ANOTHER DEADLINE ABANDONMENT, ASWAT WINS AGAIN & 435,000 GUINEAS GAMBLE.

After the criticism that came the way of the B.H.A. when the Chelmsford Easter meeting was called-off ten-minutes after declarations, you would have thought a lesson had been learned. But no, apparently there was no lesson learned as tomorrow's meeting at Brighton has been abandoned after declarations due to badgers and birds digging-up parts of the racecourse in search of leatherjackets, the larvae of crane flies.

No blame can be attached to Brighton for playing host to leatherjackets as the mild winter is the cause of the infestation, and Brighton have over the past fortnight tried manfully to kill-off the larvae, to no avail. And that is the seat of the present wave of criticism lapping around the ankles of the B.H.A.. For two-weeks Brighton groundstaff have battled with this problem, with the possibility of having to abandon tomorrow's first fixture of the season becoming more likely by the day due to the leatherjackets winning their battle for survival. Of course, neither the management at Brighton nor the B.H.A. thought to inform trainers of this man versus leatherjackets contest that was in progress and trainers have entered and even declared to run, only to have the carpet snatched away from under their feet. It happened at Chelmsford and it has happened again at Brighton. Why couldn't the B.H.A. have alerted trainers of the risk to the fixture and when it became necessary to abandon the meeting, why did they not make the decision a day earlier, rather than allow trainers to declare in favour of Brighton over races at upcoming other meetings?

Again, the B.H.A. are seen in a poor light. What a sorry and avoidable messes they get themselves into!

If you have seen Aamilah Aswat in a race, you will be aware she is a very good rider, with particularly good hands. Yesterday at Hereford, she won on Wild Goose (interesting fact about wild goose chases coming up) her third, I believe, victory, all for the Nicholls and Bailey combo. I am not suggesting for a moment that she is the new Rachael Blackmore, though if she is not given similar opportunities to which finally came Blackmore's way, how will we ever know her true potential?

If you have racist tendencies or are of a misogynist bent, you doubtless will not agree with me when I suggest Aamilah is exactly what our sport needs at this time in its history. National Hunt needs a new talented female jockey; her skin colour is only an added bonus, I may add. Her main attribute, though, is her talent in the saddle. Today at Ayr, she rides Guchen, the horse that kick-started her career. She won too far on him last time and the handicapper has risen him 10Ibs for winning an ordinary race. A short-head would do today.

The saying 'A Wild Goose Chase' has little to do with geese but comes from an early form of horse racing. A rider would set off in front, given a length of start decided upon by his rivals, and the idea was that whoever passed him first would be declared the winner. The hare or lead rider, would take a meandering route which was onced described as the shape of a goose and the idiom was born.

Winners of one point-to-point in Ireland, if they are born beautiful and win with style, fetch stupid prices at auction. Yesterday at Cheltenham, a 4-year-old mare, Mita d'Airy, was purchased on behalf of Dan Skelton for 435,000 Guineas. Of course, being a filly, the new owner, a proprietor of a stud, has a fallback position if the mare fails to live up to expectations on the racecourse. But as Regent's Stroll, and to a lesser extent Caldwell Potter, have proved on the racecourse, is that silly money rarely buys a profit. J.P. McManus once said after winning the Cross-Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with a horse that cost him something like 600,000 Guineas as a young horse, that Cheltenham winners are always bought cheaply. You have to have the luxury of a bloody big fortune to believe that 400,000 Guinea losses equate to some form of success.