In The Racing Post today there is a photograph of the finish of last year's Japan Cup. It is an innocent enough depiction of a tight finish between two brave horses and two determined jockeys. To an outsider, though, not necessarily an opponent of our sport, it represents a very bad look. I know, as you know, that the Pro-Cush whip used by modern-day jockeys is soft and should not leave a mark on the hide of a horse. The horse is not being beaten as punishment but encouraged to maintain its speed and when a horse cannot improve its position or is out-of-contention, a jockey is expected to continue only using hands and heels. The welfare of the horse comes first, after all. All the same, photographs like the one published today represent a bad look for the sport. If a human being was photographed arm-raised, whip in hand, with another human cowering in expectation of pain, it would be evidence of a crime being committed.
Our sport lives in difficult times, we need all the friends we can get on our side. Greyhound racing in Wales is nearing a complete ban on the sport; in many racing jurisdictions jump racing is already banned. Is the freedom to use a whip on a horse that is already doing its best, a hill we want to die on?
I am not someone who likes to see a racecourse made redundant. In fact, I hate seeing racecourses become housing estates and business parks. But I also have no love of all-weather racecourses, believing we have more than enough in Britain. I was happy to see Chelmsford go under, for all that it is considered one of the best all-weather racecourses we have. I would have preferred to have The Jockey Club buy the place rather than build an all-weather course at Newmarket, though my preference would have been to have the place converted into a public park or some other sporting amenity. So though it may be good news to many that Arc have signed an agreement to take over the management of Chelmsford racecourse, I will not be applauding its latest resurrection.
I respect and enjoy the work of David Jennings. He can be insightful whilst being amusing. So it pains me to refer to his latest piece in The Racing Post as self-righteous twaddle. If Jennings were a judge, going by his comments on Rossa Ryan's ride at Sandown the other day, he would be all for bringing back hanging for the theft of a sheep. Anyone sentenced by Jennings the Judge for pickpocketing would be deported to a remote Australian island. Jennings wanted a longer sentence for Rossa Ryan. He would be in favour of a public flogging so that Ryan could reflect through the pain on his moment of misjudgement.
If Jennings has his way every mistake, no matter how trivial, a jockey makes would be liable to a penalty of some sort. If jockeys drop their whips, a week's suspension, perhaps. Though we had better consult Jennings the Judge on the severity of punishments. Lacksidaisical out of the stalls, perhaps a dozen lashes of a cat-o'nine tails. Jockeys are human beings, unlike Jennings, who obviously never errs in life, and occasionally they make mistakes. Unlike Jennings who can only live in fear of a paper-cut, jockeys can be maimed or worse in pursuit of our entertainment. Those who preach that jockeys should live and die by the sword, should be expected to live by the same rule, I suggest I would ask the editor of The Racing Post that should Jennings, who must be known for the saintly life he leads, should, if his high standard of work should slip, be subject to the same punishment as he wishes to be imposed on Rossa Ryan - a spelling mistake, 7-days suspension from his job. A factual error 28-days suspension from earning a living. Late arrival of his copy, death by a thousand paper-cuts.
It truly pains me to criticise David Jennings. He is a man, if I were to bump into him on the street, who I would offer my hand in respect and appreciation. But to figuratively drag Rossa Ryan over the coals for the error of not wanting to give his mount a harder race than necessary; to extoll the virtue of the punter, to cry fake tears for those who did not collect on Thunder Home without mentioning those punters who did collect on Zero Error, was hard to read. This sport has as its daily narrative winners and losers, lucky winners and unlucky losers. Rossa Ryan was not being lazy, he was putting his horse first. He erred and in doing so lost a race he should have won. That is all. No one died. Except my undying respect for Jennings.