ireland, docu-films, hypocrites, championships & david power cup.

​As I have said before, Ireland do things better than we do. A good example is the rescheduling of the abandoned (postponed) first day of the Irish National meeting for this coming Tuesday. No waiting around for a decision, just run the meeting as soon as is practically possible.
Also, no bending the knee towards the ignorant few. 30-runners are slated to line-up for the Irish National tomorrow, on a course half the size of Aintree where 34 is the maximum number. In Britain, we have dug a hole for ourselves which will prove impossible to climb out of. In Ireland, they are yet to even pick-up a spade.

In the U.S. there is to be a Netflix series based around Frankie Dettori and some of the top U.S. jockeys, highlighting the Kentucky Derby. No real interest to me if it were not for yet another spotlight on racing focusing on the human element of the sport and not the human partnership with the horse in horse racing. 
This sport is about racing horses for the enrichment and enjoyment of humans. What must be delivered to the watching public is the love of the horse and the appreciation of all that comes from our close bond with this beautiful creature. It is where ‘Full Gallop’ failed for me, no matter how ‘Hollywood’ Harry Cobden came across.

In today’s letters column of the Racing Post, Mr. John Blance suggests the sport should not be so defensive and point out the hypocrisy of the ignorant few for making racing out to be cruel when the majority may well wear clothes and shoes made of leather and eat cow, pig and sheep. There are elements of this sport which I find hard to stomach, not least the stupid amounts of money people will spend on young, immature horses simply in the hope of achieving a winner at Cheltenham or Royal Ascot. Yet defence of what I believe to be my sport is the hill I would undoubtedly die on, along with one or two other issues.

Also, in the Racing Post letters column today there is a letter from Mr. Andrew Sissons of Nottingham who believes the trainers’ and jockeys’ championships should be determined by either prize-money won or total number of winners. This whole field requires tidying-up, with different time-lengths for the flat, with the jockeys’ title determined by a selected number of months in the season, whereas the trainer’s title is determined over the whole 12-months.
To answer Mr. Sissons proposal. Why not two titles for both trainer and jockey. The Champion National Hunt jockey would be determined on races won, with a prize-money title going to the jockey who won the most first prize-money throughout the season, with the trainers’ championship following the same path, races won and prize-money. This would create the additional interest of either a jockey or trainer doing ‘the double’.
The flat championships are basically stupid and need to be rectified as soon as possible, perhaps sooner. The champion jockey for the season should be based on the number of winners rode throughout that season, not a part of that season as it is now. The hard-working jockeys who ride all-year in Britain are disadvantaged by the present system, with the all-star jockeys who ride all around the world given the benefit of a short season in which to base himself in this country. I would not be against a David Power Cup type championship within a championship based on Group races won through the season but the overall champion jockey and trainer should account for every race staged throughout the season.
Also, as my thoughts on the National Hunt championships, I would not be averse to two titles for both trainer and jockey, with a trophy for most races won and prize-money won.
I also think all-weather races should not count towards the turf championships but be a class of its own, thus allowing those jockeys who do not normally achieve the limelight in their careers gain an opportunity to become a champion, even if the all-weather championship will always be deemed inferior to the flat championship. The all-weather championship could run Easter to Easter or January 1st to December 31st.

The problem I have with the David Power Cup, if it should continue next season, is that too much money goes to too few jockeys. £100,000 would be a perfectly acceptable reward for the winner. The other £900,000 (did someone say there is no money in bookmaking these days) spread amongst as many other jockeys as possible, though with only races televised by I.T.V. an inhibiting factor when it comes to jockeys based in the North of England, this will doubtless be difficult to achieve. 
The sport will thrive if the foundations of the sport are strong. It will not survive if the perspective of the public is that it is a sport where the rich get richer and the journeymen are left to chase crumbs that fall from the gold plate of the happy few who dine at the top table. It is wrong-headed to argue that in all sport the most successful gain the greatest rewards. We are not just a sport, we are an industry, a partnership between man and horse, and there is this undefined aspect called the ‘social licence’ that governs our existence. We cannot afford to be seen as elitist. We are very much a working-class sport underpinned by the wealthy few. Image is everything in this social-media-led world.