FRANCE GALOP DIGS IN, 'THE GREATEST HORSE' & A BOOK THAT NEEDED TO BE PUBLISHED.

I am pleased to see that France Galop are sticking to their guns and moving not an inch from their proposal to allow geldings to run in the Arc from next season. Guillaum de Saint-Seine, president of France Galop, has reiterated that there was a majority vote in favour of geldings being allowed into the Arc, though there were a few vociferous opponents. He also said there was popular appeal in favour of geldings from owners, trainers and jockeys. It is, though, not a done deal as the proposal must be accepted by the European Pattern Committee which has amongst its panel, I believe, are thoroughbred breeders who may or may not be influenced in their vote by breeding big hitters who may be friends or clients. I suggest if the European Pattern Committee, who will be under pressure from both camps to vote in accordance with their varying motives, move to scupper this quite minor amendment to racing history, the hoo-ha will be as vibrant and noisy as the decision made by France Galop. As someone said, the better discussion would be about whether to move the Arc to earlier in the season to avoid the possibility of soft to heavy ground.

In today's Racing Post, in an article about the man, James Power, who foaled Frankel, the assertion 'greatest horse' was used and though I do not doubt for a moment that Frankel is one of the true greats of racing history, I cannot accept that it goes without question that the great horse is 'the greatest of all time'. In fact, I would suggest the great and the good of this sport, perhaps representatives of all branches of the sport, should convene to debate the proposal. The N in the Woodpile, no matter how diligent, honest and knowledgeable the debaters may be is that recency bias will be difficult to overcome; and the dead will have no voice, of course, those who witnessed the great horses of the past, going all the way back to Eclipse.

The readers' vote conducted by The Racing Post that concluded Frankel was the most popular horse of all time proved beyond all doubt that recency bias has too much sway when such accolades are being awarded. The people who voted for Frankel were, in the main, not either alive or present when Desert Orchid raced and they certainly were not alive when Arkle was in training. Or when Red Rum was headline news in the mainstream media. As I said at the time, if you asked a random number of people to name a racehorse, the majority would answer Desert Orchid or Red Rum. Not Frankel.

If you combine Frankel's record as a racehorse with his success as a stallion then the appellation 'greatest' is far harder to argue against. But as a racehorse his record is inferior to that of Brigadier Gerard if you take into account the number of course records the Brigadier broke. Also Brigadier Gerard beat Mill Reef and Frankel came nowhere close to beating a horse of the class of Mill Reef. I accept that in his article today, David Milnes was citing his own opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion, I only wish people, when talking or writing about Frankel, would use the term 'one of the greatest of all-time', that way they would stop annoying me and allowing me the excuse to continue to point people in the direction of Laurie Williamson's book 'Brigadier Gerard and Me', a book every racing enthusiast should have on their bookshelves.

I am just about to finish Graham Sharpe and John Henwood's book 'Jersey Jockeys and Guernsey Gallopers', a book deserving of publication, though not neccesarily a book I urge you to buy unless you have close ties to the Channel Islands. It is not a book without interest, though, and it highlighted to me that a jockey who is not greatly successful on the mainlands does not mean they cannot be successful elsewhere. Among the islands champion jockeys have been Russ Studholme, Tony Proctor, Mattie Batchelor and Alice Mills. Females have been winning races on the islands since 1974 and in recent years Kylie Manser, Jemma Marshall, Isobel Francis and Alice Bond have been among the most successful jockeys. For me, these names, and others, were like a blast from the past and could not help wondering where they are now. Mind you, I see Tony Proctor regularly on the t.v. and Mattie Batchelor also pops up now and then.

At present, they no longer have race-meetings on Guernsey, though Jersey continue to hold well-attended meetings at Les Landes. The trainers who train on Jersey and the owners who are based on the island persevere through the love of the sport and the horses. It is a fun community. with volunteers responsible for the hard work that allows the sport to continue. But what this book reminds the reader is that Les Landes is the living embodiment of where our sport originated and for that one reason, one of many, perhaps, is why racing in the Channel Islands is so vital. It is almost a museum artefact, a living, breathing glimpse of our past. It should never have starting stalls or a photo-finish camera for that very reason. But that does not mean that mainland racing should ignore it. In fact, B.H.A. or Levy Board investment in the island might be in order, if only to guarantee its future. Perhaps, after all, it is a book worth reading.