i.t.v., epsom & amateurs on the flat.

​Ed Chamberlain and his squaddies continue to provide horse racing and its advocates the best service since the B.B.C. brought the sport to a live t.v. audience back in the last 1950’s. I find it hard to quibble about any of its presenters or commentators. I wish I.T.V. made more use of Ken Pitterson, though he may not wish to be made more use of. At the moment when he is dragged in front of a camera to give his opinion on the horses as they leave the parade ring, it is as if he is being paraded as a token black face. Personally, though he might lack the skill of talking to a camera while walking within a few feet of the back-end of horses primed for the day, a discussion with Francesca or Adele on the main contenders might be more worthwhile to the stay-at-home punter than the hurried dialogue the producer insists upon at the moment.
‘The Morning Show’ I’m less enthusiastic about. In fact, I would prefer the budget to be spent elsewhere, perhaps on visits to stables or proper in-depth interviews with jockeys or racing people in the news. Believe or not, Matt Chapman is a brilliant interviewer, as people who have the racing channel he also works for will be aware. Personally, I don’t care which horse Matt or anyone working on ‘The Morning Show’ thinks will win and the £20 challenge is meaningless unless the presenters’ actual place the bet with a bookmaker, with a scoreboard kept and a prize awarded at the end of the flat and National Hunt season to the presenter with the most money won. Let’s be honest, no presenter on the programme is anymore successful at finding winners than you, me or the cat.

Epsom and amateur flat races are one subject. Epsom hosts the main flat race of the season, yet for the rest of the season the racecourse does not feature on terrestrial television. It’s mad. Once upon a time, when Lord Oaksey was John Lawrence, Epsom’s bank holiday meeting was highlighted by the most important amateur race of the flat season. It used to be a FEGENTRI race and attracted the top amateurs in Europe. Nowadays, like so many of our historic races, it is fallen into neglect, an amateur race like all others.
Throughout the summer, there are a plethora of such races, with some these days given over to the novice amateur and some restricted to female amateurs. In these times of equality, I would have thought it prudent for all amateur races to be open to both genders, with all amateur races leading to a finale, with Epsom on Bank Holiday Monday the obvious destination, with the champion amateur crowned at one of our most famous racecourses. At the moment the amateur rider and the races in which they are restricted to riding in has no narrative. Who could answer correctly ‘who was champion amateur on the flat in 1999, 2008 or 2020?
What Epsom is favourite for is the Epsom Derby. While any race carrying the ‘Derby’ name can only be a poor imitation of the real thing, I think it might be a workable idea to have some form of Derby over the traditional Derby distance at every Epsom meeting, with its first meeting of the year given the title of ‘Derby Trials Day, with the Blue Riband given more prominence, with both a 3-year-old handicap and a maiden run over the full Derby distance.
Every meeting after the Derby at Epsom could have a Derby of sorts on the card. Male apprentice Derby, for instance, female apprentice Derby, male amateur Derby, female amateur Derby. A Derby handicap for apprentices of both genders, a maidens Derby. Even a Derby for jockeys who have ridden only a dozen winners in the season. Yes, the elastic is being stretched to close to breaking point but it would give every Epsom meeting a focus, a reminder, though perhaps unnecessary, of the day in June when the eyes of  world of racing look only one way.

Finally, on this day in racing history not much of real note occurred. In 1950 Edward Hide had his first ride at Birmingham. In 1982, the Mick Ryan trained Boxberger Speed completed the Dutch Triple Crown by winning the St.Leger at Dunduigt. And sadly, in 1988 at Huntingdon, conditional jockey Vivian Kennedy broke his neck in a fall and died two-days later.
We owe our jockeys a deed of debt we can never fully repay; though donations to the Injured Jockeys Fund will ease all conscience. With horses, the debt of gratitude is beyond all resources and can only be part-paid by people and the industry stretching every fibre to ensure retired racehorses receive an honourable and peaceful life.