reflections, unlucky, sad to see, promoting the sport, 1 2 3 not enough for willie mullins & amateurs.

​The best sight of the weekend was seeing Broadway Boy walking into the horsebox to begin his journey back to the Cotswolds. It was with some relief, I can tell you, when I heard that he had survived his awful fall at Valentines. It is also pleasing to hear that Celebre D’Allen is on the road to recovery, though I wish we could be told exactly what the problem was with the horse.
Although I fully understand why the majority of racing people are content with the changes to the race as no one wants to see horses put into unnecessary danger, though I will never agree that lowering the number of runners makes the race ‘safer’ for horse and jockey, given that anyone who agrees with that progression can only believe that if 34 is safer than 40, then 30 must be safer than 34. I wish that everyone would agree to admitting that the Grand National is no more and that what we have is a replacement race that saves the cash-cow from extinction. Also, during the season there are a multitude of races for the top handicappers. The Grand National used to be a race that gave the not so good handicappers a chance of immortality and it is this aspect that I mainly grieve for.
It was great to see Nick Rockett looking so spritely out in a paddock on Sunday morning. He also looked pleased with himself, and so he should.

In the ‘Another View’ portion of today’s Racing Post, Peter Thomas explains – I hope Matt Chapman reads it – why horses and jockeys who get things wrong, as in falling off at the last or a horse falling when looking like the winner, are not unlucky. They have failed to get the job done, as Constitution Hill has done the last twice. I agree with the wily and wise Peter Thomas. You simply cannot compare the achievements at the moment of Constitution Hill with what Night Nurse, Persian War, Sea Pigeon, Sir Ken or Monksfield accomplished. In time, perhaps. But not now.

Sad to see the retirements of Alan Johns and Nick Scholfield, two fine jockeys and assets of the sport. The former is going into the media industry and the latter is to embark on a training career. The good thing is that both of them will remain in the industry.

This leads me into how the sport needs to promote itself. As someone who is from a working-class background and who lives a long way outside of any of our racing hotspots, with no one in my sphere of influence who cares one jot about the sport, I can assure anyone reading this that the general public’s perception of our sport can be summed-up in two words – Royal Ascot.
The horse racing industry may be underpinned by the wealthy and the fabulously wealthy but at every other level this is a working-class sport as for anyone to be successful at the highest or middle-level they have to work their socks-off. This sport should not be defined by Royal Ascot but by Bangor-on-Dee or Redcar.
Firstly, we must demonstrate how well horses are cared-for in the sport, the retired as well as those who remain in active service. Jockeys must be seen as horse-lovers and horse-carers and we should stop using a mega-horn as if somehow seven-figure purchase prices elevate the sport above all other sports. Money, money ,money, when it is going in the opposite direction to most of humanity, is like Queen Antoinette telling the poor to eat cake if they cannot find any bread to eat.
People like Alan Johns, who already promotes the sport on social media, are key. Positivity, fun, love and care, are what needs to be promoted, not expensive millinery but the horse first, second and last. The horses are both the bread and butter of the sport and its cherished stars. And in this world of hardship for so many, prize-money must be capped so the majority do not get to believe that the big money only goes to the elites. It is all about perception. Royal Ascot does not represent what this sport is all about.

It is also not good on the eye if the sport is dominated by one jockey, one trainer or one owner. After training the first three, plus the fifth and seventh, in the Aintree National, Willie Mullins had a 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, in the Grade 2 novice hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday. One can only stand in awe at the achievements of Willie Mullins but for someone on the outside looking in, it is not a good look.

Patrick Mullins is not an amateur in any sense of the word. He is a classy rider, as proved on Saturday, as are so many amateur riders at the moment, especially in Ireland. Is it not time we ditched the amateur category and just differentiate jockeys by the class of riding licence they hold? Some riders might have a licence that restricts them to point-to-points, others a licence which would allow them to also ride in Hunter Chases, bumpers and amateur races, with some having a licence which allowed them to ride in conditional or opportunity races as they are called in Ireland. While the likes of Patrick Mullins and Derek O’Connor, to name but two, would be allowed to ride, and to be paid, to ride alongside professionals, but only when they ride against professionals, their opportunities limited by their weight, their licence would allow them to hop between point-to-points and the professional side of the sport. Obviously, riders who hold a professional licence would also be allowed to ride in point-to-points if they wished.
I cannot see how Mullins and O’Connor can be termed ‘amateur’ when their ability in the saddle makes them the equal of our top professional riders.