CHELMSFORD CITY & 300-MEMBERS OF STAFF!

I am no fan of all-weather tracks, I should have made that pretty clear by now. I appreciate the importance they have in keeping the show on the road during spells of snow, flood and biting frosts but do we not have enough of them already.  I fear the sport is slowing being walked into a U.S. attitude to the ground horses must race on, with very soon a dirt track added to the roster, as well as several new synthetic-surfaced racecourses. So no one will be surprised if I shed no tears if Chelmsford City should not survive the latest crisis to invade the calm of the only all-weather racecourse to install an adjacent turf course, its only claim for it to have greater priority for survival over Britain's other dull-as-ditch-water all-weather racecourses.

The racecourse might have closed, if only temporarily, last week if the B.H.A. had not granted it dispensation to continue racing despite Great Leighs Estates Limited, the licence holder, going into administration. A new company is being formed to take over the racecourse and its two fixtures this Thursday and Friday are due to go ahead. But why should the B.H.A. join the struggle to save the racecourse? It is widely perceived that Britain has too many racecourses as it is and though nobody has yet, as far as I know, made a list of the racecourses that could be culled, why not allow natural selection come into play and allow Chelmsford to die again. You may not be a believer in 'signs' but surely it is not a good sign for future success that this same racecourse, once named Great Leighs, has hit the buffers. I say 'let it go', allow Chelmsford City a quiet, natural death. The south of England already has Kempton Park (for now) and Lingfield Park to service the all-weather community. With a falling foal crop there is no justifiable argument for having six all-weather racecourses, five would be plenty, four would be more than enough. One in the north, one in the Midlands, one in the south. And certainly not one at Newmarket. Let Newmarket sleep through winter.

It is easy for me, though almost impossible for racing journalists, to poke fun at or to criticise Aidan O'Brien and Coolmore but their aim for world domination aside, they are also powers for good. Yesterday, at the Curragh, Aidan O'Brien gave 61 of his string a public work-out. Public, yes. Not only did Coolmore request that The Curragh open the gates to anyone who wanted to witness proceedings but they provided everyone interested an information sheet with the names of the horses taking part in which bit of work, the number it carried and the name of the person riding it. Is that all? No. This is Coolmore; going the extra mile is no hardship to them. Children were given a puzzle-book containing the usual stuff you might expect to find in such a book but also answered any possible question a child might ask about the day-to-day lives of racehorses and how Coolmore transport them to the racecourse. There may have been brocures as well, after all they are a business- a business with a heart and a soul and a desire to entice as many new followers to the sport as is possible. A gold star is warranted, I believe, as well as 100 out of 100.

Oh, and the reason I chose to write on this subject, Ballydoyle has 300-members of staff. That would be more than the average factory. I feel guilty now for wishing Aidan won fewer Grade 1's and classics and allowed others time in the limelight. Now I know why he must win so much prize-money every year. 222-horses in training, 300-staff! Astonishing.