WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM READING JOHN LAWRENCE.

And yes, back in 1966 when 'The History of Steeplechasing was published to commemorate the centenary of the formation of the National Hunt Committee, Lord Oaksey, as he was better known, was still John Lawrence, amateur rider and the supreme writer of the day on the subject of horse racing. It is his concluding part of 'The History of Steeplechasing' that I purloin the following facts.

It would seem that my concern about hurdles was prevalent back in the 1950's, and perhaps even before then as it takes time for a groundswell of concern to elicit debate and action. It is a topic I must research. (Yes, should have conducted research before writing this piece. Though you can be sure you have not read the last of me on this subject)

From 1953 through to 1955 experiements were conducted at several (un-named) racecourses with what was described as a new 'French-style' hurdle which resembled a small steeplechase fence. As, I imagine, they still use in France today. John Lawrence described the 'experiment as 'no means a failure', though the change was discarded as 'the opposition', which I suspect were diehard senior trainers wedded to the 'old ways', expressed the fear that future steeplechasers would be too 'flippant' when it came to jumping proper steeplechase fences, fences that back then were more upright and not as forgiving as modern steeplechase fences. I dare say if the change were debated nowadays, dear old Nicky Henderson would be the leader of the opposition.

As the lone spokesman for the abolition of the British-style hurdle, I would argue that French steeplechasers, horse that are schooled over fences as three-year-olds and race over fences from four onwards, have a reputation for being reliable and safe jumpers, so the idea of 'flippancy' must be redundant, a stick-in-the-mud response by those more swayed by the cost of replacing the traditional hurdle with the French-style mini-fence. I would also contend that the method of jumping a French-style 'hurdle', the wrong word entirely to describe what in any other walk of life would be described as a fence, would be the same as jumping a traditional steeplechase fence, which I would also contend, would make it easier for a horse to go from the 'junior discipline' to the 'senior discipline'.

By the way, it was not until 1959 that the top bar of hurdles were padded with rubber, thus lessening the risk of serious injury when a horse's leg would either break the top bar or when a leg went between the top and lower bar, a leading cause of horses breaking legs.

John Lawrence, though far from being entirely happy with the way the National Hunt Committe governed the sport,  could not think of a better way the sport could be governed. 'But however odd the supremecy of these autocratic (and, so far as the word has any meaning nowadays, aristocratic) bodies may seem in a modern democracy the fact remains that no one has ever yet been able to think of a much better alternative'. They did, in his lifetime, and things have only gone from bad to worse.

Obviously, since 1966, the Jockey Club, governors of the flat, merged with the National Hunt Committee, mainly due to the increase in popularity of the 'younger brother' of the sport. Since then the Jockey Club, perhaps under duress, abidicated its power to the B.H.B. which morphed into the B.H.A., an authority without power, with the popular modern-day wish for the sport to acquire the kind of over-arching governance that the amateur-led Jockey Club once provided.

All the evidence is in books like 'The History of Steeplechasing; the sport has been poorly governed since 1966-onwards, perhaps before, with every stab at improving matters flying wide of its promised ambition. Despite the threat of  legal action brought by the present stakeholders involved in shackling Lord Allen and the B.H.A., the B.H.A. should be wound-up to be replaced by a supremo, a board of members that have lifelong experience of the sport and advisors on business and marketing matters, with racecourses, bookmakers, and uncle Dick Cobbly and all without influence on decisions made on the sport's behalf. It is said that if it is not broke, don't mend it. Conversely, if it is broke, for pities sake mend it and mend it quickly!