what if, the saga of baron allen of kensington & it is our sport, too.

​The winter favourite for the Epsom Derby, The Lion In Winter, is on the drift. You can now have 16/1, apparently, with some bookmakers. Given the reputation of the horse and his trainer’s notable ability to raise the phoenix from the ashes, as he has proved in the previous two Epsom Derbies, 16/1 must be worth the punt.
Now, what if the negativity going the rounds recently – Aidan believing it would be a difficult for Ryan Moore to get off Delacroix in favour of The Lion In Winter, his disappointing run in the Dante and the drift in the betting market – is just a ploy by his canny Coolmore owners to get a good price for the horse. Perhaps lumping big sums on even-money chances has lost its appeal and having smaller amounts on at a poor man’s price is the new excitement for them?
Tabor, Smith and co are known to like a punt and often back Aidan’s judgement with their hard-earned cash. That 16/1 will look pretty juicy if come Wednesday, declaration day for the Derby this year, Ryan Moore’s name appears beside that of The Lion In Winter. He certainly would not be 16/1 for very long afterwards.
Of course, the more likely explanation for the drift is that bookmakers are luring punters in with an unbelievable valuation of the colt’s chance at Epsom. Perhaps they have heard a whisper that the colt will be diverted to an easier option elsewhere or the whispering is chatter that the horse has not progressed since the Dante as Aidan had expected. It is all speculation.
I have nothing but admiration for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore organisation but it would be a shot in the arm for the sport if someone else trained and owned the winner this year. Even Godolphin winning the race would be a breath of mildly fresh air. What I would like, though, is a 100/1 winner as that would get the race on the Saturday evening news. Which is not certain to happen if Aidan and Ryan were to win yet again.

The saga of Baron Allen of Kensington and the will he, won’t he, take-up his appointment as chair of the B.H.A, continues, much to chagrin of Tom Kerr, editor of the Racing Post. In his response to the news that the Baron is insisting on continuing private talks with racing’s stakeholders – the bad barons of this long-running saga, I suggest – and will not be in his seat, ‘the chair sitting on a seat’ – it makes no sense, does it? – until some time after June 2nd, the date that was presumably on the contract.
Now then, yesterday I led myself to believe that Baron Allen was to be Julie Harrington’s successor. He is not. He is not Chief Executive but chair of the B.H.A. I am always confused when it comes to the machinations and role-play within the British Horseracing Authority. As I am confused as to whether it should be horse racing or horseracing? The Irish prefer the latter.
Tom Kerr is right, though, to have his arse in his hands about all of this. As he said, it is an embarrassment to have neither a chair of the B.H.A. or a chief executive at a time when so much heavy artillery is coming in our direction. You would think it a good money-saving exercise to combine the positions of chair and C.E.O. and for the lucky incumbent to be expected to work a 40-hour, 5-day week.

To continue with the previous topic. I believe this old sport of ours belongs as much to the punter as the bookmaker, as much to the stewards as the starters, as much to the jockeys as the racecourse owners, as much to the trainers as to the people they employ – you get my drift.
When these positions in the governance offices of the B.H.A. come-up for grabs, I would like to see an end to the ‘jobs for the boys’ charade that has yet to be seen as of any benefit to the sport. Open-up the candidature to include anyone currently or formerly employed in the sport. How can we have any confidence that Baron Allen was the best candidate for the job when his experience of the sport is, at best, minimal. I am not suggesting his knowledge of the worlds of business and politics would not be useful to the sport but in my opinion someone from that background should be employed as an advisor to a chair or chief-executive, someone with a ledger load of knowledge of the sport from the muck-barrow to the top hats of Royal Ascot and everything in between. Would Baron Allen know what a surcingle is? A claiming race?
I would like to have the election of a chair or C.E.O. decided upon by all sectors of the sport and not by the B.H.A. I would like to see 3 or 4 candidates addressing all the relevant stakeholders in turn, with debates on I.T.V. and the racing channels, followed by a public vote, with, as I said, anyone employed in the racing industry, plus racegoers and life-long enthusiasts casting a vote. It is our sport, too, as much as it is those who work on our behalf at the B.H.A.