CALUM McCLURKIN: Time has run out for this sport to run away from its problems… D-Day has arrived
By CALUM MCCLURKIN
Published: | Updated:
The incoming chairman of the British Horseracing Authority was named last November with a view to taking up the role on June 2.
It is now late July and the sport is still waiting on whether Lord Charles Allen will take up the position he was earmarked for almost nine months ago.
He hosts a BHA meeting tomorrow where we should, finally, get a definitive answer.
The reason for the delay? Well, after an extended period of due diligence, Allen has a certain number of demands and has fears over an unworkable governance structure in the sport.
The main sticking point is understood to be the BHA’s lack of control over the fixture list.
Too much racing for too few horses has been a bug bear of this sport for a decade.
Racing is galloping into some strong financial issues and a tricky summer is in store
Lord Allen was named BHA chairman on in November but has yet to take up his post
Royal Ascot in full bloom last summer but can BHA gain more control over racecourses?
But how to persuade racecourses run by different factions to give up meetings when they need to be put on for them to operate is borderline impossible.
Racecourses have to get more innovative to make ends meet if racing isn’t the be all and end all. More music after shows and extra activities are being utilised. In this day and age, every penny is a prisoner. While racing is billed as the main attraction, racecourses need to offer more.
When it comes to sporting events, people want more bang for their buck. There are side shows everywhere you look, even in golf, tennis, football and rugby just to name a few other sports. More places to explore, more places to sit and more options for a generation of kids who get easily bored.
It will be a tough sell for the BHA to seize some commercial control over racecourses. For instance, what’s the BHA’s role in York Racecourse’s efforts to secure a massive crowd yesterday with the added – or lesser appear for hardened racing enthusiasts – in getting Ronan Keating to play a concert afterwards that’s contributed to a crowd of 10,000 or more?
None. Or the sponsorship of races. Or Ascot’s effort to ensure next year’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes will become the first race in Britain to be worth £2million. Or, at the other end of the scale, Hexham’s brilliant initiatives to keep ticketing prices down.
A modicum of hope for some wriggle room on the fixture list is the sensible scaling back of the disastrous Premier Racing model.
Whether Allen accepts the role or not, he and the BHA will have to persuade racecourses to relent a little control for the greater good of a sport that feels like it is being attacked on all sides.
The Jockey Club are on board, jockeys and trainers seem to generally be in favour of Allen being the man to produce some sort of radical change in approach to stop racing treading water.
The iconic Ascot parade ring and the racecourse which is a jewel in the crown of British racing
Affordability checks on punters biting into racing’s finances. That will be further compounded as the sport waits with bated breath to see if the ‘Axe the Racing Tax’ lobbying efforts will pay off during parliamentary recess. If not then a £66million per year whack is forthcoming to the industry via the Treasury Autumn Statement.
It all adds to why a final answer from Allen tomorrow is critical. Racing desperately needs a strong figure to try to instigate change. With financial headwinds looming large, racing can no longer afford this rudderless kind of leadership. There’s too much at stake.
If Allen, a Labour peer with an extensive business background, deems it not to be worth his while then racing might well be up the creek without a paddle.
BRILLAINT SPONSORSHIP BOOST FOR AYR GOLD CUP… A HANDICAP ON THE UP
The importance of racing to local communities is vital and a main selling point in the sport’s bid to persuade MPs to ‘Axe the Racing Tax’.
This applies to Ayr and it’s vital sponsorship is secured for big races such as the Gold Cup and Scottish Grand National; two dates that are locked in the diary of locals year in year out.
Securing bookmaker giant Ladbrokes for the next three years to sponsor the Ayr Gold Cup is a huge fillip for a six-furlong handicap that continues to rise in importance in the whole racing calendar.
The September showpiece is increasingly being viewed by top trainers as a very good prize to go for and with the narrowing gap between Group One horses and handicappers at sprint level, it can be utilised as a race for seriously progressive horses as a stepping stone to be one of the best sprinters in the country.
Lethal Levi won last year's Ayr Gold Cup, a race that has secured fresh sponsorship
Look at American Affair. He was favourite last year but didn’t stay the trip. The Scottish-trained horse then went on to make history by winning the Group One King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup will be worth £180,000, the Silver Cup £65,000 and Bronze Cup £35,000. Virgin Bet were terrific long-term sponsors of the race and helped hugely in raising the profile of the race.
Tomorrow is the last of four Mondays in a row of racing at Ayr and the ground has been in excellent shape on each occasion. The irrigation issues of around a decade ago are long forgotten and the investment on track has enhanced the racecourse’s reputation.
Its flagship race is in rude health in a difficult climate. It will be terrific to see the economic benefits and the buzz of an Ayr Gold Cup weekend in a town centre that, like many across Scotland, is badly flagging. It’s a shot in the arm for the community and don’t underestimate the impact to us locals!
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK…
CALANDAGAN was all class to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Beaten in the Coronation Cup at Epsom on tacky ground, a more conventional track and quicker ground saw this valuable mid-season prize go to the French raider.
Jan Brueghel was found wanting for pace, while Rebel’s Romance was a shade unlucky but limitations at the very highest level was exposed. Kalpana, who ran a screamer in second, kicked for home and stole a march but it only dragged Calandagan further into the race.
He racked up a few seconds and in beating Kalpana eroded any doubts about this four-year-old from France trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, who won a second King George on the spin. He was ridded confidently by Mickael Barzalona aswell.
Calandagan (right) gallops away from Kalpana to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Karl Burke landed a big prize at York and can also cause a mini-shock at Pontefract today...
SELECTION OF THE DAY…
Karl Burke produced a mini-surprise at York yesterday when Royal Champion won the Group Two Sky Bet York Stakes.
The Yorkshire handler can pull off a similar trick with another horse trained by Sheik Obaid in the feature at Pontefract today.
BOILING POINT (6-1, William Hill) looks like a horse which is coming to, err, the boil for the Pomfret Stakes (2.55). Burke’s horses have improved significantly for their first run of the season and Boiling Point can build on a decent run at Newcastle when he tired late on off top weight in a warm handicap.
Point Lynas is a respected favourite but had a hard race when running well from the front in the Summer Mile just two weeks ago. Last year’s Pomfret Stakes winner might be a shade vulnerable after that big effort, while second favourite Prague probably wants soft ground.
Make Me King and Cicero’s Gift have the form to play a part on a going day but Boiling Point seems a bit more trustworthy and the door is ajar for Burke to plunder yet another nice prize up north.
Daily Mail
