Let's face it, the B.H.A. is an institution that works for them, not us, perhaps not for the industry. The B.H.A. has a penchant for secrets, knowledge that only they are privy to possess. They seem to have no truck with the opinions of the lower forms of life on the outer edges of their universe. The B.H.A. is undemocratic and the on-going trough the sport is in will remain until the B.H.A. is shown the errors of its ways.
It is not that Peter Savill has been rejected as a candidate for Chair. It is, as things stand, the prerogative of the B.H.A. board to choose who they think best suited to the role. What is a kick in the guts though is that the view of the 250 people who put pen to paper in support of Savill, who approved in principle his plans for the future of the sport, have been ignored. The great and the good of our sport, from all walks of racing society, have been side-lined, thought-of as unworthy, their views an impudence, a hob-nailed boot upon their slipperd feet.
For what it is worth, I thought at 78 Savill was too old for the position, even if he is, at the moment, as fit as any 78-year-old can be. He certainly has the experience and the cliff-face knowledge to be a leading candidate for the job and if the B.H.A. has appointed him, I would not have expressed any dismay.
This is out sport, too. The B.H.A. governs on our behalf, not that they seem to appreciate the fact. Though how they allowed themselves to become as impodent as a convention of out-of-work eunochs is as much a mystery as who in reality shot J.F.K. The damning evidence is that everyone, it seems, in the racing industry believes that change is required in the governance of the sport and it is required yesterday not in the far future as horse racing may not be viable in the near future, let alone a year as close to us as, say, 2050. It seems so long ago that Lord Allen left us; so long to wait for the next incumbent. 'All In Good Time' appears to be the motto of the B.H.A. board.
After the appointment of the latest incumbent of the B.H.A. Chair, the successor must be elected by the people who work in the racing industry, with all candidates named and their mandate for their salary and the sport made public beforehand. Everyone from stalls handlers and grooms, through jockey, trainer owner, racecourse staff and the board members of the trade bodies and large breeding organisations, should be given a vote. This is a sport desperate for unification, for everyone to be rowing in the same direction, with no vested interest, no jobs for the boys. And the job should ask more of its Chair than just one day a week.
How to fix Super Saturday? Well, it's quite simple really, isn't it? Move Ascot to the Sunday. Next question, please.
In a letter published today in The Racing Post, Mr. More of Cambridge is concerned that with climate forecasters tied hand and foot to the prophesy of boiling seas and death by sunburn in the next decade or the decade after that or some decade in the future, flat racing in this country needs to be changed in some way to cope with climate calamity. He may well be right. The problem, though, is this. If you research the subject of climate change you will soon discover that since the end of the 2nd World War every climate prediction for the future has been wrong. Experts in the field once predicted an ice age, with the world becoming colder and colder. When I was at school back in the 1960's, I was told with great confidence by our Geography teacher that come the year 2,000 Peterborough would be a sea port, such was going to be the rise of the oceans. For anyone outside of Britain, Peterborough is an inland city and in 2026 it is not a sea port and no plans have been submitted for the construction of a ferry terminal.
Mr. More - I wonder if he is related to Kenneth More, the actor of great fame - may be correct in suggesting the B.H.A. have emergency plans in readiness for such a climate catastrophe, though history suggests that the experts may not be as expert as they think themselves to be. On the other hand, the law of averages does give evidence to suggest that they have to be right in their forecast eventually.