RED ALERT, 'NOT SINCE 2022, THE HYPOCRISY CONTINUES & 83 JOCKEYS INJURED OR SUSPENDED.

People are small, walking, radiators of heat. The more people clustered in one area, the warmer the air around them will be. This is not science-fact but my belief as to why climate change may or not be occuring. If it is not a main contributing factor, mass population must be having some affect. It will be interesting to see if the mass migration from North Africa causes a lowering of temperatures in those countries. Also, the temperatures given by weather forecasters tend to be highest estimates and as such can be sources of misinformation.

Anyway, it is summer in Britain and white-skinned Brits do not do well in the heat. 20-degrees is too much for me; lucky for me, though, is that I live in an old house which remains cool in several of the rooms. In the backyard, though, you could fry eggs on the stone slabs, perhaps. Not that I will waste an egg to prove or disprove this old wife's tale. Anyway, the B.H.A. have taken the sensible decision to abandon four-meetings tomorrow situated in the red weather zone due to the, for Britain, extreme heat. Kempton and Ffos Las will now be staged next Monday, Salisbury next Tuesday and Worcester has been abandoned. Carlisle, with the latest running of one of the oldest races in the calendar, the Carlisle Bell, is not in danger of cancellation as it is outside the red weather alert zone and Naas should also go ahead.

'Bow Echo became the first horse since 2022 to complete the Newmarket/Ascot double ...' My God, has it been all of three-years since a horse went on from winning the 2,000 to win the St. James' Palace Stakes! All of three intervening years. Since 1926 would have been a notable, if not an actual, historic achievement.  But three-years hence is just plain lazy journalism. Liam Headd bow your head in shame.

Julian Muscat annoyed me also this morning. The virtueous piety of some people gets up my nose. They want to hang Christophe Soumillon out to dry, blaming him and him alone for this treacherous act of leaving the gate open for his team captain, yet implying no guilt whatsoever on the team manager. To quote Muscat 'the best horse did not win because some of the rivals acted in concert to prevent this happening.' Jockeys, whether in unison is debatable, attempt in every race, if not riding the favourite, to get the favourite and all the opposition beaten. It is their job. It is what is expected of them. Within the rules, obviously. No jostling, barging or pulling jockeys out of the saddle, a heinous act that Soumillon was guilty of a few years ago. Ask Rossa Ryan. Again, I ask, why is racing a team sport back at home but in between the white rails it is not. Is anyone suggesting if Holly Doyle, as an example, was on a tiring horse and is given a shout from Tom who is swinging along right behind her shouts to her 'to move over, my love, and let me out', she is somehow acting disreputably if she pulls off the rail and allows her husband easy passage through? At Epsom, the four jockeys riding for Ballydoyle knew the tactics each of them would emply, giving them an advantage over their rivals. Should this be allowed? Again, I see nothing wrong with team tactics. Clever people know it is going to happen.

Given it is noteworthy in the Racing Post today that Sean Bowen is booked for only his second ride for David Pipe, it surprised me to see his name top of the list of injured and suspended jockeys, those who are temporarily missing from action. It was equally surprising to count 83 jockeys on that list, some with only a single day suspended, others with longer days of inactivity. So do not be surprised to see surprising jockey bookings over the next few weeks.