BOW ECHO BOWS OUT, HENDERSON NOT PANICKING, 1976, PILLEY BAN & BURNHAM DISPLAYS IGNORANCE.

The debate is now moot. No longer can anyone suggest that Bow Echo is the next Frankel. The best horse in training, certainly the best 3-year-old, has proven unsound and due to injury he is to be retired. 6-races, 6-wins. The sad aspect of his retirement is that we will never really know how good he could have been. Alas, down the years, it has proved the same with many potentially brilliant flat horses, one injury and retired to the stallion shed to protect their value as stallions. Of course, as it is with colts retired prematurely from the racecourse, we are not given any specifics when it comes to the injury to Bow Echo, though we may speculate it is a tendon injury. He could, no doubt, be returned to active service if it were not for the mega-money he can now earn his connections as he transitions into a stallion. But there you are. It is what it is. No doubt breeders will be falling over themselves to acquire nominations to him, his pedigree more important to them than the small fact that he has failed to remain sound in limb after only 6-races. As a racing enthusiast, though, it is disappointing that we shall not see him again on a racecourse.

If, as it seems likely, Windsor at the end of the month remains on the firm side of good, Constitution Hill will wait a week and make his next flat appearance in the September Stakes at Kempton Park. Either race will prove an upgrade on his two previous races on the flat, Windsor being a listed race, while the Kempton race is a Group 3. But Nicky is not panicking as either race suits his needs and it will add sparkle to the season to have Constitution Hill back on track. Also, I hope his connections ditch the silly plan to take the horse, a horse in need of softish ground, down to Melbourne. Horses of his age never win the Melbourne Cup. 

Today, or tomorrow, might prove to be the highest recorded temperature in my back garden and, unlike Nicky Henderson, I am panicking as my water butts are close to empty. Yesterday it was breezy and cool. Tomorrow, for someone as delicate as me, it might be hell on earth. But it is the same everywhere, with fires here, there and everywhere - why not put water on areas in danger of catching alight before they actually catch alight? 

I am old enough to remember 1976. In fact the summer of 1976 was so impactful on me that it is the only year that clings to my memory, which is surprising as I was concussed that year when falling off my bicycle. The drought of 76 was caused mainly by having below average rainfall in 1975 and though there were less people in the country 50-years, this year we began the summer with full reservoirs, at least in the South-West that was the situation. The drought was broken  in 76 due to a rain dance conducted by Terry Wogan on Radio 2. That is fact; don't let anyone tell you differently. It was in August and if the long-term weather forecast I saw a few days ago is correct, the rains will arrive in this country on August 22nd. Pray that be right, my lovers, as some say with annoying frequency in these parts.

Paddy Pilley, a former apprentice jockey I had forgotten all about, has been banned from the sport for 14-months due to breaches of the betting rules. Although he rode 50-odd winners as an apprentice, he was working as a stable employee when he placed 60 lay bets. He was also found guilty of 10 bets when a licenced jockey. I have no problem with the length of his ban from the sport, in fact it could have been double the length and I would not have quibbled. It is just this: there is a well-documented stable staff shortage and removing someone from the sport who must obviously be a good work-rider, even if he might be a lazy worker when on his feet - I don't know and I am only using this case to make a point - the B.H.A. are making the situation a fraction worse. When a jockey is banned for using cocaine, for instance, they are banned from riding but allowed to work in the industry. I just think Pilley, who must now seek work outside of the sport where he can bet quite freely if he chooses, might have been allowed to work for a trainer but with restrictions placed on him and under observation, with a good work ethic a road to a shortening of his sentence.

Andy Burnham, a politician who dislikes betting shops in the High Street, has shown his ignorance by giving local councils powers to stop betting companies from opening new shops. If only the big betting names were falling over themselves to open new outlets, rather than closing them in the huge numbers that is the truth of the matter. Though it would be impossible for Burnham to be a worse prime minister than Starmer, I have very little faith he is the man to find solutions to our country's problems, let alone to offer-up help to our sport.