these very difficult (& hard to understand) Times.

​2,400 people were allowed into the Crucible Theatre last weekend to watch the final of the World Snooker Championship. It was a sight to behold, a glimpse of normality. Not one of them, nor the cameramen, referee or players were wearing masks. Again, a joy to behold. So why is it okay for people to watch snooker in a confined auditorium but not okay for jockeys, trainers and grooms to work on a racecourse, in the great outdoors, without the ugly and completely useless impediment of the mask? I only ask. Perhaps Ed Chamberlain knows the answer.

Last week, the Racing Post did me the service of publishing two letters on the subject of whether a three-year-old should ever be handed the mantle of greatness. My first letter was in response to the opinion of a reader who considered Sea The Stars the greatest racehorse he had seen, better than Frankel in his opinion. Anyone who has read my posts down through what is becoming the years will know I do not believe any racehorse retired after one season is deserving of such honour. A three-year-old that goes to stud after its classic season can not be given any other description than the best of his generation. In Sea The Stars case you can add best by a long way. But that does not justify anyone referring to him as ‘one of the all-time greats’.
But everyone is entitled to their opinion. I hold the opinion that Frankel would undoubtedly have no rival to the greatest crown if he had either remained in training at 5, the age when racehorses are regarded as reaching their prime, or if he had run over what I believe would have proved his optimum distance, 1 ½-miles. The point I was belabouring to make is that it does not encourage owners to keep their best horses in training beyond their 3-year-old careers when people dub 3-year-olds as achieving greatness. We have no way of knowing if Sea The Stars and Nijinsky, to give two examples, would have remained sound if they had stayed in training for another year. Or if they could have given weight and a beating to the succeeding generation of 3-year-olds. For the thoroughbred breed to prosper into the future what is required as stallions is not flash-in-the-pan shooting stars but stallions that proved hardy and sound in wind, limb and heart.

Everyone keeps on complaining about prize-money, don’t they? It was James Toller in the Racing Post today. He was right, by the way, that prize money is not even standing still at the moment but going backwards. But crying over the situation without putting forward solutions is a waste of everyone’s time and energy. It’s a case of, ‘if Deauville can put up fabulous prize-money, why can’t we’? Dah!
The majority of the money bet on horse racing in France goes back to the sport, that is why. It is the same in the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia and every successful racing jurisdiction. It is the only sure-fire method of funding the sport. Every racecourse should have its own Tote, with a National Tote serviced by bookmakers acting as agents. With sports betting such a big part of bookmakers income the betting landscape today is light years different from the days of Woodrow Wyatt. It is a no-brainer and it is time the industry joined hands and finances to make it happen.

Surely if an apprentice jockey claims the wrong riding allowance, especially if the error is made multiple times, incurring penalties for people completely innocent of the error, the B.H.A. should at the very least share the responsibility for the error. It is not as if Jersey is on another continent. George Rooke is a young man making his way in life. Rightly, as the rules of racing were broken, if innocently, he must pay a price and 7-days will not be the breaking of him. But shouldn’t the B.H.A. be subject to some sort of sanction. It is all very well them suggesting they will do something to stop a similar occurrence but wouldn’t an apology to both young Rooke and the sport be appropriate. No matter what, it seems, it is never their fault.

In conclusion, to return to Frankel. If anyone read, what I assume was an extract from a recently published book about Frankel, in the Racing Post in the week, they would have been delighted, as I was, to read about a meeting between Henry Cecil and his ex-assistant Ed Vaughan on the Waterhall gallop on the morning of the day Frankel was to have first race. ‘Do you know,’ Henry said without prompting. ‘I think this horse I run tonight is the best I have.’ He then went on, astonishingly, proving his credentials to be considered one of the greatest trainers in history. ‘I think he’s the best I’ve ever trained.’
Of course, in the post-race interview he was not so predictive. ‘I haven’t really galloped him yet. He could be a nice horse if he goes the right way.’ Incidentally, he won the princely sum of £4,533 that evening at Newmarket.