THE OLD WHITBREAD, THE NIJINSKY BOOK & FOR THOSE NEW TO MY MOST RADICAL PRPOSALS.

This is the time of year for my annual moan about the ever-decreasing quality of the bet365 Chase, the old Whitbread. In its glory days, the Whitbread was won by Arkle and Mill House, the latter's return to the winners' enclosure wringing tears from the eyes of grown men, and, of course, the horse most synonymous with Sandown Park, Desert Orchid. The decline in quality and quantity seems not to concern either Sandown or its sponsor. There are still class staying chasers in training; not all of them are out at grass already. Punchestown with be replete with top-class horses next week and the bet 365, the old Whitbread, should be enticing the connections of a few of them to change direction.

My cure for the old Whitbread's malaise is to change the distance of the race to 2-mile 5-furlongs, then the National Hunt season would end in a same manner to which it began. The first major race of the season, as you know, is the old Mackeson or was the old Massey-Ferguson? Now it is, I believe, the Paddy Power, a 2-mile 5 handicap chase. It would be a neater end to the season to have it mirroring how the season began. To my eyes, it is untidy for there to be so many long-distance chases in a period of 6-weeks or so. The National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham. The Midlands National at Uttoxeter. The Irish National at Fairyhouse. The Aintree National. The Scottish National at Ayr. It is no wonder the old Whitbread is in severe decline. The connections of a chaser with a preference for 2-miles + would, I suggest, delay that horse's summer holiday for one last chance of a good payday, don't you think?

For those who have an interest in whether I bought the Nijinsky book from the local charity shop, I did, and though it is weighty and cheap at £3, fundementally it is book about the stud career of the great horse, with only a brief canter through his racing career. And thus far, the author has not mentioned that Nijinsky only retired to stud at the end of his 3-year-old career because his owner, Charles Englehard, was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to see Nijinsky's foals on the ground before he died. Just imagine if Nijinsky, as was originally planned, was kept in training in 1971, the year Mill Reef won the Derby and Brigadier Gerard was winning every race over a mile. The world would never have seen 3 such legendary horse all in training at the same time.

I have already written about my displeasure of two-year-olds being trained hard and raced years before they are anywhere near mature enough to stand such a regime. And that all the classics should be for 4-year-olds. But are you aware of my proposal to either have a sixth classic or to downgrade or upgrade the St.Leger to the most valuable flat race in the country and to restrict it to 4-year-olds and upwards. I am by nature a traditionalist, sometimes though being diehard creates situations that require movement of mind and not having a classic over 10-furlongs is at variance with the racing world as it stands today. The Eclipse would be the obvious race for such an upgrade, restricted to 3-year-olds as things are now but 4-year-olds if my more radical proposal ever came to fruition. 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse, is that a more sensible arrangement than what we have now? With the massive increase in value and prestige of the Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot, as well as all the other 10-furlong Grade 1's around Europe, older horses being unable to take part in the Eclipse would not create a problem but would provide a solution to the absurd debate on whether Epsom should consider shortening the distance of the Derby as has happened in France with the French equivalent and is under consideration for the Irish Derby.

If I were to become the British racing supremo, the racing scene would look different to what it does today. I would, of course, at first, be as popular with breeders, owners and trainers, as dear old queer Kier is with the British public is today (and evermore). Yet, I believe, my name would go down in racing history in a similar manner to that of Admiral Rous. Of course, as the cleverest amongst you must all realise, if my proposals did gain fruition, British racing would be out-of-sync with all the other major racing jurisdictions around the world and confusion would reign until France, the U.S. Ireland and the U.S. slowly began to understand that all my proposals were for horse welfare reasons and eventually there would be races named after me and statues erected in my honour. Don't laugh; this would be a better outcome for the sport than the gates closing for the final time at the last racecourse in the country! Because that is where we are heading, believe me. The wolves are slowly encircling, the opposition are being listening to and the Green Party are growing in strength if not credibility. Our friends in high places are dying off, politicians have little truck with horse racing as association will more likely lose them votes at an election than otherwise, and the naive young have a much larger say in society than at any time in our country's history.