a horse is undefeated after 14-races, the majority Grade 1’s, the question of greatness is only one of degrees. Honeysuckle is, obviously, a mare of outstanding ability, her 3 Irish Champion Hurdle victories attest to that. She has, though, only won 1 Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and I believe she needs to win 2-more to be talked about alongside the likes of Bula, Sir Ken, Istabraq, Sea Pigeon, Monksfield, Night Nurse and others. I do not include Dawn Run in the list of great Champion Hurdlers, and she certainly does not qualify as one of the great steeplechasers. Her claim to fame, a claim that will live as long as the history of the sport is discussed, is her achievement in being the first horse to win both of Cheltenham’s Blue Riband races.
The fly in the ointment as far as judging Honeysuckle, or indeed any female winner of the Champion Hurdle, is the 7Ib allowance that mares receive from the geldings. I doubt if an extra 7Ib would have prevented Honeysuckle from winning the 2021 Champion Hurdle but that is beside the point. Dawn Run received 5Ib when she won in 1984, beating a very ordinary field, even if a certain Desert Orchid was in the race.
The introduction of the 7Ib allowance for mares in condition races was a splendid and much needed initiative and I in no way wish to suggest that per se it should be reassessed. Yet I question if there is any scientific data that proves that mares are not as strong as geldings. The 7Ib allowance was introduced to encourage owners and breeders of mares to buy or to keep them in training. As I admit, it is an initiative that has proved successful, with mares hurdles and chases as competitive, or more so, than many novice hurdles and chases.
My problem with the 7Ib is this: Honeysuckle (Appreciate It, perhaps will prove differently) is head and shoulders above every other hurdler in Ireland and Britain, so how can the 7Ib allowance be defended? If she is already 7Ib better than all the others and you then add the allowance, she becomes a stone superior to her opposition. This situation can only weaken the Champion Hurdle, unless it should be stacked with other mares, which is unlikely now there is a race at the Festival confined to mares.
In my opinion the 7Ib was justified in 2021as we had no absolute evidence that Honeysuckle was the best hurdler and, by the way she streaked up the Cheltenham hill, superior by some distance. But if only to allow the statisticians of the following decades to provide accurate judgment, the allowance should be diminished the more Grade 1’s she wins. And the same for mares who win Grade 1’s in the future.
To my mind, as soon as a mare wins a championship race, the allowance should reduce by 2Ibs until she is running off level weights with the geldings and colts. Of course, difficult decisions would have to be made regarding which Grade 1 hurdles are true championship races. Would the Irish Champion Hurdle qualify or is the allowance only reduced through winning at the Cheltenham Festival?
I am not knocking Honeysuckle. She is a wonderful racehorse and alongside Rachael Blackmore she is a story that will endure. I simply want to know where she will reside in the pantheon once she is retired to the paddocks. Is she as good as Istabraq? Can she be compared to Night Nurse, quite possibly the greatest hurdler of all-time? (Don’t argue with me; I am quoting the Racing Post’s historian John Randall). The 7Ib allowance muddies the water and turns form and informed debate into strictly a matter of opinion or bias.
Of course, we can never know with certainly if Night Nurse would have beaten Istabraq at level weights. Or if Sir Ken would have beaten Monksfield or Hatton’s Grace. It is part of why this sport is so intriguing. Many of those previous Champions, though, might have been capable of giving Honeysuckle 7Ib. What we do not know, is whether Honeysuckle could beat the present generation of hurdlers at Cheltenham off level weights.
In ordinary races, the 7Ib allowance, though generous, is acceptable and unarguable. But in championship races, when the defending champion is a mare, the 7Ib allowance is unjust and perhaps even detrimental to the competitiveness of the race itself.

​I wonder why Tuesday, May 12th, was chosen to be the last publication of The Sporting Life? It was the first day of York’s Dante meeting, so wouldn’t the Friday have been a more appropriate day to finish? A drawing of a line after an important meeting? Or the previous Sunday or Monday. Not that it matters, 1998 was the end of a newspaper that had adorned the publishing world since Saturday, April 30th, 1859, and which was formerly known as Penny Bell’s Life. Which is another date they might have chosen, April 30th, the 139th anniversary of the paper’s founding.
Although the ‘Life’ was a broadsheet – it is presently taking up most of the limited space on my desk – and reading it now, it feels like I am wrestling with sailcloth, the content is more or less the same as you would expect to find in today’s copy of The Racing Post. Incidentally, the title Sporting Life, still alive today, of course, remained on the front cover of the Racing Post as the two papers merged, rather than one taking over the other, although that in fact is what happened. By 1998, the Post was out-selling its only rival. If the Post had opposition today, its cover price would be half what it is.
Anyway, Section Two of this final publication had a photograph of Jack Berry and Gary Carter bathed in smiles after a second winner at Redcar. Jack, as always, wearing a red shirt. At the bottom of the sailcloth were the runners and riders for the two main races at York, the Musidora and the Guilbert of Rex Rated (I assume Stakes). The only jockeys still riding that were in competition that day are Frankie Dettori, Robert Winston and Royston Ffrench. Alex Greaves represented the female jockeys.
The inside page was a Marker Sheet, comprising the horses running at the day’s three race-meetings, plus the greyhounds at Catford and Sunderland. There was also a Runners Index and BAGS Index.
The main story of ‘The Sporting Life at the Races’ was winner number1,500 for Jack Berry. 
Graham Cunningham, reporting from Southwell, gave a mention to Friendly Knight, winner of the Italy Handicap, trained by Alex Johnson and owned by her husband Mark, the racecourse commentator. And as he does with regularity today, though I didn’t think him that ancient, Tony Carroll won the Germany Apprentice race with Lucky Begonia, ridden by Craig Carver. I wonder what happened to him?
No prizes for guessing who was leading the Jockeys’ Championship with 248 winners from 802 rides. Robert Thornton was leading conditional with 66 winners from 503 rides. And Martin Pipe was atop the trainers championship with 201 winners.
Beverley’s new weighing-room complex was getting a lot of stick. Did they ever make it safer for people? Gary Bardwell had broken his leg and was pissed-off about it. Captain Tancred, hurdle winner saved from drowning in a dramatic sea rescue, was to be featured on B.B.C.’s 999 series. And Danny Wright was expected to appeal against the disqualification of Cantina at Chester. Where’s Danny Wright now?
We think of Aidan O’Brien as being all-conquering, yet at Killarney on this day he had Lady Moskva in a mares maiden hurdle, form figures 243240, ridden Charlie Swan, and Ithastobedone, form figures 3415, ridden by J.A. Robinson. I mention the form figures as none of the other horses he ran that day could boast similarly respectable numbers. Loquacious, Corket, Oakler and Blasket Sound who ran in the handicap chase, though the latter had won that season, and his runner in the Bumper, Supreme Beauty, had finished 2nd on its last run. Willie Mullins had a runner in the race, ridden by the promising amateur Mr. R.Walsh. I wonder what happened to him? And would a young amateur in the Hunters’ Chase remember a horse called Desertmore. I am guessing that its rider, Mr.N.D. Fehily, goes by the Christian name Noel, a jockey who eventually was recognised for the great horseman he must have been for years before.
The prize money at Hereford that day is worth noting. The 4-year-old hurdle had £2,179 to the winner. The Selling Hurdle £1,523 to the winner. The 3-mile chase £3,048, the conditional jockeys hurdle £2,442, the handicap hurdle £2892, the Hunters’ Chase £1,390 and the 2 divisions of the bumper £1,229. Apart from virtually everything else, including the cost of living, nothing much has altered when it comes to prize money.
It's good to go back in time, to reunite yourself with something that was always really important to you, even if a softening brain has deleted so much of what has gone before. Or even two-thoughts ago. I had forgotten how reading the ‘Life’ was an art form in itself. Essentially, though, even if the Racing Post would claim otherwise, not much has changed, not for the better, anyway. Yesterday’s racing was better reported on by the ‘Life’, and though, I believe, point-to-pointing is carried in the on-line paper, the Post does not think it necessary or prudent to publish point-to-point results even though it is a seedbed to the professional side of racing.
Don’t get me wrong, much of my enjoyment of life and racing comes from my daily interaction with The Racing Post. My life would be lessened without it. But it is not the same value for money the Sporting Life was. The Post cuts, trims and lessens, while all the while, each Cheltenham Festival, it puts itself further and further out of reach of the ordinary working man and woman.
What the Racing Post needs is competition. It’s monopoly does horse racing an injustice.

​In a desperate search for my long-kept copy of the first Racing Post, to my surprise, and no little delight, I found I had also squirreled away the final edition of The Sporting Life.
I had forgotten the ‘Life’ was a broadsheet and the final edition, at least, was in two parts. In a short editorial on the front page, the editor claimed for the paper, though under a different title, the coining of ‘the Ashes’ for cricket and bizarrely took credit for the paper bringing international athletics to Britain. The ‘Life’ left racing, he wrote, buoyant with increased attendances and betting turnover, yet beset by many problems, ‘many of its own making’. Since Tuesday May 12th 1998, not much has changed, has it? The Sporting Life cost £1
The final front page lead story was ‘Cecil’s hot line to sixth Oaks’, a review of that day’s Musidora Stakes at York, with Matthew Taylor favouring Cecil’s Midnight Line to beat Bahr in a 4-horse affair. The 4-jockeys were Fallon, Swinburn, Harrison (Dale) and you guessed it the seemingly immortal Dettori. 
On a Derby update, Pascal Bary was waiting to see if ‘an ace’ came out of the Dante pack before confirming Croco Rouge an Epsom Derby runner. Meanwhile Shippy Ellis, agent to Olivier Pellier, also, apparently, an immortal, was busy trying to find his boy a Derby ride after Xaar was ruled out. Dr. Fong, also trained by Cecil, methinks, was favourite for the Dante.
The other major race was who would become British Horseracing Board chair, Savill or Purves? It was Savill. Oh, and Tim Henman won a major tennis tournament, the Italian Open, beating clay-court specialist Fabrice Santoro. 
On the inside page there is a photograph of David Ashforth, another immortal, then senior reporter, Bryan Pugh, chief sub-editor and Tony Smurthwaite, a humble news reporter, discussing the composition of the final front page.
Ladbrokes profits hit £110-million. Jack Berry trained his 1,500 winner the previous day at Redcar, Red Charger ridden by Gary Carter.
Amateur Patrick Faulkner was given a 14-day ban for whip abuse at Redcar. It was his seventh-ride in public. Many described the abuse as the worst they had ever seen, though Patrick Hibbert-Foy, possibly another immortal, said he had seen worse.
Aintree’s marketing manager, Joe McNally, was snapped-up by Tote Direct.
Richard Dunwoody gave up his rides the previous day in Ireland – he possibly only suffered a small fracture of a limb – and was due to resume at Chepstow the following day.
Cape Verdi was the generally 8-1 favourite for the Derby. You could have got anything from 14 to 33/1 about the eventual winner High Rise.
Page 3 was devoted to magic memories and if I start reading what Geoff Lester, David Ashforth, Monty Court and Clement Freud, wrote about I’ll never get this finished, which I doubt I will anyway.
The Breeding Colum was penned by Andrew Caulfield, a man who went on to do well for himself. As would remain the case today, Caulfield’s article was headed ‘Coolmore’s mixed bag’.
There was a poem or lament for the passing of the ‘Life’. There was a letter or tribute from Neal Wilkins on either the passing or retirement of Doug Newton, the ‘Life’ chief S.P. reporter and a letter from Steve Miller thanking the Life for 30-years of enjoyment.
Page 5 had a final piece from Clement Freud, ‘Things I shall Miss’, and articles by John Sexton, Michael Clower and Ian Carnaby. In his final piece for the ‘Life’ Julian Armfield reported good news for Aintree racecourse as it was given a ‘massive boost of confidence’ by local civic and business leaders. This was the year after the bomb scare debacle, which apparently improved racing’s image in the local area.
Diana Pointer, former travelling head-girl for David Murray-Smith, left paralysed after a fall on the Lambourn gallops, finally left hospital to move into a specially converted house in North Devon, my neck of the woods. I hope her life was or remains good to her.
Andrew Caulfield made the prediction that Sam Stronge, stepson of Robert, who had just won his first race, would be the next big name in the sport. Sadly, it was a prediction that failed to deliver.
Kids playing on a bouncy castle in Newmarket’s New Astley Club were ‘thrilled’ when Frankie Dettori and Olivier Doleuze gate-crashed their entertainment to demonstrate their ability to do somersaults. Frankie would do the same today. Caulfield’s magic memory from 19-years serving the ‘Life’ was Dawn Run’s 1986 Gold Cup. He thought, if she had lived, she would have won the next 3-Gold Cups. I doubt if many would agree with him.
On Page 6 there are two photographs of very young John Gosden and Luca Cumani. Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, as it wouldn’t today.
Anthony Bromley, perhaps another of the ‘immortals’, paid 50,000 guineas of somebody else’s money for an Ardross 4-year-old at Doncaster Sales. Paul Nicholls also spent lots of someone’s else’s money.
What memories and surprises Part 2 has in store I will leave for another day as if I open the slightly crusty pages, I’ll be behind this keyboard until darkness descends and the fire needs to be lit, the cats want feeding, as do I.