expressing opinions on issues beyond my competence to comprehend.

​My understanding of the world of finance is equal to my knowledge of the streets of Kazakhstan’s capitol, Alma-Ata, and I not 100% certain I have the name of the capitol city correct. So, any reference or opinion I make to money, finance and institutions concerned mainly with the making and distribution of money should be viewed for what they are – ignorance defeating instinct by technical knockout.
When the proposal by Peter Savill, owner these days of Plumpton racecourse and once upon a time head honcho at the B.H.B., the forerunner of the B.H.A., to follow football, rugby and nearly every other major sport in this country and attach the word ‘Premier’ to our top race meetings, instinct told me it would not provide the benefits hoped for it. And ‘hope’ ruled the roost as the proposal was adopted, though severely tinkered-with and adjusted, by the B.H.A. I suspect the leaders of racing’s stakeholders were all suffering from muscle fatigue after all the arm-wrestling and twisting during the many meetings that lead to agreement on the new way forward. They all ‘hoped’ and I, at least, hoped I would be proved wrong, as I am on too many occasions these days.
As we know, the hope was that Premier fixtures – I have given up on the word ‘premierisation’ – would right the ship from uncompetitive racing, failing attendance at racecourses (mainly due to the cost-of-living crisis) increase betting turnover, preventing the export of top-rated horses to far-flung places and boosting prize-money, which is being achieved at the expense of race-meetings that represent the foundations of the sport.
Flying in the face of reason, the great leap forward began on January 1st at Cheltenham with no fanfare, virtually no signage and no explanation to racegoers as to how Cheltenham’s traditional New Year’s Day fixture in 2024 varied from all the New Year’s Day fixtures that had preceded it. And that has set the tone up until this very day as though Premier Racing has a logo it has only a minimal marketing budget.
What the B.H.A. failed to grasp is that though football’s Premier League concept is successful worldwide, during the season there are only a handful of matches that can be honestly described as being out-of-the-ordinary or premier. Luton v Sheffield United would not be one of them. Nor would Notts Forest v Burnley. Throwing money at a Musselburgh handicap does not magically turn it from a competitive and worthy horse race into premier status on a par with the Epsom Derby.
I have flipped from hating the idea of premier racing due to the ‘have and have-not’ status it implies, to thinking that there was a grain of a good idea within the concept, to where I stand now – wishing it would go away and leave the sport alone. Since I.T.V. won the contract to broadcast racing on terrestrial t.v. premier racing has thrived without any need for re-branding. Ed Chamberlain and I.T.V. have been brilliant for the sport, especially during the ‘covid years’. Unfortunately, Ed and his gang’s on the front foot contribution to marketing the sport has not been matched by racing’s stakeholders.
The only races that need to be protected from the overkill of races being run at the same time at other racecourse are the genuine premier races, the classics, Grade 1’s and Group 1’s, the major handicaps with long histories. Supporting races do not need such protection. With big screens at racecourses, racing all over the country could halt for sixty-minutes to allow a build-up to the Derby, for instance, and for a period afterwards for reflection, t.v. interviews and replays. The limited marketing budget used to promote races of international prestige.
As for the latest ‘big idea’ to come from the B.H.A. – taking ownership rights for the country’s premier races away from the racecourses where they are held, to give to a new company that could then source a global sponsor with a marketing budget the sport can only dream-of – smacks of selling the family jewels to a friend of a friend who knows someone of influence in high foreign places who might or might not be involved in human rights violations but on the whole is a nice guy who can be trusted implicitly to do right by us.
Some thing needs to be done, of course. Perhaps Baldric has a cunning plan that does not involve turnips. Otherwise, a scenario might pan out where the Ascot straight mile is one day used for growing turnips and other agricultural practices.