Amazing to think the powers that be, British Horseracing Authority, officially ‘ended’ our 2021 turf-flat season yesterday with a six-race ‘Champions’ fixture at Ascot and today there is no racing ‘on the level’ in England; mind you it will be a bit like old times!
Sunday racing wasn’t introduced until the early 1990’s when one was opposed to infiltration of our sacred seventh Sabbath day which allowed us to relax, take stock and plan for the following week’s action. Shortly before, in 1989, my world was shaken (and stirred!) with the advent of all-weather racing which, to be honest, proved a licence to print money by following the jumpers, at Southwell especially.
Cumulatively, with so many extremely moderate thoroughbreds, which could never win anything (including walk-overs!), my policy ‘process of elimination’ yielded tremendously consistent profits in this house, paid for in cash from bookies; it couldn’t last, surely!
Never a truer saying existed and after three years, flogging around on the tough fibresand surface, TEN horses were fatally injured; most were bad, unsound types but as ever in came the BHA intervention to cancel future AW jumping due to pressure groups shouting ‘cruel!’
Even the trade paper, Sporting Life, chronicled the so-called desperate situation negatively; that’s disappeared!
Only a week or so after the dramatic announcement we all went to the fabulous three-day(s) Cheltenham Festival National Hunt meeting during which there were TEN thoroughbred fatalities!
My column raised the comparative issues but they fell on deaf ears; jumping was never allowed again on all-weather United Kingdom surfaces but Cheltenam, now a four-day(s) fixture, is going stronger than ever; wealth before health, yes you’ve heard that trotted out before, in fact only last year when the ‘Festival’ was staged in defiance, immediately before total Covid-19 lockdown, and attracted more than THREE-HUNDRED THOUSAND racegoers; many human lives were lost as a consequence but, fortunately, the wealth of Prestbury Park wasn’t particularly compromised!
Anyway I’ve scrutinised the two NH programmes this afternoon; didn’t take long to peruse Kempton which hosts a seven-race card with only THIRTY-THREE declarations!
I’ll bet you don’t believe half of what I write, every day, but mine is to supply winners and profit for you, every month, every year.
I’ve been struggling health-wise these last few months (cardiology!) but still managed to be one of only nine, in a ‘field’ of more than fifty racing writers, to show profit in the Racing Post Naps Table competition which, but for several moderate displays of jockeyship, I would have won for the ninth time. I’m much better now but suffered from gout last week which was ‘drowned’ with colossal amounts of drinking ice-cold water; another good tip, eh?
Selections, Sedgefield, 4.05 Storm Lorenzo (e.w); 5.15 Just Paddy’s Ban (e.w); Kempton, 4.25 Zafar.(nap).
Jeffrey Ross, horse-racing correspondent for WMN since 1983 when winning the most prestigious racing journalist award, Sporting Life Naps Table, before winning it a record number of six times collectively in the Racing Post, the current ‘trade’ paper, including 2019