chapman, energumene & single sex is best.

​I may be in a minority of one but I like Matt Chapman, occasionally. What is irritating about him, speaking as one of the few who champion his cause, is that he is such a fine interviewer, and now podcast presenter, ‘Unbridled’, alongside Paddy Brennan, is his teenage-like necessity to always have the last word on any discussion. He may be a great authority on the subject being debated but that is no excuse for talking over people, interjecting when an opinion is expressed that he does not share and, as I have already said, always wanting the last word.
I could cite so many of his interviews that show Chapman at his very best, both as a t.v. presenter and, surprisingly, as a good human being, teasing out answers that enlighten but do not embarrass the interviewee, that counteract his frightful antics when in conversation with his I.T.V. colleagues. Of course, his employers must ask him to ‘liven things up’, as John McCririck was tasked to do when Channel 4 held the terrestrial rights to British horse racing. But as with MrCririck, much missed by so many, though not by me, he has a tendency to edge into juvenile extemporizing when he possesses the intellect and knowledge to drive debates forward, especially by allowing his colleagues to talk without interruption. 
Matt Chapman is good at what he does but he is so much more than a clown, and I.T.V. have Luke Harvey to fulfil that nuanced role, after-all. Yes, Chapman has an ego and yes, his antics may at times be cover for an intruder complex. But it is time in his career to take a breath and appreciate he is safe in the environment in which he works. If only he could be more consistently the best of the bunch and rid himself of the need to be always right. No one is always right when it comes to horse racing, as Ruby Walsh will freely admit to and he has no need, or desire, to prove himself the best. He just is.

Where Chapman is often wrong, as on Sunday, is not being able to recognise the achievement of a horse winning after a long absence. Energumene was having his first run for two-seasons. If he had finished second in the Hilly Way, which was still a possibility before Banbridge unshipped his jockey, it would still have been a meritorious comeback. I believe/cross hope Jonbon will win the Champion Chase at the Festival this season, yet it cannot be denied that the Hilly Way over the weekend was a far stronger contest than the Tingle Creek. It should not be, of course, given the Tingle Creek is a Grade 1 only lacking in stature over the 2-mile trip to the Champion Chase itself. And it was Energumene’s first run back, whereas Jonbon would be 100% fit at this stage of the season. I was impressed by Energumene. He looked wonderful and gave the impression in the winners’ enclosure that he had enjoyed his day out. That he will be eleven come March is no reason to doubt the capability of the horse to win back his crown. He has a good rest since when he was the Champion two-miler and that might stand him in good stead come March. All we need now is for Gaelic Warrior to prove himself top-class over the distance and for El Fabiolo to prove his trainer wrong by not wanting to go up in trip and we have the making for a Champion Chase for all the ages, as people now say with frequency even though it does not really add anything to the anticipation or state which ages, future ages, for instance, when even greater Champion Chases might be run. We anticipate greatly.

Not to have single-sex changing facilities on every racecourse is unforgiveable given how to boast about the sport being gender equal. Money may be tight, with prize-money given priority, yet Flutter has found a million-quid or more to share out between our top National Hunt jockeys. A million-quid, I suspect, would build four or five changing rooms, so why not approach the big gambling organisations to fund the building of ladies changing rooms, with the facility named in honour of the bookmaker whose largess has paid for it?
Or approach the major breeding operations and name the facility in perpetuity in their honour. The Juddmonte Building, for instance. The Dalham Hall Complex. Just an idea that could possibly add to the twelve racecourse who have provided our female jockeys with safeguarded changing facilities and can hold their heads high.