racing news thursday august 12th.

​Yesterday’s headline in the Racing Post was on the lines of ‘Snowfall well ahead of York next week.’ The editor should be ashamed of himself. Snowfall wouldn’t be running next week if Aidan O’Brien didn’t think she was tickerty-boo. ‘Snowfall not herself ahead of York’ would be useful information for enthusiast and punter alike. Snowfall fit as a flea is not worth the announcement. Incidentally, though I agree Snowfall is a good name for a racehorse, a racehorse that was grey not bay as Snowfall happens to be. I know Coolmore rarely have grey horses for some reason, though you might have thought they would have reserved the name for one did come along.

Worryingly, though not surprisingly, U.S. racing is embroiled in what could turn out to be a large-scale horse doping scandal. Top trainer Jorge Navarro has admitted administering and supplying performance enhancing drugs that include ‘blood-building substances’, ‘vasodilators’, ‘bronchodilators’, ‘bleeder pills’ and ‘SGF-1000’, a designer drug, medications that are way ahead of my understanding of what they do, except seemingly they make horses run faster for longer. Sadly, it is highly significant that Navarro’s best horse, X Y Jet died of a heart attack last year. Navarro has implicated Jason Servis, trainer of Maximum Security, the winner of the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup. Servis denies any wrong-doing, even though vet Kristian Rhein has pleaded guilty to administering SGF-1000 to Maximum Security prior to a race at Monmouth Park in 2019.
The worrying aspect of this story is Jim Bolger’s allegation that Ireland has a ‘Lance Armstrong’ in its training ranks and what begins in the quiet of U.S. racing stables often transfers to other racing jurisdictions and it is about time Jim Bolger began naming names because if he can’t back-up his allegations with hard evidence it is his hard-earned reputation that will be sullied.

Occasionally, the Racing Post will include an article that is no more than a convenient filler for a page but which actually displays the sport in a positive light. Today’s paper reports on the death of Squire Silk, a hurdler/chaser owned in the 1990’s by Sir Robert Ogden when he was one of National Hunt’s leading owners. The horse was trained by Andrew Turnell. When a horse is retired the public lose track of it and it is uplifting to be informed that Squire Silk died aged 32, a mighty age for a horse. He lived out his life at Sir Robert’s Sickling Hall Stud alongside Voy Por Ustedes, Ad Hoc and Iris Royal. Three cheers to Sir Robert and his staff at the stud for caring for these horses till their natural deaths.

Honeysuckle, Minella Indo, Minella Times, Put the Kettle On, Telmesomethinggirl, Bob Olinger, Envoi Allen, Quilixios, Jason the Militant and A Plus Tard have reported back for service, the Champion Hurdler, Cheltenham Gold Cup, Grand National and Two-Mile Champion Chase and Triumph Hurdle winners, plus 2 other Cheltenham winners, the most hyped young horse of last season, the Gold Cup runner-up – I’m not sure how Jason the Militant was included in the list, except that Henry de Bromhead must have high hopes for him this season. Has anyone in the history of the sport ever started a season with such an array of talent? The only downside at the moment is that de Bromhead does not have his stable jockey to call on and it seems that Rachel Blackmore will not be back in harness for another 6 to 8-weeks. Her hip and ankle are healing, though unless Paul Townend is similarly side-lined her chances of becoming champion jockey this season are all but out the window. Amazingly, the last time I looked she was still at the top of the jockeys table.

The best method available to jockeys to promote themselves is to take every opportunity that comes their way on the racecourse, work hard for the trainers who regularly employ them and to conduct themselves both on and off the course with quiet circumspection. Jockeys may attract a ‘fan-base’ through social media but from what I can gather the downside far outweighs the upside. Paddy Mathers is the latest jockey to fall foul of baseless abuse and criticism, though on this occasion the disparaging remarks are being sent directly by e-mail and phone to his main employer Mike Smith who continues to support Mathers. 

Finally, I dislike the concept of the Racing League. Apart from the enhanced prize money I cannot see any value in it. If it fails to enthuse racing enthusiasts, with the racing press divided on the subject, how can it hope to enthuse the public, to bring more attention to the sport and to put ‘more bums on seats’? So far, it has not increased spectator numbers and is taking place in the twilight, with, I suspect, very few people able to put a name to any of the teams, let alone be able to name the frontrunners. Giant oaks from small saplings grow, you’ll say. The Cheltenham Gold Cup was not loved from conception, with the National Hunt Chase the dominant race at the Festival for many years before the Gold Cup began to be taken seriously. If it was not for the above-average prize-money the concept would have died in the water. But even, let’s say, to play devil’s advocate, the Racing League is deemed successful, where can it go, how does it fit within the tradition and structure of the sport? This is a money-making venture for those pushing the idea. If it is about an attempt to bring more people into the sport, they should have stuck with whipless races as that would have intrigued the public and attracted a curious media. The one useful idea the Racing League proposed was abandoned and that says all that needs to be said for it.