more horse racing matters.

​Although I am loathed to admit to it, the Bill Gates’ sponsored Plandemic has allowed for a few good things to happen in the parochial world of British horse racing. Jockeys only being allowed to ride at one meeting per day is an excellent step-forward in the drive to improve the mental health of jockeys. I doubt if tubbies like you and me can ever understand the strain inflicted on jockeys when they have to diet every day of their lives, get out of bed at the crack of dawn to ride work for a trainer, then drive to an afternoon race meeting, before setting off on another long car journey to an evening meeting, no doubt arriving home in what we tritely refer to as ‘the wee small hours’. I dare say when the first race is mid-day it imposes a different type of problem for jockeys but at least come the final race their next car journey will be homeward-bound.
And the main benefit of the present system is that, as I have said for many years now, it gives greater opportunity for those jockeys who do not dine off the high table. If the B.H.A. have any sense, they will not meddle with the one-meeting per-day rule.
The nine and ten race programme is also a neat idea, though whether it will survive this madcap period in our lives is questionable, even if jockeys heartily approve of extended race-cards. To catch up on races missed during the weeks and months of the nonsensical lockdown, the extended race-cards are sensible and if they did extend into the later part of the season would provide greater value for money for spectators. (Crossed fingers) The downside, of course, to the nine and ten-race meetings is that the B.H.A. might decide they are a better alternative to keeping the smaller tracks alive. Which is a scenario in keeping with our dystopian times. A wretched thought, I hope you agree.

I wrote many moons ago (Thought to self: I must sort out the archive of this website. It is a mess. Even I cannot find the files related to what I write at the present time. Titles, also.) that Barry Geraghty was one of the greatest of all time and should be revered alongside Ruby Walsh and A.P. McCoy. I have predicted his retirement several times over the past few years, yet when it came this weekend it was still a bit of a shock. As with the above-mentioned twosome, it will be strange not to see his name slated against J.P.’s horses in the weeks and months to come.
Who will replace him as J.P.’s retained rider? It is a slam dunk that Mark Walsh will become his number 1 in Ireland, though I suspect a younger jockey will get the job in England.
I think Jonjo O’Neill junior is perhaps lacking in experience to be number 1 at present but in time he’ll doubtless rise to the job. Aidan Coleman is an obvious choice and J.P. usually prefers more experienced jockeys. Richard Johnson does not have enough mileage left in him to be considered and I am sure he will want to finish his career with the Hobbs yard. And the age consideration applies to Davy Russell. My bet, for what it is worth, and somebody unconsidered by bookies and pundits alike, is Harry Cobden. He is the best of the younger brigade around, has already won his fair share of big prizes, is not phased by expectation and has an easy-going attitude to life. Whether Paul Nicholls would let him go without a fight, I am not so sure. He is, after-all, the best stable jockey he has had since Ruby Walsh.

Sport without spectators is like the London Eye during a power-cut. Yes, it has taken a herculean effort to get the Derby and Royal Ascot staged, and a huge round of applause goes out to those responsible, and how about erecting 3-miles of metal fencing around the perimeter of York racecourse? Where do you get your hands on 3-miles of fencing? Triumph, though, should be equalled by a buzz of electricity, not the echoing of individual hand-claps, mostly from the splendid I.T.V. crew. The government needs the revenue from betting, especially with the economy showing no sign of perking up any day soon, and the B.H.A. should use this as a bargaining tool to get race-goers back on the racecourse, even if the stupid and utterly pointless masks must be worn. Incidentally, am I the only one to think it inconsistent, if this Covid-bug is such a killer, that jockeys and trainers must wear a mask, yet the I.T.V. presenters do not?
Covid-19 – A disease so deadly you have to be tested to determine if you have had it or not.