scargill, handicapping & FRANCOME/O'SULLEVAN.

​I do not subscribe to any social media platforms; I do, though, use the comment sections of various YouTube channels to express my views. Therefore, I only have confirmation of others as to what is posted on these platforms and have no doubt what is expressed is wide in its spectrum, from the sensible to the offensive.
In today’s Racing Post, Peter Scargill, a man of great racing knowledge, erred, I believe, from the subject matter of his employment, by suggesting only mainstream media can be trusted when it comes to the news. I have e-mailed him to point out his mistake in siding with the enemy of the people – mainstream news outlets. There are always two-sides to every story, unfortunately, and unbelievably, a situation that for the majority of my life I could never imagine coming to fruition in the land of parliamentary democracy, the B.B.C., I.T.V., Channel 4 and Sky News, are nothing more than spokespersons of government and worst of all, no friends of our sport, as I.T.V. and Channel 4 example far too often.
I just hope that the jockeys who have signed-up to promoting the sport through the David Power Jockeys Cup receive positive feedback when they are promoting the sport on social media and not the filth and ignorance the social platforms are notorious for.

I have complained about the handicapping system for many years, believing a system that prevents good horses from winning due to hefty penalties for winning a single race is a welfare issue. Handicappers in their wisdom will raise a horse by fifteen or sixteen pounds for winning one of the big handicaps in which few finish the race, yet are slow to drop these horses when it is apparent they cannot be competitive of their inflated mark. I have suggested median handicaps, where horses are handicapped on their last 3, 4 or 5-runs, so as to give badly handicapped horses a fair chance of winning again. Obviously, if this proposal was to come into being handicappers could not rely on their computers to draw-up a handicap but would have to do the calculations themselves.
It is my opinion major handicaps, as with this Saturday’s Coral Gold Cup (the old Hennessey) stopped being targets for top-class horses when handicappers stopped using their knowledge and initiative and relied solely on their computers when framing handicaps. Look at the winners of the Hennessey in its first twenty-years or the old Whitbread, and you will see the names of the very best horses ever to grace a racecourse. In that regard, Denman is an outlier, winning two Hennessey Gold Cups off top-weight.
The handicap system in this country is broke and it needs fixing.
Also, the racing calendar is broke and needs fixing. Or do we want Ireland to dominate us for evermore?

No one has ever agreed with me when I make the point that every modern-day racing commentator is superior to Peter O’Sullevan. I recognise that every commentator today will refer to Sir Peter as the doyen of commentators and individually their inspiration. I just say, listen to his commentaries with an open-mind and compare him to Richard Hoiles or Simon Halt and you will grasp the inconvenient truth that he made numerous mistakes, called a horse ‘running on’ when clearly it was fading and stumbled over his words in a way our present-day commentators do not.
That said: he was, and perhaps remains, the voice of racing and if I had a list of the ten most influential men or women of my lifetime he would be in the top five. He was and remains a great man whose reputation lives on in his Sir Peter O’Sullevan Awards which raises funds for animal charities, like the Brook Hospital, all around the world.
Sir Peter will never be forgotten as long as our sport exists and this year his special award is to be awarded to the ‘greatest jockey’, John Francome, who is also one of our sport’s greatest personalities and is well-deserving the honour to be bestowed on him. His acceptance speech will be, I am certain, as humble as it will be hilarious. A great champion; an even greater human-being, I suggest.