UPPING THE ANTE

BIG-RACE SUCCESSES IN 2009 AND 2010 HAVE INCLUDED:

RILEYSKEEPINGFAITH 4TH 12/1
(advised at 20/1 EACH/WAY for the 2010 Stewards' Cup at Goodwood)
LILLIE LANGTRY WON 7/2 (advised at 6/1 for the 2010 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, 25 days before the race)
REWILDING 3RD 9/2 (advised at 33/1  EACH/WAY for the 2010 Epsom Derby before he was even entered for the race).
BIG ZEB WON 10/1 (advised for the 2010 Queen Mother Champion Chase FIVE MONTHS before the race)
DARLEY SUN WON 9/2 (advised at 18/1 and 14/1 for the 2009 Totesport Cesarewitch, up to TEN WEEKS before the race)
GENKI WON 14/1 (advised at 16/1 for the 2009 Stewards' Cup at Goodwood)
CONDUIT WON 13/8 (advised at 9/2 for the 2009 King George at Ascot)

 

This week's ante-post advice
(updated on September 3):



TOTESPORT.COM CAMBRIDGESHIRE HANDICAP 
(Newmarket, Saturday October 2)


KING OF REASON
20/1 EACH/WAY, Bet365 or Victor Chandler

SET THE TREND
20/1 EACH/WAY, generally




TOTESPORT.COM
CESAREWITCH HANDICAP
(Newmarket, Saturday October 16)


GHIMAAR
14/1 EACH/WAY, generally










FOR THE NOTEBOOK 
(now to be posted
every two-to-three weeks)



WINNERS SO FAR THIS 2010 FLAT SEASON HAVE INCLUDED:
TREADWELL 14/1, LOPE DE VEGA 12/1, ELECTRIC WAVES 10/1, MISTY FOR ME 10/1, LIBRANNO 10/1, BLUE JACK 10/1, SNOW FAIRY 9/1, DREAM AHEAD 8/1, DANDINO 7/1, MISS CLAIRTON 7/1, FORTE DEI MARMI 6/1, TEMPLE MEADS 5/1, WIGMORE HALL 5/1, MABAIT 5/1, VERDANT 5/1, SIDE GLANCE 9/2, FIELD DAY 9/2, DUNBOYNE EXPRESS 9/2, HARBINGER 4/1, FORTE DEI MARMI 4/1, LILLIE LANGTRY 7/2, SNOW FAIRY 7/2, FORMOSINA 7/2, GOLD RULES 7/2, ZOFFANY 3/1, KAKATOSI 11/4, BYWORD 5/2, DUBAI MEDIA 9/4, MIRROR LAKE 9/4, STARSPANGLEDBANNER 2/1, HAATHEQ 7/4, JOANNA 6/4, WOOTTON BASSETT 5/4, MEMORY 5/4, LIBRANNO 5/4, NATIVE KHAN 6/5, HARRY PATCH evens, KING OF REASON 10/11, QUDWAH 5/6 and BATED BREATH 4/5, plus QUIET OASIS and AL MUTHANAA.


WINNERS FROM THE LISTS OF THE 2009/10 JUMPS SEASON INCLUDED:
PLANET OF SOUND 14/1, SPIRIT RIVER 14/1, RYDE BACK 14/1, MENORAH 12/1, MEATH ALL STAR 11/1, CHASING CARS 10/1, BIG ZEB 10/1, WEAPON'S AMNESTY 10/1, ME VOICI 10/1, MAGNANIMITY 10/1, MEGASTAR 9/1, GENERAL MILLER 7/1, PEDDLERS CROSS 7/1, SOLDATINO 6/1, HIDDEN UNIVERSE 5/1, BESCOT SPRINGS 9/2, CAPTAIN CEE BEE 4/1, MAD MAX 4/1, SA SUFFIT 4/1, LITTLE JOSH 4/1, LUSH LIFE 7/2, TATANIANO 10/3, MENORAH 7/2, ARVIKA LIGEONNIERE 3/1, BE THERE IN FIVE 3/1, NOMECHEKI 3/1, SPIRIT RIVER 11/4, QUEVEGA 5/2, COOLE RIVER 5/2, RANJOBAIE 5/2, WISHFULL THINKING 5/2, CAPTAIN CHRIS 2/1, KING EDMUND 2/1, BOBBY EWING 2/1, KILLULTAGH QUEEN 2/1, SPRINTER SACRE 13/8, PEDDLERS CROSS 11/8, WISHFULL THINKING 11/8, PEDDLERS CROSS 5/4, WEIRD AL 5/4, SHILLINGSTONE 5/4, CANNINGTON BROOK 11/10, ME VOICI 11/10, ARAUCARIA 11/10, GATES OF ROME evens, SALDEN LICHT 10/11, PEPE SIMO 10/11, TELL MASSINI 4/5, PEDDLERS CROSS 8/11, CAPTAIN CHRIS, DOOR BOY, SECANT STAR, LITTLE JOSH, THE NIGHTINGALE, RITE OF PASSAGE, UIMHIRACEATHAIR, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, ALEGRALIL, VOLER LA VEDETTE, ZAARITO, ZAYNAR and KNOCKARA BEAU.



LATEST LIST UPDATED:
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5
NEXT UPDATE:
TO BE POSTED ON
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22

TURFBLOG: The Thoughts Of A Racing Fanatic

The coverage of racing on the Sky Sports News channel leaves a lot to be desired.

You know the kind of thing. Showing footage of a selling hurdle from Fontwell as if it had been the day’s big race. Cringeworthy blunders in the scripts. And an alarming lack of knowledge among the presenters.

For me, it doesn’t even improve on the shifts of so-called racing expert Alex Hammond/Quinn, who seems so determined to pass on as much information in as short a space of time as possible, as if to prove how much she knows, that she resembles a dalek on speed.

But the coverage plumbed new depths last Sunday on the morning of the 1,000 Guineas. As late as 9 am, they were insisting the ground at Newmarket was still Good To Firm -- almost 12 HOURS after the town had been hit by a deluge of rain -- and they were passing on Alex‘s view that the “conditions might be too quick for second favourite SETA“. And this from a NEWS channel.

The Racing For Change brigade really ought to have a word.

French outsider MAKFI must be the first winner of the 2,000 Guineas whose previous performances could be located only on YouTube.

But his previous trainer, Marcus Tregoning, must have felt as if he was witnessing a scene from ‘You’ve Been Framed’ as the son of Dubawi eased home.

For Tregoning, in conjunction with Hamdan Al Maktoum’s racing manager Angus Gold, made the fatal error of sending the colt to the Sales at the end of his juvenile campaign.

Enter French bloodstock agent Hubert Barbe, who snapped him up for just 26,000 guineas, and the rest is history.

Barbe must have quite an eye for a good horse. In the past, he has been responsible for shipping over a stream of high-class Jumps talent, such as Cyfor Malta, Escartefigue, Lady Cricket, Osana, Mely Moss, Valiramix and Lough Derg.

Some unkind critics are suggesting the National Hunt game is where Guineas favourite, ST NICHOLAS ABBEY, deserves to end up after his desperately disappointing display.

Although well placed throughout, at no stage did the Ballydoyle colt look like winning, and my impression is that, like many progeny of Montjeu, he needs give in the ground.

Given how dramatically Aidan O’Brien-trained horses can improve for a race or two, it would be unwise to write off SNA just yet. But on the evidence of Saturday, he won’t be winning the Derby.

Then again, it was curious how Saturday’s race developed more into a test of speed than stamina. Doubtful stayer CANFORD CLIFFS, for instance, ended up running on very nicely, even though he had been far too keen through the first two furlongs, and I just wonder if O’Brien and Co regret not deploying a pacemaker.

The fact that they didn’t suggests they believed St Nicholas Abbey boasted sufficient pace of his own. We now know that he doesn’t and it appears that for the second successive season (after CROWDED HOUSE in 2008), we were deluded by the visual impression of the winning display in the Racing Post Trophy.

The most unsatisfactory feature of yesterday’s 1,000 Guineas was not that the placings were altered, thus robbing Henry Cecil of his seventh victory in the race.

But instead the fact that more than half the field had no chance, simply because of where they raced, up the centre of the track.

It might have had something to do with the rain that fell overnight. It certainly appeared to catch all by surprise and was no-one’s fault.

But a similar draw-bias emerged on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile at the end of last season when the two Timeform Million races were marred -- this time on fast ground when near-side runners were at a huge disadvantage. So at the very least, an investigation by the course executive is required.

Such an investigation might have to bow to nature and find nothing untoward. But it is clearly unacceptable that there should be five or six lengths’ difference between one part of the track and another in a race of such major importance as a Classic. In the circumstances, I thought both MUSIC SHOW and RUMOUSH ran terrific races to head the unfavoured group of runners and must be useful.

Incidentally, I agreed with the stewards’ decision to promote SPECIAL DUTY. I was surprised they made it but, according to the rules, it was correct.

Consistent application of the rules is all we can expect of our stewards, and it was also very refreshing to see and hear stipendiary William Nunneley explain to the crowd, in an on-course interview, the reasons behind the decision.

I left the last Flat season convinced that the winners of the two Guineas would be the short-priced favourites, ST NICHOLAS ABBEY and SPECIAL DUTY, after their brilliant sign-off performances in the autumn. I even toyed with the idea, in this column, that the former could end our long wait for a horse to complete the elusive Triple Crown. To enable O’Brien, Magnier, Tabor, Smith and Co to go one better than the great SEA THE STARS.

All of which explains why I’ve not touched either Classic in Upping The Ante throughout the winter.

But the closer the two races get, the more the nagging doubts begin to grow. About a colt who might, ideally, need further and about a filly who, ideally, might need shorter.

The prospect of heavy rain in Newmarket at the end of the week further complicates matters.

Glancing at the five-day declarations, released today, both races look mouthwatering, richly competitive affairs.

It’s time to get stuck in!

It’s not often that you’ll find me praising At The Races (ATR) presenter Matt Chapman, doyen of the annoying.

But it was refreshing to see him dish out a grilling to Racing For Change sympathiser Alan Lee, of ‘The Times’, on ATR’s ‘Sunday Forum’ show yesterday.

As I have stressed many times before, I am not against Racing For Change (RFC) -- provided the changes that are introduced are of benefit and not gimmicks aimed at dumbing down our great sport.

Quite rightly, Chapman questioned why some of the proposed RFC measures are lauded because they will simplify racing and remove supposed barriers in terms of its language and terminology.

As Chapman said, part of the appeal of the sport is its complexity, its mystery, its mystique, its individuality. The fact that you have to work hard and long and to dig deep to be embraced by the allure of the sport is an asset, not a drawback.

A classic example is the obsession RFC protagonists have for altering the ‘narrative’ of the Flat season, completely ignoring the European Pattern and the wonderfully established thread of meetings that run throughout the spring, summer and autumn.

The critics want a switch to a National Hunt-type schedule that climaxes in a grand finale, based on the Cheltenham Festival. But while that has its appeal, it is essentially a ‘narrative’ for the simpleton and detracts greatly from all the races and meetings that lead up to the Festival.

The Flat season is more sophisticated and more complex and, therefore, far more appealing. It allows for twists and turns, for horses to progress and to mature and it contains many star-studded highlights along the way, not just one big hurrah at the end.

The treble registered by David Pipe at Sandown yesterday reminded all of the time when the Pond House operation, under the guidance of David’s father Martin, ruled the National Hunt roost.

Nowadays the mantle has been assumed by Paul Nicholls, who is revered with the same awe as jockey Tony McCoy.

But after another amazing feat at Punchestown last week, it is surely time to place in lights the talents of top Irish handler Willie Mullins too.

For Mullins to send out 12 winners (not to mention any number of placed horses) at the five-day Punchestown Festival for the second year running is an achievement that can only be described as staggering. Particularly at a meeting so fiercely competitive and at a time of the season when it is so difficult to keep horses on the boil.

Not only has Mullins been crowned champion Jumps trainer again but his tally of wins is more than that of his closest two rivals combined!

It’s time to realise -- and I don’t think many in the UK have yet -- that we are, truly, in the midst of one of the all-time greats.

The high-horse brigade who spat out so much bile at those who dared to suggest that the partnership of Tony McCoy and DENMAN was not ideal are conspicuous by their silence after yesterday’s histrionics at Punchestown.

It’s fair to say that few jockeys would have won on the horse, who appeared to be crying out for blinkers. The theory that, at the age of ten, connections have only just discovered he is ill-suited to right-handed tracks is stretching the imagination a bit.

But equally, there can be few who, hand on heart, can still be accepting that the compatability of McCoy and Denman is a marriage made in heaven.

I will go so far as to say I will be surprised if The Champ rides The Tank again.

If there are any punters out there who survived Cheltenham and Aintree and lived to tell the tale, then they were surely finally floored by the first day of the Punchestown Festival yesterday.

Form, stats and trends were hurled out of the window with as much ferocity as they were at Prestbury Park and on Merseyside.

The only explanation I can come up with as to why the three major meetings of the Jumps season have been such graveyards for punters is the ground, which has been dramatically different to that which has prevailed for most of a very harsh winter.

Roll on the Guineas!

With the Punchestown Festival ready to go, I am almost punch-drunk with the bewildering array of racing that is imposed on us at this time of year.

No sooner had we waved farewell to Aintree than Newmarket’s Craven meeting and Newbury’s excellent spring fare at the weekend heralded the proper start of the Flat season.

We’ve also tasted more action from Cheltenham and the Scottish Grand National at Ayr, while Sandown’s end-of-season mixed meeting comes up next weekend.

The Guineas meeting is only just round the corner and it won’t be long before the May sizzlers at Chester and York will be opening the gates of summer.

Don’t you just love it!

I can’t help thinking that this obsession with Tony McCoy getting the BBC TV Sports Personality of the Year award is bordering on the ludicrous.

It’s not that he doesn’t deserve to win it. Of course he does -- even though he’s unlikely to, particularly if England win the World Cup, or even reach the final, and particularly if Andy Murray wins Wimbledon.

However my main gripe about the clamour to crown AP is that it bears no resemblance to the status of the award, which has been discredited and devalued since the BBC lost the rights to show many of the world‘s major sporting events.

Yes, it still carries some kudos within sport. But it is far from definitive. And yet if we believed the ‘Racing Post’, it’s akin to voting for the next Prime Minister.

As Michael Winner might say, calm down dears, it’s only a TV show.

Ladies’ Days abound at the races these days.

But having witnessed another last Friday, I can safely say, without fear of the slightest contradiction, there are none quite like that at Liverpool’s Grand National meeting.

So much so, in fact, that I am having extreme difficulty putting the attraction and appeal of its garish extravagance into words.

So I will hand over to one of the Racing Post’s finest, Lee Mottershead (million times better in print than on TV), to do the job for me.

I don’t know if ‘Motty’ intended this to encapsulate Ladies’ Day at Aintree when he wrote it last week. But somehow it does the job nicely.

On the eve of the meeting, he spoke to Becky Smith, a ‘Scally’ stylist, who told him: “I bought my outfit weeks ago. I had my nails done last night. Today I’m chilling and tomorrow, I’ll have a spray tan. I’ll be in here to have my hair done at half-seven on Friday and then it’ll be make-up at eight. After that, it’s a champagne breakfast, go home, get changed and off to the races.”

Priceless.

Everywhere you looked yesterday, the Sunday papers were full of AP.

The coverage was the real McCoy as the nation basked in ‘The Champ’ at last realising his ambition to win the Grand National.

The unbridled joy and relief with which he greeted his triumph were in stark contrast to the gritty, dour determination and dedication with which he normally goes about his daily business.

It was amazing to see and hear how much winning the National meant to McCoy -- and to see and hear the reaction of colleagues, supporters and racegoers.

“At least I can say I have sort of done all right as a jockey now,” was the comment from a man who has been champion jockey every season since 1995 and ridden 3,238 winners in Britain.

Such remarkable humility was matched by trainer Jonjo O’Neill and owner JP McManus, who seemed genuinely taken aback and overcome by the public reception.

Punters might find Jonjo and JP’s horses difficult to read at times. But here are two men who have given so much to racing. Two men who have now conquered Aintree, as well as cancer, and no-one was going to begrudge them their golden moment.

AP, Jonjo and JP. Three men so revered and respected within the sport that their surnames have become superfluous.

Eight paragraphs I’ve written now -- and I’ve not even mentioned the horse!

Yet it was the same before the race. Not one tipster that I know of put up DON’T PUSH IT as the likely winner. No national newspaper tipped him. Of the plethora of tipsters on the ‘Racing Post’, not one even had the ten-year-old in their first four.

Oh yes, we all knew he had a touch of class, on the rare occasions he consented to unveil it. After all, he was tanking and on his way to possible victory in the 2007 Arkle when coming down at the second last. But a gruelling test like the National? Over 4m4f? Surely not for such a fragile, inconsistent animal?

So where on this Liverpudlian earth did Saturday’s gargantuan gamble come from? One that halved his price from 20/1 to joint favouritism?

My initial reaction was that the JP vaults must have been raided. But he insisted he didn’t have a penny on. He backed BIG FELLA THANKS instead.

So I can only return to where I came in and point to the AP Factor. How else can the support for Don’t Push It be explained other than that of an adoring public willing their favourite jockey to fulfil his quest for victory in their favourite race -- and more than willing to invest their cash on the dream outcome.

The fact that the horse kept his part of the bargain surprised most of us. But the fact that AP pulled it off surprised no-one.

The people I feel sorry for amid all this euphoria are those members of the Racing For Change brigade. We have now revelled in one of the most remarkable years the sport has ever witnessed. One that has produced arguably the greatest Flat horse in history. One in which the National Hunt game’s most intense duel reached a crescendo in the Gold Cup. One in which the fiercest of economic recessions has been dismissed so readily that the sport has actually grown in popularity. And now AP’s National.

Change all this? You must be joking.

Having spent most of the Easter weekend wading through the formbook in preparation for the Grand National, I must say I reckon it lacks a bit of star quality this year.

But it is still the race, above all others, that sends a shiver down the spine and gets the excitement juices flowing.

Like many of you, I’m sure, the magic and mystique of the National were what first got me hooked on racing all those years ago.

I backed my very first winner, HIGHLAND WEDDING, in the National as a small child way back in 1969. And some of my best punting moments have come in the race. Big wins on HALLO DANDY (1984), ROUGH QUEST (1996) and LORD GYLLENE (1997) spring to mind -- not to mention a couple of profitable forecasts on GRITTAR and HARD OUTLOOK in 1982 and EARTH SUMMIT and SUNY BAY in 1998.

Curiously, Hallo Dandy’s National was the only one I actually attended in the old days. The theory was that you could see more and enjoy more by watching on TV.

But over the years, the meeting has become not just about the big race but also about three days of sheer quality National Hunt fare. And three days that are impossible to miss.

My first three-day stay in Liverpool was in 2001, the year of RED MARAUDER. It rained from the moment I arrived until the moment I left but I fell in love with the city, particularly with the way it embraces the National meeting with such fervour and enthusiasm, and I have been back every year since.

Aintree must be breathing two huge sighs of relief today.

Firstly, the national rail strike has been called off. So many racegoers rely on the trains to get them to and from the track, and the action threatened to affect Liverpool more than any other area of the UK, cutting the city off from the rest of the rail network.

Secondly, the latest bout of bad weather looks set to relent at last before the meeting starts. Torrential rain on Merseyside in recent days (including today) has reduced the ground to Heavy in places on the Grand National course, prompting fears of a repeat of the muddy madness of 2001 when only four horses finished in the big race, won by RED MARAUDER. However all forecasters are unanimous in agreement that drier weather is on the way by next Tuesday and should last through the meeting.

Analysts, pundits, punters, so-called experts. We are all guilty of over-egging the pudding sometimes. Of delving too deeply after a bet that has misfired. Of searching for answers that probably aren’t there after a performance below the expected.

So stand up Mary Gliddon, contributor to the ‘Chatroom’ column in the ‘Racing Post’, who put everything into perspective with this simple text-message:

“Too much is said about punters needing to find an excuse if they lose money. A gamble is exactly that, and those who indulge will often lose. Jockeys can be wrong, no-one is perfect and nothing can make you look sillier than a horse.”

It was interesting to read Paul Nicholls’s revelation at the weekend that the watering of the course at Cheltenham probably saved KAUTO STAR’S life after his horrific fall in the Gold Cup.

No such luck for quality animals like CITIZEN VIC and CASEY JONES, whose deaths at the Festival left a nasty after-taste. They were two of the best chasers in Ireland, with the potential to land many more nice prizes. The former might well have won the RSA Chase but for his unpalatable fall at the notorious second last, while the latter might well have gone on to land the Grand National, for which he was being primed.

In no way would I blame the track for their demises. But they underlined the thin dividing-line that exists between watering and not watering in the run-up to a big meeting.

I thought Cheltenham just about got it right this rime round. But only just. I’m curious as to why they stopped watering three or four days before the start of the meeting. And I’m fairly sure the ground rode a bit quicker than they would have liked, particularly on the Wednesday and the Thursday.

One thing is for sure. Such high-profile deaths, in conjunction with Nicholls’s comments ,should make those who criticised Cheltenham for watering at all and who called for “nature to take its course” thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Nature took its course all right. Just ask the connections of Citizen Vic and Casey Jones.

I’m not on about the palatial grandstands, the spectacular infrastructure or the new, revolutionary Tapeta racing surface.

But you would have thought that if you’re going to splash millions on a new racecourse in the desert and throw millions in prize money at quality racing, then when it comes to the configuration of the track, Meydan would resemble something better than a greyhound shoot.

Was it really the Dubai World Cup or a selling handicap at Lingfield on a Thursday afternoon?

During the course of a racing year, you read and hear all kinds of ludicrous comments.

But I think the one that takes the biscuit so far in 2010 belongs to Alan Lee, racing correspondent of ‘The Times’ and regular guest on At The Races’ ‘Sunday Forum’ programme.

In advocating the need for an end-of-season finale to the Flat season, along similar lines to the Cheltenham Festival, Lee claims that, at present, the general public thinks the Flat finishes after Royal Ascot.

Have you ever heard such claptrap? Is Lee seriously suggesting that the ‘general public’ he claims to know so much about has never heard of Glorious Goodwood, of York’s Ebor meeting, of our longest-standing Classic, the St Leger? Not to mention a host of other hugely popular meetings and races between June and October?

It is a desperate, misguided assertion in a desperate, misguided attempt to bolster support for a Flat finale idea that Lee and his like have yet to provide one iota of reasoned justification for and has not a cat in hell’s chance of succeeding.

I am the biggest defender of the Flat, which it has become fashionable to knock in the racing media.

But try as I might, I’m afraid I cannot get excited about the William Hill Lincoln and the Dubai World Cup tomorrow.

Maybe it’s because I’m still suffering from post-Cheltenham blues. Maybe it’s because Aintree’s wonderful three-day meeting is only just round the corner.

But plonking the ‘start of the Flat’ in the middle of the two jewels in the National Hunt crown doesn’t seem right to me. Never has and never will.

At last, I have been brave enough to tot up my win and loss columns for the Cheltenham Festival. And I am relieved to announce that the latter was not as overloaded as I first feared.

Over the next few days, I will be reviewing the replays of all 26 races to come up with some considered verdicts that might help me win some of that cash back!

I have already had time to give a lot of thought to the three main championship races. And while each yielded brilliant winners, each also threw up some interesting questions.

Unanswered questions in the case of Champion Hurdle hero BINOCULAR. Like how can a horse ruled out of the race by injury in mid-February be so transformed that he can produce a display as scintillating as we’ve seen since Istabraq?

Much has been made of how transparent trainer Nicky Henderson was with his pre-race announcements. But there hasn’t been much lucidity from the Seven Barrows camp about exactly what was troubling Binocular and why he made such a speedy recovery.

We have heard of neck-muscles being tweaked, hind legs being soothed and treatment for the sacroiliac. But no-one seems really sure what was hurting the horse or what cured him.

With so much emphasis being placed on wooing new supporters of racing at present, I wonder how we should explain to them Binocular’s unexpected victory.

Perhaps in the same way we explain the Gold Cup. Because those new supporters might also be scratching their heads at the result of the Festival's Blue Riband. A race sold to them as a match between KAUTO STAR and DENMAN, yet won by neither.

The outcome, so superbly hijacked by IMPERIAL COMMANDER, emphasised the inherent dangers of glib and simplistic marketing. It might do for other sports but two of racing’s greatest assets are its complexity and unpredictability. Sell those. Sell reality. Sell the sport. Not a cosmetic fantasy. It's more Binocular than 'The Decider'.

(Incidentally, I know that criticism of Tony McCoy-Denman partnership has become a sin, almost punishable by death, within racing circles, but am I the only one who thought it didn’t work again in the Gold Cup? For a horse who is at his best when allowed to bowl and dictate, he took far too strong a hold at various stages of the race for my liking. Should not McCoy have gone on soon after Kauto’s first blunder? Phew, just about got that off my chest without anyone noticing.)

As for the third of our majestic winners last week, the questions surrounding the World Hurdle triumph of BIG BUCK’S are all personal. What on this earth possessed me to oppose him?

Big Buck’s laughed at me and many other doubting Thomases who allowed him to go off at very generous odds of 5/6. His imperious performance was the best of his career so far and the pick of the meeting by far.

Exhilarating though the Cheltenham Festival always is, it is also mentally, physically, emotionally (and this year, financially!) draining.

Add fatigue to the realisation that it is all over for another year and there is no doubt that today is the most depressing imaginable.

So. Am I back in business?

Two words.

BIG ZEB.

Regular readers will know what I mean. Pure Festival gold.

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the Cheltenham Festival turning men into boys and boys into men, little did I realise that such wise words would manifest themselves so quickly and so personally.

Because man, did the Festival’s opening day turn me into a boy!

As if getting the first two races hopelessly wrong did not hurt enough, worse was to follow.

I watched in despair as my best two hopes in the William Hill Chase (THE PACKAGE and OGEE) were done on the run-in by a 33/1 shot I’d shortlisted (CHIEF DAN GEORGE) but didn‘t have the courage to back.

Then came sheer frustration as BINOCULAR produced the kind of sparkling performance I thought we were going to get last year.

Next GARDE CHAMPETRE turned in a rare shoddy cross-country performance. And finally, I lumped on the wrong one of the two fancied mares in the David Nicholson.

Things can only get better but I’ve been telling myself over the last five or six years that I’m long overdue a bad punting Festival. Could this be it?

Regular readers will know I revel in the weird and wonderful misjudgements of Matt Williams, of the ‘Racing Post’.

Rarely a big meeting or big race seems to pass by without him proffering an outrageous statement that spectacularly misfires.

The whole of racing will never forget his incredible treble at the 2008 Cheltenham Festival when he advised punters to lay MASTER MINDED, TIDAL BAY and INGLIS DREVER, all of whom romped to impressive wins!

Now he’s at it again. Yesterday he wrote that he could see Willie Mullins failing to train a single winner at this year’s Festival. Ho, ho, ho! I reckon Mullins will be top trainer and have taken the best price of 10/1. Let battle commence!

So. The walk has been walked. The talk has been talked. The well of hype and clichés has been exhausted.

It is almost time, my friends. It is almost time…….

It’s not often that weather forecasts are essential viewing. After all, their accuracy has been called into question more than once in recent months. And as Bruce Millington, editor of the ‘Racing Post‘, wrote recently, if racing tipsters has as bad a record as some weather forecasters, they’d be drummed out of town as charlatans.

However , on the eve of the greatest race meeting in the world, we must make an exception tonight. For knowledge of the state of the going at the Cheltenham Festival is an essential weapon to have in our punting armoury.

Don’t forget to tune in. BBC1. ‘Countryfile’. Towards the end of the programme at about 6.45 pm. A feature called Weather For The Week Ahead.

The build-up to the Cheltenham Festival is full of excitement and anticipation. I’ve been going now for 26 years. Not a day, not a race have I missed since BROWNE’S GAZETTE won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle for Michael Dickinson in 1984.

But I must say that in helping to set the scene, create the atmosphere and get everyone in the mood, the ‘Racing Post’ has played an absolute blinder this year.

Over the past two weeks, the paper has been crammed with magnificent features on the Festival. Interviews, insights, craic, humour, opinions, the lot.

The ‘Post’ deserves a massive pat on the back. This kind of thing is what the paper does best. The sport is truly blessed and probably doesn’t know how lucky it it is to have such an ally.

The only blot on the copybook came yesterday during an interview with Michael O’Leary, boss of Ryanair and owner of Gold Cup winner WAR OF ATTRITION.

Clearly, O’Leary does a lot for racing, through sponsorship and ownership. But comments he made implying that handicapper Phil Smith contributed to the sad death, in front of the packed stands at the end of last year‘s Grand National, of the O’Leary chaser Hear The Echo, were out of order, in my view.

The Gigginstown House Stud chief argued that the horse ran his heart out after being given too harsh a rise in the weights by Smith. Of course, it wasn’t the fault of the ‘Post’ for reporting the comments but they left a sour taste on the eve of Jumps racing’s biggest month of action.

I accept that there a few of you out there who actually like Matt Chapman, presenter of At The Races. And I know there are a few RACELINE readers out there who think I’m a little severe with my criticism of him.

So I am obliged, every now and then, to bolster my case for the prosecution.

I am reliably informed that, at a recent Cheltenham Preview Night at Leopardstown, this was Chapman’s verdict on the upcoming Champion Hurdle:…….

“Go Native is a dog. Zaynar is no good. Medermit is rubbish, Punjabi is boring. Celestial Halo is slow. Solwhit wins and only Davy Russell can muck it up.”

I kid you not. And this from a man responsible for fronting some of the most important TV racing coverage in the country.

This is the time of the year when the pressure really tells on RACELINE’S UPPING THE ANTE section. When months of ante-post tips for the Cheltenham Festival bear fruit or die a death.

Many readers have requested an updated list of those I have given since last March’s bonanza, so here goes. Please bear in mind that some reflected their value in the market at the time, as much as their chance in the race.

April 2009: COOLDINE 8/1 WIN Gold Cup
ZAYNAR 16/1 EACH/WAY Champion Hurdle
HURRICANE FLY 7/1 WIN Champion Hurdle

October 2009: ZAYNAR 12/1 WIN Champion Hurdle

November 2009: COOLDINE 12/1 WIN Gold Cup
BIG ZEB 5/1 WIN Queen Mother Champion Chase

January 2010: SENTRY DUTY 16/1 EACH/WAY World Hurdle
MIGHTY MAN 25/1 EACH/WAY RSA Chase
SECANT STAR 25/1 EACH/WAY Triumph Hurdle
BARBERS SHOP 7/1 WIN Ryanair Chase
FINIAN’S RAINBOW 16/1 EACH/WAY Neptune Novices’ Hurdle

February 2010: WEIRD AL 11/1 WIN RSA Chase
UIMHIRACEATHAIR 33/1 EACH/WAY RSA Chase
PEDDLERS CROSS 25/1 EACH/WAY Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
SPORTS LINE 14/1 EACH/WAY Arkle

March 2010: LAKE LEGEND 14/1 EACH/WAY Coral Cup
NOTUS DE LA TOUR 9/1 WIN Fred Winter
PRINCE ERIK 12/1 WIN Pertemps Hurdle

Unlike Champion Hurdle favourite SOLWHIT, at least most of them are still on course to make the meeting.

Full marks to Bruce Millington, editor of the ‘Racing Post’, for advancing the case last week for four-day declarations in Jumps racing.

Quite rightly, he points out that it is outrageous that they are not introduced at least for a meeting as good and as popular as the Cheltenham Festival. Spend a day at Prestbury Park and it’s likely to be as late as long into the night, by the time you get home or get back to your hotel, that you know for sure what’s running the next day. Crackers.

The BHA have responded by pointing to the chaos that ensued in 2004 when 18 of the 23 runners in the County Hurdle were left out of the handicap after the top weight, Rigmarole, was withdrawn after the 48-hour decs were made because he had run in the Champion Hurdle two days earlier.

I remember that and, yes, it did badly detract from the race. But is there not a way round such a problem by banning horses from being doubly declared at the final-declaration stage at the Festival? So, in 2004, once Rigmarole had been declared to run in the Champion, he could not then be declared to run in the County.

Today is the day the special Cheltenham song, in aid of charity, is released. It is based on the hit ‘Downtown’, which was first released by Petula Clark way back in 1964 but has been re-released, re-mixed and covered many times over since, most notably by Emma Bunton in 2006 when it reached number three in the charts.

The song has received a lot of stick in some quarters but I must admit to liking it. The tune is known to most people and the lyrics are ingenious.

At the risk of flouting the copyright laws, here’s how it goes….

As we pore over reams and reams of literature and material in the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival, we come across lots of comments and quotes that make an impression.

But few better than this one from Donn McLean, Irish correspondent to the ‘Sunday Times’……”The anticipation is just about bearable.”

Spot-on, Donn!

Take the installation of a complex, new computer system at work. Add the discomfort and frustrations that go with a bad back. And stir in a bit of hard preparation work for the greatest race meeting in the world.

Thus reads the recipe for the reason why you’ve not heard much from me in the TURFBLOG in recent days -- and, I’m afraid, are unlikely to for a few days yet.

Time is not my side at the moment and I have all on keeping up to date with TIP OF THE DAY, SIX FOR THE WEEKEND, UPPING THE ANTE and FOR THE NOTEBOOK.

Bear with me, though. When the light at the end of the tunnel is as considerable as the Cheltenham Festival, the pain will all be worth it!

Mind you, before I go again, I cannot resist a comment or two on the latest changes proposed by the boys at Racing For Change. Namely, team racing and a freshly configurated Jumps championship.

Both have received plenty of derision in recent days, and I must confess that I’m with the cynics.

Racing is not a team sport. So team racing can never work, however it is dressed up. The impracticalities are far too huge to overcome, not least getting the correct horses or the correctly represented horses to appear on given dates or in given sequence. Impossible.

As for the idea of a new Jumps championship to run from Cheltenham’s Open meeting through to the Cheltenham Festival, it possesses one major flaw. To remove Aintree’s Grand National meeting from the official season would be like removing Manchester United from the Premiership or Australia from Test cricket.

Aintree‘s April spectacular is solely about the National no longer. It is a magnificent event, laced with breathtaking quality. Is this a recent CHANGE the Racing For Change boys have not noticed.

Perusing the ‘Racing Post’ this week for the thoughts of trainers Paul Nicholls and Alan King on their entries at Cheltenham has really brought it home that the Festival is only just round the corner.

And the realisation will be enforced on Saturday when the last of the major ‘trial meetings’ takes place at Kempton.

The meeting, and especially the big race, the Racing Post Chase, has lost a lot of its former lustre and kudos. But I will be making my annual pilgrimage in search of late festival clues. And I was pleased to be reminded today that Saturday’s card represents the tenth anniversary of one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in Jumps racing.

It was the day GLORIA VICTIS, a six-year-old novice, made all under stand-in jockey Richard Johnson to land the Racing Post Chase off top weight of 11-10 with an electric display of jumping at speed that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. He gave 15lbs to a horse as good as Nicky Henderson’s MARLBOROUGH, a subsequent Grade One winner, but slaughtered him ten lengths.

It was extraordinary stuff and triggered a fierce debate in the ensuing days about whether or not Martin Pipe and Terry Neill’s French-bred should take his chance in the Gold Cup three weeks later. His age, inexperience and the fact that he tended to jump to his right were all said to be against him. But intoxicated by his Kempton romp, I was all for it and backed him accordingly.

Eventually, connections took the plunge -- with the kind of fatal consequences that so characterise the ups and downs of our wonderful sport. Gloria Victis ran a blinder (in a race won by LOOKS LIKE TROUBLE) but was just beginning to backpedal when coming down at the second last and breaking a leg.

The numbness I felt that night could not have provided a starker contrast to the thrill I’d been given at Kempton the previous month.

Such is racing. No wonder they say it makes men of boys and boys of men.

Knowing that I have been sweet on ZAYNAR’S Champion Hurdle prospects virtually since the moment he passed the post in front in last season’s Triumph, one or two of you have been badgering me about my verdict on his defeat at Kelso last Thursday.

To be honest, I am baffled and miffed by the brouhaha. I certainly cannot understand why he has been lambasted in so many quarters.

The criticism reached a crescendo in today’s ‘Racing Post’ when one of their tipsters, Pietro Innocenzi, reckoned Zaynar “did a decent impression of a snail in its slower paces”.

Let’s hope that by "snail", he meant the great L’Escargot because I saw little that should concern those holding ante-post vouchers for Nicky Henderson’s grey.

OK, he was turned over at 1/14. But to my eyes, if we believe Henderson’s insistence that he detested the horrible ground and that he was far from fully fit (and I do), then he did little wrong. He travelled, he jumped and he tried his heart out on Kelso’s arduous long run-in -- all in a truly-run race, turned into quite a test by a seriously under-rated winner in QUWETWO.

I suspect we’ll be hearing much, much more of Howard Johnson’s giant. And on better ground, with the cheekpieces fitted, I suspect Zaynar will still be in the shake-up come March 16.

Grab your diaries and circle feverishly the date Wednesday March 3.

For that’s when the weights will be released for the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival.

Experienced racegoers like myself will remember a horse called PETER DAVIES winning the Racing Post Trophy on Soft ground at Doncaster in 1990. Trained by Henry Cecil and ridden by Steve Cauthen.

Now it would appear that Peter Davies is reincarnated -- as mayor of Donny. And just as he did 20 years ago, he’s playing a blinder.

In his all-powerful capacity, Davies has ordered the chopping down of the trees in the middle of the Town Moor course that block out the view from the stands of so much of the racing.

Apparently the decision has angered environmentalists and conservation groups, whose view I would normally respect. But there are times when nature must give way to public interest.

As Davies says: “The racecourse is the jewel in Doncaster’s crown. It does no good to the town at all to attract people to a course where half the action takes place out of sight.”

I wonder if Davies can also take his axe to the hospitality boxes that cause a similar hindrance at Donny’s Leger meeting!

I hopped aboard the Kauto Star v Denman ‘Battlebus’ at Newbury last Saturday -- and I must say I’m glad no-one asked me for my fare.

I realise that the main purpose of the bus is visual impact as it tours the country promoting the Gold Cup clash. But surely the BHA and sponsors Totesport could have come up with something more inviting inside for curious ‘passengers’. All I found was a screen showing a previous Gold Cup and a few leaflets.

Mind you, after the Denman Debacle, you wonder if the ‘Battlebus’ will even make it to its Cheltenham destination. The horse’s mishap underlined the perils of football-style promotion in racing. The Gold Cup has been branded like an FA Cup final. But at least in an FA Cup final, the two teams are guaranteed to turn up.

I fully understand the race has to be promoted. But racing cannot be sold in such simplistic terms as A v B, black or white -- as Saturday’s Aon Chase emphasised. Imagine the letdown among non-racing folk if they had been persuaded to jump on the hype bandwagon surrounding this year’s Gold Cup and bought the scarf, let alone the T-shirt, only to get there and find it all off. Not so much a cup final as an own goal.

Please give me time to try and digest yesterday’s remarkable events at Newbury. My TURFBLOG views will be posted later this evening.

In the meantime, I am indebted to RACELINE reader Seamus Kelly, of Stranorlar in County Donegal, for an e-mail he has sent me after reading my comments in FOR THE NOTEBOOK on UIMHIRACEATHAIR, an UPPING THE ANTE fancy for the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Correctly exposing my ignorance, Seamus points out that Uimhiraceathair means, simply, “number four” (uimhir=number and ceathair=four) and is pronounced phonetically “ivirakahar”.

My apologies to all Irish readers for not knowing that. Let’s hope the horse gets me out of trouble by winning at Navan today, en route to a crack at the Festival.

With minds firmly in Festival mode, is there anyone out there who actually cares what is happening at Meydan?

No, I thought not.

Just wondered.

Thanks.

Owners, trainers and jockeys are always reluctant to reveal all when talking to the media. Therefore, as punters, we must become skilled at interpreting their quotes or reading between the lines.

Thus when Harry Findlay says: “Who knows? If DENMAN had won at Aintree and not fallen, Sam (Thomas) could still be riding the horse now”, we discover the primary reason why Tony McCoy will be aboard at Cheltenham.

Thus when Ruby Walsh says: “Kauto and Denman are two exceptional horses and there is probably only a good jump between them”, we discover that, despite Kauto Star’s astonishing performance at Kempton, the jockey is still reluctant to put him above Denman.

Thus when Ruby also says he would like to leave it as late as possible before he decides whether to ride MASTER MINDED or TWIST MAGIC in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, we discover he is far from convinced that the former is back to his scintillating best.

And thus when David Pipe withdraws NOTUS DE LA TOUR from this Saturday’s Totesport Trophy, saying: “We felt we would probably go to straight to Cheltenham”, we discover that he is delighted with the four-year-old hurdler’s handicap mark, which can be exploited in the Fred Winter.

Mind you, there is an exception to every rule. Provided in this instance by a quote from Nicky Henderson who, when weighing up his chances in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, casts an envious glance at odds-on favourite DUNGUIB and says: “There doesn’t seem to be a chink in him.”

No interpretation or reading between the lines required here. We discover only that Henderson is talking rot. As we all saw last Sunday, the horse can’t jump.

One of the most worrying aspects of the Jumps season has been the dearth of quality and quantity among the juvenile hurdlers.

So news, which has almost gone unnoticed, that the BHA are to lift a restriction on winning three-year-old hurdlers in France, is to be welcomed.

As things stand, horses who have won juvenile hurdle races in France before the start of our season are banned from contesting such races in Britain. Which is why you see so many big owners and trainers farming placed animals instead.

Now that ban his been removed which must surely be a much-needed shot in the arm as we approach with trepidation the possibility of the worst Triumph Hurdle and Fred Winter Hurdle in recent times.

Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t noises made at the start of the Jumps season encouraging courses to host cards with a minimum of seven races?

Why then is Sandown a persistent party-pooper?

Nearly all of their National Hunt meetings comprise six races. Which means the quality and strength in depth must be spot-on, otherwise they run the risk of short-changing the customer.

The Esher chickens come home to roost tomorrow. The presence of BINOCULAR in the Champion Hurdle trial and of PUNCHESTOWNS in the Grade One novices’ chase have frightened off the opposition to such an extent that both races are wildly uncompetitive and reduced to near-farce.

The juvenile hurdle is not much better, like most to have been run all season. And the decision to run top weight LOUGH DERG in the big handicap hurdle leaves six of the 14 runners at least 5lbs out of the handicap.

The upshot is a drastically weak card that does not reflect the lofty status of the meeting.

No doubt Sandown will try to come up with a robust defence. But racing fanatics, like myself, faced with a choice of where to go racing tomorrow are left with a no-brainer. Doncaster’s eight-race offering, mixing competition and quality, is an easy winner.

Let’s hope the trees and hospitality buildings that tend to proliferate in the middle of the track on Town Moor don’t block the view of the action!

I am loathe to criticise tipsters. I know what a difficult job it is -- as my own poor run testifies since the big freeze relented.

But I do feel that punters deserve coherent, unequivocal advice, whether they are being offered horses to back or to lay.

Unlike this nonsensical gem given by Matt Williams, of the ‘Racing Post’, last Saturday about the prospects of MADISON DU BERLAIS in the Argento Chase.

Williams wrote: “If he can run his race, there is only one winner, but I think he will struggle to make the frame.”

PARDON???!!!!!

It was almost poetic justice that the race was won by a horse ridden by Nick Scholfield, a jockey Williams dished out some outrageous criticism to a few weeks back.

It never ceases to amaze me how this great sport can pick you up so quickly after knocking you down.

No sooner had MIGHTY MAN been stricken by injury than two more of my favourite horses -- TIDAL BAY and BIG ZEB -- had returned to their best with a vengeance.

Both turned in wonderful performances at the weekend and it’s all systems go for the Festival.

Stirring stuff!

For the first time in living memory on the last Saturday in January, I was torn yesterday between travelling to Cheltenham or Doncaster.

Fortunately, given the intervention of the weather gods, I made the right decision by heading for Prestbury Park.
 

Hopefully the Cheltenham go-ahead silenced those illogical idiots who reckon abandonment decisions should be made with the first inspection -- or even the previous night, based on the weather forecast. But it was hard not have huge sympathy with Doncaster after losing their best Jumps card for many, many years.

The main problem caused by the loss of cards like this -- and indeed ones such as Ascot’s Christmas meeting and Tolworth day at Sandown -- are that they rob us of so many vital clues for the Cheltenham Festival.

Great credit, therefore, should be given to the BHA for making a swift decision to reschedule two of Doncaster‘s big races, the Grade Two novices’ chase and the mares’ hurdle, at the Yorkshire track’s next meeting next Saturday.

Quite frankly, I can’t understand why they don’t go the whole hog and save the River Don Novices’ Hurdle and the SkyBet Chase too. Both were set to be cracking, revealing contests.

Depressing is the only word to sum up today -- after the news that MIGHTY MAN, our big Upping The Ante fancy for the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, is to miss the rest of the season because of injury.

The dual Liverpool Hurdle winner had made a tremendous, if belated, start to his chasing career, following up his exuberant victory at Hereford with another taking display at Huntingdon on Wednesday.

It was a performance that left me amazed to find odds of 20/1 still available for Cheltenham. Indeed news of the injury must have come through at exactly the time I was in the process of bolstering my each/way wager. To their great credit, Ladbrokes informed me that betting had been suspended. They didn’t know why and I hadn’t heard about the injury, so it was good of them to save me a fair chunk of cash.

It’s good also to hear that Mighty Man will also be saved. But given that he’s already ten, it must be doubtful now that he will scale Grade One heights again.

For a horse with such a turbo-charged engine and such a wonderful, enthusiastic attitude, he’s had to suffer a terribly unfair share of knocks.

Despite the imposing presence of Meydan on the horizon, the new Flat season remains a long way off.

But the hot topic of conversation in recent days has been the decision of Newmarket trainer John Gosden to replace Jimmy Fortune with William Buick as his stable jockey.

I don’t think anyone in racing saw that coming. I was surprised if only because experience counts for so much in the saddle. More than in most other sports, I reckon.

I am a huge admirer of Buick. He is a prodigious talent. But he’s only 21 years old and it’s little over a year since he was being crowned champion apprentice. At 37, on the other hand, Fortune could be said to be approaching his peak as a Flat jockey.

Gosden is a terrific trainer. But let’s hope this is a call that doesn’t end in tears. All of a sudden, he has placed Buick under enormous pressure with a decision that will come under equally enormous scrutiny.

MONDAY JANUARY 25

One advantage of the big freeze in recent weeks is that it enabled me to catch up with some of the racing books I received over Christmas. Most notably ‘Lucky Break’ by the champion jumps trainer Paul Nicholls.

The book is no literary masterpiece. Its prose is sometimes glib and simplistic. And as he re-traces his career, Nicholls is guilty of occasional repetition.

But it is still very readable and very interesting. I would still highly recommend it.

Not only does the book revive memories of some fine horses and fine races, it also shines an honest light on Nicholls’s personality and personal life, from his days when he was bullied at school, through a a tormented career in the saddle, two marriages and his rise to the top of the training profession.

That rise has clearly been achieved by ruthless and single-minded determination and ambition. Nothing has been allowed to get in his way. This is a man whose youngest daughter was born while he was on his mobile phone listening to one of his horses finish second at Folkestone.

But he still comes across as likeable and admirable. Not least because he is not slow to share credit for his success with so many others. Most notably his father, his staff and his guiding light and mentor Paul Barber, whose decision to employ him as his trainer back in 1991 was the lucky break to which, presumably, the title of the book refers.

In contrast, Nicholls’s disdain for Martin Pipe, his arch rival for so many years, and for one or two of his owners, is evident.

The book does not contain as many revealing anecdotes, or indeed humour, as you might expect from such a fascinating life-story. Instead the most telling extracts relate to the great horses that have passed through his hands.

To catch up again with CALL EQUINAME was particularly enlightening for me, given that I backed at him at big odds the year he won the Queen Mother Champion Chase! But some of the revelations about DENMAN underline what an extraordinary animal he is.

His heart problems of last season -- and his recovery from them -- have been well documented. But Nicholls discloses also how his remarkable Gold Cup triumph of 2008 left Denman on his knees.

“He was absolutely knackered,” the trainer writes. “It took him the best part of three weeks to get over his hard race. He spent most of his time in his box with his backside to the door, showing no interest in what was going on in the yard. He rarely lies down but….over the next couple of weeks, he was almost always asleep on the floor at night. He had given everything in the Gold Cup…until he had nothing left.”

The reader is left with the impression that the race bottomed Denman -- and would have finished the careers of lesser horses. Yet he not only bounced back from that but also from the most serious of operations for a fibrillating heart months later.

I will never forget his appearance in the paddock for his comeback run at Kempton last February. He looked a sorry sight, a pale shadow of his former self, which was reflected in his lifeless performance behind MADISON DU BERLAIS.

What kind of horse recovers to run such a blinding race in the Gold Cup just 34 days later? To finish just 13 lengths behind a stablemate many now believe is better than Arkle?

Only a very special horse is the answer. As we found out in the Hennessy Gold Cup eight weeks ago.

‘Lucky Break’ went to print before that Newbury triumph. And so before it became clear that racing is about to be treated to yet another epic showdown between Denman and KAUTO STAR at the Cheltenham Festival.

But unwittingly, its insight into the machine that is Denman might just have provided a clue to the showdown’s outcome.

“Seeing him bounce back from all his problems to finish a superb second in the 2009 Gold Cup was one of the highlights of my career,” Nicholls writes.

The 2010 Gold Cup looms large. Denman is back to his best. No problems to stop him. Is he set to write the next chapter of a captivating story?

I first came across Jeffrey Bernard late. In the mid-1980s. But I was instantly bewitched.

I was mesmerised that a man could live such an extraordinarily Bohemian lifestyle and yet write with such brutal poignancy and frankness and self-deprecating humour. In a style never seen before but mimicked by so many since, so unsuccessfully.

Bernard‘s aura remains cluttered by a host of anecdotes, too plentiful to gather up in one story of his 65 amazing years. But if ever there is to be a definitive summary of the life of the great man, then David Ashforth has produced it in today’s ‘Racing Post’ as part of his series on racing’s great eccentrics.

Like Bernard, Ashforth has been unwell. But this is brilliant stuff.

Aaaaargh! If I hear or read this phrase once more, I think I will go crackers.

It’s one of those over-used lines that has become so easy to trot out during the Racing For Change (RFC) debate, and yet it is rubbish.

David Hood, of William Hill, is the latest person to use it. And he should really know better.

It goes something like this: “Cricket has re-invented itself with Twenty20, so why can’t racing do something similar?”

Let’s get this straight. Cricket has NOT re-invented itself. It introduced Twenty20 as a new form of the game and, in the short term, it proved very popular.

It is probably here to stay but there are definite signs that the novelty value is wearing off. Crowds are down and the danger of overkill looms.

This is hardly surprising because while Twenty20 requires plenty of skill and talent, the bottom line is that it is based on the simplest form of cricket -- that of biff, bash, wallop. And when you strip a sport down to meet its lowest common denominator, there is only a short journey to travel from simplicity to tedium.

One of cricket’s assets is its complexity. You can’t help thinking that racing is in the same boat and it’s not hard to empathise with a letter sent to the ‘Racing Post’ last week by reader Mark Newberry, who is clearly concerned that the sport might fall for the Twenty20 trap. In case you missed it, this is what Mark wrote:

“When I was a youngster, I was attracted to the sport of freshwater angling, and a strong part of that attraction was its world of mysterious skills and practices that challenged its followers.

“Youngsters everywhere know and relish a challenge. Why then is racing intent on making everything in its own fascinating world banal and boring?

“The old ways of betting, its fractions and strange odds, are part of racing’s delightful mystique and need no tampering in the guise of appealing to ‘yoof’ who, if my younger thrill at surmounting challenges is any guide, would merely feel insulted.”

I must say that my own fascination with racing was nurtured in very similar circumstances. I was engrossed by the mystery and mystique of a sport that transported you almost into an alien world and left you instinctively wanting to learn more. I am still enveloped by that same tingling sensation whenever I walk on to a racecourse, and such is the depth of the appeal of the sport, many years down the line, I am still learning.

I suspect many racing fanatics feel the same way, so it is easy to see why there is so much resistance to much of the change proposed within the sport.

If RFC has one responsibility above all others, it is to ensure that the changes it makes are for the long-term improvement of the sport, not for short-term gain that could lead to irreparable damage and alienate the followers it attracted in the first place.

The Crackpots’ Charter, courtesy of ‘Racing Post’ staff, to which I referred a few days ago, contained some stinging criticism of racecourses.

And it was backed up in the latest edition of the ‘Racing Post Weekender’ by an unwarranted tirade from columnist Alistair Whitehouse-Jones.

Whitehouse-Jones gave a depressingly stereotypical, hackneyed view of tracks and how they attempt to attract business -- and one based lazily, I suspect, on the kind of outdated, anecdotal evidence that most racecourses and racegoers simply wouldn’t recognise these days. He signed off with the words: “For the sport to go forward, race meetings have to be better attended.”

How silly both Whitehouse-Jones and the Charter were made to look on Thursday when the Racecourse Association released the 2009 attendance figures for tracks across the UK.

Despite the most biting recession in living memory, the number of people who went racing last year INCREASED to more than 5.7 million, from only a marginal rise in the number of fixtures.

What‘s more, the average daily attendance was down by a mere fraction. And 20 courses actually INCREASED their average daily gate.

Now I am the first to confess that attendances are not the only barometer of success within racing. But by anybody’s measurement standards, these are truly astounding statistics, given the grim economic climate that strangled 2009. And they reflect huge credit not only on the sport but also on the racecourses themselves, making a mockery of the stick they receive from media people who should know better and who should be trumpeting the sport, rather than slagging it.

At the risk of sounding like beleaguered Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, the statistics are also FACTS. Not opinions dressed up as facts.

They will come in very handy when the time arrives for the likes of Alastair Down to be given a dressing-down for his prediction about a year ago that racing was heading for doom and gloom amid the recession.

And they will certainly come in handy the next time Down and Co have another go at splitting the sport in two by telling us that while Jumps racing is flourishing, Flat racing is in crisis. For what the statistics also disclose is that, despite the Cheltenham Festival and despite the Grand National meeting, the average daily attendance at Flat Turf meetings continues to be about 40% higher than at National Hunt meetings.

Given that KAUTO STAR and DENMAN are so far ahead of the rest on the book, it’s no surprise to see the smallest entry for the Cheltenham Gold Cup for more than 30 years.

However it is disappointing that one of the least exposed, most promising challengers, JONCOL, has shirked the challenge.

OK, his stamina appeared to give way at Leopardstown last month, after looking nailed on to win, and defeat by WHAT A FRIEND leaves him with an awful lot to find with Denman on Hennessy Gold Cup form. But the race was the best, most competitive Lexus I can remember. And considering it was only the seven-year-old’s ninth run of his career and only his seventh over fences, it was a massive performance.

Paul Nolan’s horse is still improving and ridden with more restraint, there would be every chance of him getting the Gold Cup trip, in my view. The news that he is to go for the Irish Hennessy next time suggests that stamina is not a concern of connections, so surely it would have made sense to wait until after that engagement to make a decision on the Festival.

Connections were similarly reluctant to bring him to Cheltenham last season, for the RSA Chase, so I wonder if they are more worried about his tendency to jump right-handed. Or maybe they are happy to wait another year, by which time Paul Nicholls’s big guns might be past their best.

Whatever the explanation, I am convinced that Joncol would have been the best chance of an upset come March 19.

Answers today to a couple of perfectly legitimate questions from RACELINE readers.

Question one asks why TIP OF THE DAY is refusing to give selections for the all-weather fare that is keeping racing on the road during the big freeze.

And question two asks why do I get so wound up about the ‘Racing Post’?

Answer one is that I honestly feel that I would be doing you a disservice. My mindset is firmly in Jumps mode -- and has been since the winner of the November Handicap passed the post.

All-weather racing is not my strong point at the best of times. But as far as I’m concerned, the Flat is in hibernation and it would be cheating if I pretended otherwise by putting forward a few tips while we wait for the snow and ice to relent and for jumping to resume. It would be a bit like popping from behind a tree to join in a race that is already halfway through.

Answer two is, quite simply, sheer frustration. In the absence of any meaningful competition these days, the ‘Racing Post’ (and ‘Weekender’) holds a hugely influential position within racing. In many ways, it is the voice of the sport. And yet, when it comes to authoritative opinion, it lets the sport down so often.

As I have said before in TURFBLOG, as the purveyor of information -- facts, figures, statistics -- the paper and its associated website is second to none. Through the likes of the admirable Tom O’Ryan, James Willoughby and Brough Scott, some of its pieces on the sport and its players are brilliant. But through its preponderance of columnists and the angle it sometimes chooses to take with news stories, it is far too negative about racing. It assumes the moral high-ground so often but eight times out of ten, it gets it wrong. Which, given its key role within racing, can damage the sport.

Let me give you two examples. It has become almost commonplace to hear that Flat racing is struggling, while Jumps racing is flourishing. It is nonsense but the impression that such a divide exists has stemmed from misguided opinion propagated by the ‘Racing Post’ which has seeped into the public consciousness to such an extent that it is now peddled as fact. Only a few weeks ago, Lee Mottershead, whom I have a lot of time for but who had apparently been suitably indoctrinated to toe the ‘Post’ party line on this occasion, appeared on the ‘Sunday Forum’ programme on At The Races and spouted: “Everyone knows Flat racing is in crisis.” Oh really? Do they? Is it? Says who?

And then we come to the line taken, presumably, by the news editor and sub-editors when tackling news stories. Take, for example, a piece that appeared last week about the possibility of the date of the 2012 Derby being moved to form part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I doubt it will happen but it was a perfectly newsworthy item, worth probing.

The day after breaking the news, the ‘Post’ ran a headline, which screamed: “Racing Divided Over Possibility Of Jubilee Year Derby Move’, instantly giving the impression that the sport was again cutting itself in half, at odds and unable to agree on a potentially lucrative suggestion. Yet according to the story itself, all reporter Jon Lees had done was interview two trainers, one of whom was against and one of whom was tentatively in favour, plus a former TV executive, who was vaguely against. Hardly sufficient evidence to say that the sport of racing was divided.

I am not naïve enough to assume that all news stories are going to show racing in a good light. And I fully accept that columnists are entitled to their opinions. But ‘Post’ readers are hardened racing fanatics who love their sport and WANT to see it promoted in a good light. I don’t think they pay nearly £14 a week to have it dragged unnecessarily through the dirt whenever the opportunity arises.

The voice of any sport should lead and inspire. The ’Post’ should fill its followers with warm, positive pride and satisfaction that, yes, racing is for them.

Laughable, ill-conceived, unworkable.

No, not the first Racing For Change (RFC) initiatives, which are sound and sensible. But the ‘Racing Post’ alternatives, drawn up earlier in the week.

After so long giving the impression that they were happy to peddle negativity and give a voice to any Tom, Dick or Harry wishing to slag racing off, the ‘Post’ have finally come up with their own blueprint for the future of racing. Or as they put it, a brainstorm in which staff have put their heads together to come up with suggestions to improve the sport.

Brainstorm? More like a Crackpots’ Charter.

Have you read it? If not, you must try and catch up with it. But be warned. Strap yourself in a chair first, otherwise you might fall over laughing. Make sure you have control of your faculties, otherwise you might develop lockjaw in open-mouthed incredulity.

Are these really the thoughts of the team working for racing’s trade paper? If so, I wonder if Racing For Change ought to be re-named Racing Post For Change.

The whole point of RFC is to help prepare racing for the future. To move forward. Yet the ‘Racing Post’ want to move the Derby BACK to a Wednesday (that old chestnut) when most people can’t go to it or watch it. They want to introduce lunchtime racing to satisfy people in betting shops, completely ignoring the fact that, as online, text and phone betting grows, the demand for betting shops is diminishing. And in an unbelievably patronising swipe at the racegoers of the future, they say “the gap between races is far too long for the youth of today”.

Wrongly, they say racecourse staff are “old school and need to be trained in proper customer-service”. Wrongly, they claim that racecards “contain little that is illuminating”. Wrongly, they say no-one cares where a horse has been bred, so this information should be withheld from racegoers.

And there’s more.

They say racegoers should be allowed to take what they like on to a racecourse once they’ve paid their entrance fee, including all the booze they can muster. They say trainers should be fined for refusing to speak to the media. And they describe the paddock as “random horses plodding brownly around”, which is not “particularly informative or interesting”.

No, I’m not making it up. Yes, these are the views of people who work for the ‘Racing Post’.

Dress codes on racetracks get a battering too, with support from one of the paper’s flagship columnists, David Ashforth, who describes them as “a quick and easy way to inform young people that racing is stuck in the past”. What utter twaddle.

Now I am ambivalent towards dress codes. I can take them or leave them. And I am happy to allow racegoers to choose to wear what they like. But to suggest that young people are put off going racing by them or, as Ashforth claims, they are being turned away at the gates, is palpably untrue. What Ashforth, himself hardly a dedicated follower of fashion, should be reminded of is that young people care more about their attire and appearance than any other age category -- and that even persuades them sometimes to wear a collar and tie or suit. Indeed the idea of a day out at the races is enhanced for many young people by the thought of dressing up.

Ashforth also produces his own “12-point plan to help us showcase the sport” -- a list so naïve and simplistic in its tone that suggests he badly lacks business and commercial acumen.

Mind you, that weakness was exposed a few years ago when he argued vehemently against the creation of two separate TV channels dedicated to racing and insisted that a subscription channel like Racing UK could not possibly succeed. Oh dear. A spectacular misjudgement, if ever there has been one.

Needless to say, Ashforth was joined in the ridiculing of RFC’s ten initiatives by Alastair Down, whose predictably depressing cynicism found a companion this time in knee-jerk neurosis.

Thankfully, racing is slowly warming to the idea that Down no longer reflects or represents the opinions of the majority within the sport. And I am encouraged that RFC is, commendably, ploughing on without reference to his input or, indeed, that of his ‘Post’colleagues.

Little wonder when Down says the reservations of the Professional Jockeys’ Association should not be considered amid the plans to televise stewards’ inquiries but rather “they should be told it is going to happen”. Ah, so we should return to the days of antagonism, conflict and division, should we? Forget the fact that racing is made up of many, many different groups who represent many, many different interests and just ride roughshod over them?

Fortunately, the BHA, under the leadership of chairman Paul Roy and chief executive Nic Coward, favours a more modern, enlightened approach. An approach of positivity and consensus that puts the sport first. And an approach that is reflected accurately in the progress so far of the Racing For Change enterprise.

All interested parties have been consulted. RFC has trod carefully and diplomatically. And there isn’t a rational racegoer, or columnist, in the land who can argue against its first list of proposals announced this week.

More will come in time. But I strongly suspect that, as its members have delved deep into racing’s soul over the past few months, they have found what many of us hoped they would find. Namely that there is little fundamentally wrong with our great sport. Yes, there are areas that need tweaking and bringing up to date. But the suggestion that the public are turning their back on the sport is thoroughly false. The sport simply needs to connect and communicate better with that public. To market and promote better the massive assets it possesses. And such a philosophy will be best achieved by positivity and consensus, the buzzwords RFC should adopt to spearhead their strategy.

I leave the final word to the RFC chairman, Chris McFadden, to whom the likes of Down, Ashforth and the authors of the Crackpots’ Charter are clearly reluctant to listen.

McFadden said this week: “British horseracing is the envy of the racing world with our abundance of outstanding horses, trainers and jockeys, as well as a host of first-class racetracks.

“What has encouraged us during our research and consultation stages of the project is that, fundamentally, there is little wrong with racing as an entertainment, leisure and betting medium.

“What it requires is a clearer structure and better presentation of its strengths -- its drama, spectacle and heritage, as well as its equine and human stars.

“What we need to do is promote the sport in a way that makes it relevant to a much bigger audience.

“Most thriving, customer-facing organisations, having got their core product right, build on their success by doing hundreds of small things consistently well. This is what racing must set out to achieve.”

Sport has an insatiable desire to compare stars and heroes of different generations.

Hence the current great debate that is keeping us awake during the Big Freeze -- ARKLE versus KAUTO STAR.

Fascinating though the debate is, it is also ultimately frustrating because there can be no definitive answer. Too much of the evidence is subjective.

Kauto undoubtedly heads the market. His Star is in the ascendancy. The fresher in the memory a contestant is, the more likely he or she is to be judged favourably. Similarly, the reputations of heroes of yesteryear tend to be enhanced with the passing of time. Tales get embellished and exaggerated.

However I find it encouraging that even though Arkle strutted his stuff almost 50 years ago, there are still legions of racing people queueing up to defend his prowess.

And although training practices, riding styles and health and fitness regimes have changed so radically since the days of Himself, it is hard to argue against the view of Paddy Woods, Arkle’s work-rider, that “Kauto Star cannot remotely be considered in the same league until he gives good horses two-and-a-half stone in a handicap and beats them”.

What IS argued against such a view is that Kauto Star has no reason to go down the handicap route to underline his greatness. Possibly. But it is the route that has endeared us all to DENMAN and until Friday March 19 at least, there will be those who ask how Kauto can even be compared to Arkle when he’s not even the best horse in his stable!

Notwithstanding Kauto Star’s amazing performance at Kempton on Boxing Day and his astonishing versatility, the statistics tell us Arkle was the better jumper who boasted a better strike-rate.

It's going to be a while yet until the snow and ice relents. Carry on arguing!

Sod’s Law dictated that while I chose not to travel to Cheltenham on New Year’s Day because of the risky weather, and the meeting was on, I chose to set off for Sandown yesterday, only to be forced to turn round just after 10 am.

Amid the raft of recent abandonments, much has, quite rightly, been made of the brave decisions by the likes of Cheltenham and Chepstow to race. I’m not sure the same could be said of Sandown.

From the start of the week, the vibes emanating from clerk of the course Andrew Cooper were negative. And even though he admitted, on New Year’s Day, that they could have raced that afternoon, he remained unduly gloomy about prospects for the following day, simply because of the weather forecast for that night. As it happened, the frost was not as bad as predicted, yet the meeting was still off.

When the sport sits in the lap of the weather gods, as it does at present, I feel there has to be a collective will and determination to race if at all possible. This was shown, admirably, by both Cheltenham and Chepstow. But I am not sure Sandown followed their example. OK, I accept that they could only deploy frost-covers on part of the course. But Cooper hardly sent out the right signals when he started talking about re-scheduling the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle long, long before Friday night’s weather had materialised and long, long before the track’s first inspection yesterday morning.

The upshot of my decision on January 1 and Cooper’s on January 2 meant I had to resort to the TV -- with contrasting results.

Yesterday, only the poor all-weather action got in the way of fascinating chats among Channel 4 luminaries such as Ted Walsh, Jim McGrath, John Francome and John McCririck on issues that included the great debate of the moment -- ARKLE or KAUTO STAR?

But on New Year’s Day, Channel 4 itself got on the way of Racing UK’s terrific steer through the bizarre and unprecedented events that unfurled at frost-hit Cheltenham.

Presumably because of contractual obligations, RUK used Channel 4’s camera coverage of the most of the races. Now I have heard many racing people complain about this before, particularly at Cheltenham, but I hadn’t fully realised how off-putting it was -- namely the production team’s obsession with close-up shots and low, almost ground-level angles. To those of you who watch racing from the track regularly on Channel 4, I have to say: how on earth do you put up with it? After 25 races at the Festival, your head must be spinning with dizziness!

The over-reliance on close-up shots came to a head in the big Grade Three handicap when all we witnessed of the fourth last was the leader, MISTER MCGOLDRICK, jumping it. The significant melee in behind, which saw FIT TO DRIVE fall and I’M SO LUCKY and the ill-fated HOLD ‘EM brought down, was missed completely!

As for the low angles, viewers needed expert knowledge of the configuration of the track to realise, half the time, exactly where the horses were in their respective races. The policy, for instance, failed hopelessly to convey the drama of Cheltenham’s unique, long descent to the home turn. For all the New Year’s Day TV layman knew, the hill did not exist!

Of course, I note that Channel 4 has won many an award for its coverage of racing. But the need to impress judges who seek arty innovation should not get in the way of presenting a straightforward overview of a race as it develops. Let’s have less of the self-indulgence. Use the pictures as simple tools that enable the viewers to see and assess all that is happening.

It might be New Year’s Day but I have two belated Christmas presents to hand out.

The first is to Chepstow for their brave decision to wait until the very last moment for the weather to ease, allowing them to race on Welsh Grand National Day.

The decision kept quiet the fully-paid-up members of the Illogical Brigade who reckon that courses should abandon with their first morning inspection, or even the day before, if the weather or weather forecast is suspect. As I said a few days ago, it is far preferable that courses give it a go, rather than give up the ghost.

My second Christmas box is reserved for Racing UK, who rode to the rescue amid the unsavoury row about the re-scheduling of the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle and agreed to show most of the card at Newbury on Tuesday for free.

As you are probably aware, this followed criticism from the Channel 4 crew, led of course by Alastair Down in his ‘Racing Post’ column, for not switching the event to today’s meeting at Cheltenham, which is covered by the channel.

Rather than slate the BHA for their perfectly reasonable decision to run the Long Walk at Newbury, Down and Co would have been better employed in 1) making clear their vested interests and 2) asking themselves why Channel 4 were not prepared to televise a Newbury card that already contained a superb Grade One (the Challow Novice Hurdle), nor for that matter the excellent fare at Kempton last Saturday.

And before anyone suggests this might have upset the Channel 4 schedules, do you realise what they were showing instead when the Long Walk was being run? A modest film called ‘Dreamer’ about a mission to save an injured racehorse and enter him in the Breeders‘ Cup!

It all adds up to more evidence of the Channel 4 tail wagging the big racing dog.

I have met the larger-than-life owners of hardy staying hurdler POWERSTATION, so I was glad to see they were at the track for his gritty victory in the Grade Two 3m hurdle at Leopardstown on Monday.

Otherwise they just might have been tempted to consult a solicitor to supplement their winnings after watching At The Races and hearing Matt Chapman describe the horse as “ a rogue” and ask: “How on earth has he won that?”


To put the record straight, this ‘rogue’ has now run 35 times in Jumps races and made the frame in no fewer than 24 of them. He has also been placed in top-class company THREE times at the Cheltenham Festival.


If that is not enough to answer Chapman’s question about the validity of his plucky victory, how about the fact that, on adjusted official ratings, he was best in for the race?

Spellbinding is the only word I can come up with to accurately describe KAUTO STAR’S latest King George triumph yesterday.

As the race unfurled on TV, I watched, open-mouthed, at the comfort with which he travelled, at the majesty with which he jumped and the ruthless way in which he put his final seal on the race from the second last.

It was the complete steeplechasing performance and all the plaudits that have been afforded the horse since, even the exaggerated ones, are thoroughly deserved.

I have been flirting with a dodgy notion that his King Georges over the last four years have all rather fallen apart for him. Opponents, some not the greatest anyway, have performed well below par on the big day. But I have concluded that the main reason his rivals have melted away so readily is because Kauto is so far superior. His dominance of the race has been awesome and as much as I remain in awe of DESERT ORCHID, I feel I must ask the great grey to move along a seat at the top table.

Once the Christmas and New Year holiday is over, we turn into the home stretch and begin the run to the winning post that is the Cheltenham Festival in March, Please God that Kauto Star and DENMAN, two of the best horses we have been privileged to enjoy, arrive there fit, healthy and raring to tackle the shootout showdown to beat them all.

So this is Christmas?………

Nah!

Like all racing fanatics, I know that Christmas falls on a Tuesday in March.

When the adrenaline of excitement is pumping. When the rush of anticipation is coursing through the veins. When you make that trek up the hill of Evesham Road, cross New Barn Lane and you come face to face with the amphitheatre of dreams. When it dawns on you that, ahead, lie four days of a rich, heady cocktail of magnificent sport and wonderful craic, unsurpassed at any other event in the world.

December 25 means just one thing. There are only 80 days to the Cheltenham Festival!

Memorably, when Kempton Park staged a race this summer to the backdrop of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing the ‘William Tell Overture’, Ryan Moore described the stunt as “f***ing stupid”.

Similarly, when Kempton announced plans to hand out cards showing the number ‘4’ to racegoers on Boxing Day so they could brandish them, cricket-style, after Kauto Star’s fourth King George triumph, Paul Nicholls was witheringly dismissive.

Both Moore and Nicholls are right. As I’ve said before, innovation and new ideas are fine, providing they improve the racing experience and persuade people to come back for more.

But cheap, silly, shallow gimmicks do not impress anyone. Least of all our champion Flat jockey and champion Jumps trainer.

It has become irritating and tiresome that whenever a high-profile meeting suffers a late abandonment, there must be a debate, a fall-out and an unsavoury hunt for a scapegoat.

Haydock Park have been pilloried in some quarters for the manner in which their card was called off on Saturday. In my view, they should be praised for making such a big effort to race.

Unlike Ascot, whose abandonment as early as Friday morning was a no-brainer because of several inches of snow at the track, Haydock had a chance.

OK, in the end, as daytime temperatures failed to rise, they were victims of nature, not to mention an inaccurate weather-forecast. And OK, many racegoers might have made fruitless journeys to the Newton-le-Willows venue.

But those critics demanding earlier abandonment-decisions are guilty of irrational poppycock because there are occasions when the weather must be given the chance to improve. And on such occasions, racegoers aren’t stupid. They know they are running a risk in travelling. I know. I’ve done it often enough. And when I’ve had to turn round again, after a wasted trek, my anger is always vented on the British climate, rather than the racecourse.

Put it this way. Which would you rather have? A track that gives it a go or one that gives up the ghost?

Exactly.

The abandonments at Ascot this weekend represents bad enough news. Two lovely cards were in prospect at a track that is consistently serving up quality, competitive Jumps fare at the moment.

But equally depressing is the disclosure by champion trainer Paul Nicholls that two of his best young novice-chasers, MICHEL LE BON and PRIDE OF DULCOTE, will miss the rest of the season after picking up knocks. Both were extremely impressive on their fencing debuts.

All in all, a stark reminder of two of the massive drawbacks of National Hunt racing -- the weather and injuries.

I had a curious call from Racing UK last night.

Ostensibly it was to check my personal details (e-mail address etc) for 2010. Turns out that it was really a surreptitious ruse to wish me a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Fair enough, I thought. Good bit of customer relations. But by the time I had lodged my regular complaint about his company charging me an extra fiver, on top of the £20 monthly subscription, just because I’ve got a second telly upstairs, the call had lasted seven minutes. And I mused that if they can afford to make a seven-minute phone call to all 30,000 of their subscribers, just to wish them a good Christmas, they can surely do without the extra fiver.

It didn’t help that the call coincided with a rare example of poor value for money from Racing UK on that very night.

Diehard viewers will know that they have taken to presenting all-weather evening racing from the studio. An anchorman and an analyst invite e-mails from viewers that provoke opinion and debate. And often, it can lead to some interesting chat.

Last night, the duo in the hot seats were Olly Bell and Angus McNae. I’ve nothing against Bell. He’s young and learning the game and does well. Generally speaking, I’ve nothing against McNae either. He has an annoying habit of punctuating most sentences with at least one ‘er’ but as a presenter, he’s a reliable guide.

Unfortunately, last night, Racing UK tried him in the analyst’s seat -- and the result was the most appalling display imaginable. He offered either opinions so wishy-washy that they weren’t worth the air-time or he fudged it altogether, thanks to either a glaring lack of knowledge or a glaring lack of homework, or possibly both.

The nadir came during a discussion on the merits of ZAYNAR’S victory in the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham last Saturday when he was given a bit of a scare by CAPE TRIBULATION. McNae doubted Zaynar‘s Champion Hurdle credentials, especially as he “wasn‘t convinced that Cape Tribulation stays two-a-and-a-half miles“, given that his best form last season was over the minimum trip.

For a horse who doesn’t stay two-and-a-half miles, Cape Trib did remarkably well to win a Grade Two novice hurdle over THREE MILES at Doncaster in January.

Surely, when you're paying £25 a month, you're entitled to expect McNae to know that.

Those who lambast the BBC for supposedly shunning racing were made to feel a bit daft by the ‘Sports Personality Of The Year’ show on Sunday night.

For racing got more than a fair hearing. A round-up of the season was followed by an imaginative piece on the majesty of SEA THE STARS. What’s more, the in-house trailer that followed the show, advertising the sporting ‘crown jewels’ that the Beeb intend to cover in 2010, made it clear that events like the Grand National, the Derby and Royal Ascot hold very prominent places in their portfolio.

Technology. Don’t you just love it?

As regular readers might have noticed, TURFBLOG has been censored in recent days. Not by Alastair Down or Matt Chapman’s lawyers but by the dreaded phrase, Domain Name Server Down. Or DNSD, as the IT boys like to call it.

The technical hitch, as most of us like to call it, has severely restricted access to the column. I have been unable to post any TURFBLOG entries since Thursday and I was even unable to pass on my TIP OF THE DAY earlier today. Incidentally, although you have every right not to believe me, it was SHINROCK PADDY, the 7/2 winner of the Grade One novice hurdle at Navan.

As for this column, my enforced absence from the world wide web has prevented me passing on all kinds of uplifting equine experiences. Not least two wonderful days at Cheltenham, bolstered by the fact that I won bucketloads of money.

But most galling of all is that it has prevented me passing comment on yet another superb column by Laura Thompson, the doyenne of racing writers, in Thursday’s ‘Racing Post’.

I yield to no-one in my admiration of Thompson. I never thought anyone could replace the late, great Jeffrey Bernard but she is on her way, and it is a crime that more use is not made of her talent. Like Bernard, she writes with a unique style, cutting wit and ruthless poignancy that you cannot help but admire, even if you don‘t agree with her views (which I nearly always do). Her love of racing and, in particular, her love of the horse, shines radiantly through her every piece.

On Thursday, she spoke up for Flat racing, reasoning quite rightly that it has taken too much stick in recent times from the pro-jumping brigade, despite a vintage campaign in 2009. In fact, they are not the pro-jumping brigade. In my eyes, only two brigades in the sport -- the pro-racing brigade and the anti-Flat brigade. And how Thompson rips into the latter .

I cannot do justice to the column in this humble blog. But please try and catch up with it if you’ve not already seen it.

In many ways, it is sad that Thompson’s riposte is required and that yet more division threatens the sport at a time when bodies like the BHA and the Racecourse Association are offering positive, unified leadership. But as I said a few days ago, a concerted, poisonous campaign to drive a wedge between Flat racing and Jumps racing, as if they are two different sports, is under way and cannot go unchallenged for much longer.

As Thompson so cleverly puts it: “The critics want Flat racing’s mysterious magic to resolve itself into something simple, into a concept as readily graspable as the clash of two warriors (Kauto Star and Denman) at Cheltenham. If they can’t do that, by somehow manipulating the shape of the season, then, what the hell, they’ll just invite Susan Boyle and Dizzee Rascal to serenade us before the Derby.”

Tell Laura, I love her!

One good thing to emerge from the Channel 4 cuts (SEE YESTERDAY'S ENTRY)  is the removal of Alastair Down from their Flat racing coverage.

Down’s style and demeanour have never been ideally suited to TV. But through his ‘Racing Post’ columns, his disdain for the Flat has shone through alarmingly in recent times. So for him to front major meetings on the level sits uncomfortably with many racing followers. Just as Down sits atop the throne of negativity and division.

At a time when racing should be pulling together in a positive fashion, he spearheads the media campaign to drive a wedge between Flat racing and the Jumps game, as if they are two different sports. He was at it again yesterday when declaring that Flat racing “is in serious trouble in terms of public appeal”. Oh really, Alastair? Says who? Where is the evidence?

Thank goodness the racing authorities are alive to the fact that too much personal opinion is being passed off as fact by cynics in the racing media. It is high time, though, the BHA and all true lovers and guardians of racing began to aggressively challenge such personal opinion, which is in danger of poisoning the sport.

Given that Channel 4 Racing is propped up, financially, by the Levy Board and Dubai, I am flabbergasted that more has not been made of the revelation that they are to slash £800,000 a year from their budget.

£800,000 of whose money, would that be exactly? The punters’? Or Sheikh Mohammed’s?

When you consider that Sky Sports fork out millions for the privilege of covering Premier League football, Channel 4’s decision really brings home the extraordinary pickle racing finds itself in with regard to terrestrial TV coverage.

The sport is paying the channel £3 million to cover racing. Yet it allows the channel to continue to dictate how and where that money should be spent, while racing continues to kowtow to the channel’s every whim.

Take this Saturday at Cheltenham, for example. I note that the two flagship hurdle races, the Boylesports International (the Bula) and the Relkeel, have been moved to the last slots on the card to accommodate Channel 4. Which means that two of the chases must be staged earlier and run the risk of being reduced to farce because of the omission of fences, caused by low sun.

It is a classic tale of the tail wagging the dog. And yet while it is going on under our noses, the industry’s trade paper, the ‘Racing Post’ wants us to support a campaign slagging off the BBC for its coverage of the sport.

Given that the Beeb pay a whopping £2.5 million to racing to cover 13 ‘crown jewel’ days and would willingly pay a lot, lot more to take meetings like the Cheltenham Festival, the Guineas meeting and Champions Day off Channel 4’s hands, such a campaign is absolutely bonkers. Indeed we must thank our lucky stars the BBC has not told racing to shove it, full stop.

There is a pleasing postscript to the praise I gave Newbury for their Winter Festival. For the official attendance figures, which have now been released, show that crowds were up on last year by more than 1,000 over the three days -- to an aggregate total of 28,366.

Of course, the success of a meeting should not be measured on attendance alone but, in the midst of a recession, the figures do suggest that Newbury got its marketing, branding and innovative thinking spot-on.

They also suggest that the track’s managing director Stephen Higgins should not tinker too much with the race programme for the three days. Although a seventh race would be welcome on the Friday, the Grade Two novice chases he is threatening to axe, because of small turnouts, should surely stay in place. It was interesting to note that, like Newbury, Sandown’s big novice chase yesterday, the Henry VIII Chase won by SOMERSBY, also attracted only four runners . But there were no moans from the track’s director racing, Andrew Cooper. Indeed the race was a fine example of how a small field can yield a thriller, as three jumped the last in line.

Cooper also deserves credit for accepting that the Tingle Creek card as a whole needs bolstering -- probably by a handicap hurdle that punters and bookies alike can get their teeth into. As I mentioned in yesterday’s Tip Of The Day synopsis, the field for the once-prestigious 2m handicap hurdle was little short of deplorable. Cooper held his hands up and confessed this was probably caused by a huge drop in prize money. He aims to get it back to £50,000 for next year.

Outside of Liverpool, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a three-day meeting as much as Newbury’s Winter Festival last week.

Of course, the highlight was DENMAN’S mesmeric triumph in the Hennessy. But it wasn’t all about the ‘Return Of The Beast‘.

Over all three days, not only was the racing competitive and compelling, it was also clear that the hard work Newbury had put in to the branding and marketing of the event had paid rich dividends.

Numerous side-attractions, such as music, entertainment, trade stands, competitions and an imaginative link-up with the Mayfair nightspot Mahiki helped to create a real sense of occasion for racegoers.

And they were side-attractions that complemented the racing, rather than impinging on it. Unlike that famous afternoon in the summer when the track plonked a stage halfway up the home straight (for a Simply Red concert later in the day) that blocked the view from the stands of a couple of furlongs of the action!

One of the most successful innovations was the unleashing of the ubiquitous Derek Thompson as ‘master of ceremonies’ for the racing on Hennessy Day. Live from the paddock all afternoon, via the course’s PA system, Thommo and a steady stream of guests set the scene and knitted the action together in a supremely professional, engaging and entertaining way that appealed to regular racegoers and novice punters alike. Say what you like about the ‘Big Fella’, but he has few peers in such a field and did Newbury proud.

The highlight for Thompson, of course, was the return to the paddock/winner’s enclosure of the mighty Denman after the big race. Eliciting the instant thoughts of master trainer Paul Nicholls, astounded jockey Ruby Walsh and ludicrously incongruous ‘Odd Couple’ owners Harry Findlay and Paul Barber, he helped to encapsulate the sights, the sounds and emotions that created a truly rare ‘I Was There’ day.

The horse stole the show, though. And the significance of this should not be lost on Newbury managing director Stephen Higgins who, in the wake of the Simply Red fiasco, made the startling admission that “racing alone is not always enough to drive attendances”.

Oh yes it is, Stephen, when the racing is as good as this. When, on your doorstep, you have a horse like Denman, waving the punters through the gates with every stride he devours of Newbury’s long home straight.

In some cynical quarters it already is, but I feel it cannot be underestimated what a phenomenal performance Denman produced last Saturday. It wasn’t the carrying of top weight that was so special. It was the fact that he was burdened with a mammoth handicap-mark of 174 after a year plagued by serious heart-problems and topped by a crashing fall at Aintree in April.

They say sportsmen never come back. They say it with more frequency about racehorses. So from which reserves of miraculous fortitude did Denman rediscover that rhythmic ruthlessness he has made his own?

The return of Denmania was the coup de grace that Newbury deserved for their heroic efforts in raising the profile of the Winter Festival to a point where they can seriously think of competing against Cheltenham’s Open meeting for the high spot of the pre-Christmas racing schedule.

What a pity then that it was soured only by another depressing, downbeat comment by Higgins -- this time about the low turnout for the meeting’s Grade Two novice chases, which were the showpiece events of each of the opening two days.

Expressing worry and disappointment about each race attracting only four runners is one thing. But threatening to bring the axe down on the contests, which Higgins has done, is entirely another. And entirely wrong.

Both races have a history of small fields. But equally, they have a history of unearthing quality. Yes, it would be preferable if they were more competitive but on balanced cards, they have a valuable role to play in the development of potential. And I firmly believe that racegoers are quite happy to put up with them if they witness the rising talent of stars of the future.

The terrific displays of PUNCHESTOWNS and MICHEL LE BON certainly fitted that bill last week. Joining an illustrious roll-call from the two races that reads like a who’s who of high-class steeplechasers.

The likes of BARTON BANK, GLORIA VICTIS, JAIR DU COCHET and BACCHANAL are novice chasers who cut their teeth at Newbury’s Hennessy meeting.

Oh, and one other, I almost forgot. In 2006, a horse called……. Denman.

Racing yearns for its superstars to fly the flag for the sport. And last Saturday, Denman underlined how he shares top-billing for that role.

But let us not forget that he had to learn his trade somewhere. And that somewhere three years ago was one of the novice chases that Stephen Higgins, beneficiary of all that was good about racing last week, is proposing to scrap.

He bemoans the “very, very difficult job” he has in selling four-runner races to sponsors. But if he truly understands and embraces the fabric of jumps racing, it should be easy.

If he’s still struggling, all he needs to do is get out the recording of the Hennessy Gold Cup Handicap Steeplechase, Saturday November 28 2009, take a deep breath and marvel at it one more time.

Mahiki? Nice gimmick. Denman? The real thing.

So Tom Segal, of the ‘Racing Post’, thinks yesterday’s Hennessy was not a good race.

For those of you who, like me, are scratching their heads in disbelief, let me help you with the relevant statistics.

The race contained two Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, two former Hennessy winners, a Grand National winner, an Irish Grand National winner, four other Cheltenham Festival winners and the winners of 26 other Graded races.

Now correct me if I’m wrong. But in this day and age, for a staying handicap chase, that’s just about as good as it gets.

Never mind Cheltenham’s Open meeting. The Jumps season truly came alive yesterday with a string of magnificent races and performances at Haydock and Ascot.

It was a day when class counted. Sometimes, as punters/tipsters, we over-complicate the pursuit of winners, seeking hidden imponderables that were never there in the first place. And the performances of the likes of KAUTO STAR, DIAMOND HARRY and ZAYNAR and, to a lesser extent, ALBERTA’S RUN and SHINING GALE, underlined that it’s far better to concentrate on sheer quality. It will always out in the end.

I thought Diamond Harry and Zaynar were breathtaking. In fact, I doubt we will see better displays all winter. And yet, who can be sure which races they’ll end up in at the Cheltenham Festival?

The seasonal bow of Nicky Henderson’s grey underlined why I flagged him up for the Champion Hurdle in Upping The Ante. I honestly believe the form of last year’s race will be left behind and that the 2010 Champion will be between Zaynar and SOLWHIT.

Very perturbing to see the introduction of two new but weak and inconsequential handicap hurdles on Ascot’s card today.

I know Ascot have been worried about a shortage of runners at their jumps meetings in recent years. Is this the start of a dumbing-down process in a bid to attract more?

If so, it’s a misguided move and one not worthy of one of our top tracks.

Amid the tiresome Flat racing v Jumps racing debate, propagated by the ‘Racing Post’, at the whim of Alastair Down, one of the leading arguments is that the National Hunt game is more progressive, more enlightened, more in tune with what the public want.

Yesterday that was exposed as a myth, if not a downright lie.

The ‘Post’, bless its cotton socks, ran a piece on the prospect of 48-hour declarations for Jumps racing, which included the views of several top trainers.

Rarely have I read a collection of such self-serving, blinkered opinions, completely oblivious of the good the move would bestow on punters.

Nicky Henderson, Philip Hobbs, Nigel Twiston-Davies, Charlie Mann, you name them. All lined up to condemn the proposal with illogical, short-sighted arguments that revolved entirely around their own personal inconveniences. To hell with racing as a whole.

To balance the piece, the ‘Post’ also trotted out the views of local evening newspapers, who underlined how crazy it is during the winter that in their Friday editions, for instance, they are able to publish, by deadline, the final decs for Saturday’s Flat all-weather cards but not the jumps cards. Frustrated readers bombard their offices with complaints. The papers, quite rightly, blame the racing authorities for being unable to release the runners and riders to them in time.

How can racing possible benefit from such an anomaly? Quite simply, if punters cannot access the runners, their enthusiasm will wane. I accept that, in this day and age of rapidly evolving media technology, the public do not rely only on their evening papers for racing information. But as I said in this blog a few days ago, it is an irresistible fact that the longer the final declarations for any race, any meeting are in the public domain (via whatever platform), the greater the potential for stimulating interest among punters, either through having a bet, actually going to the meeting or simply having a chat down the pub, over the phone or on an online forum.

Of course, as the jumps trainers pointed out, we run the risk of an increased number of non-runners. But invariably, that is caused by late going-changes because of the weather. And given the sheer unpredictability of the weather in this country, there is just as much possibility of that happening on the night before a race or even on the morning of a race as there is 48 hours in advance.

I have spoken to Nick Attenborough, the new PR director for the Racing For Change initiative, about this and I know he is strongly in favour of bringing the Jumps into line with the Flat on 48-hour decs. I wish him well in the onerous task of persuading our stick-in-the-mud training brigade.

I read in the ‘Racing Post’ the other day observations from a reader about the deteriorating state of some of the facilities and stands at Cheltenham.

I agree. They’re stuck in the 80s and 90s. It can’t be long now before a major facelift is announced.

I suspect that many punters and professionals are resigned to the same but daren’t speak out too loudly in case the facelift they get is a monstrosity of Ascot proportions.

Whenever it happens, the task of coming up with a plan that suits all and protects the hallowed venue of the greatest sporting Festival on earth is going to be a monumental one.

Was it me imagining things amid a series of losers or was the buzz missing from Cheltenham’s Open meeting last weekend?

Maybe it was because the weather was so bad. Maybe it was because crowds were down (haven’t read that in the ‘Racing Post’….oh no, silly me, of course not, it’s jumps racing). Maybe it’s because the Irish raiding party wasn’t as strong as in previous years. Maybe it was the recession. But something was definitely lacking.

Yes, the victory of WELL CHIEF helped to raise the spirits and pump up the atmosphere on Sunday. But there’s no doubt that the quality and strength of depth of the cards was not what we have come to expect from the Open.

The turnout for two of the three novice chases was desperate and too many of the handicaps were ordinary. I can’t remember Paddy Power Gold Cup day serving up worse fare than Saturday’s card and I am beginning to despair about how much longer we must endure the wildly uncompetitive cross-country dross.

I know I have a bee in my bonnet about six-race cards. But this was another example of how they fail to provide true value for money, unless they are enriched from top to bottom. As things stand in the British racing calendar, only the Cheltenham Festival itself and Royal Ascot are blessed with sufficient quality to get away with just six races per day.

Every year I promise myself not to get involved with the Tote Ten To Follow competition for the jumps season.

It’s not that I don’t like the competition. It’s fantastic. It’s just that failure, barring an unfeasible amount of luck, which you need to win it, depresses me beyond belief! I also reckon the competition affects your betting judgement during the season in that you tend to remain too loyal to the horses in your lists.

However every year I succumb. Last year, it was as late as ten minutes to 12 midday on the first day of the Open meeting when I rang my lists through on my mobile amid a cacophony of noise in O’Neill’s pub at Montpellier in Cheltenham!

The truth of the matter is that the competition is irresistible. So I have burned the midnight oil this week trying to produce the names of ten horses that could change my life!

I am peeved and stunned that two of Ireland’s most promising jumpers, VOLER LA VEDETTE and TREACLE, are not even available to be chosen. But as I write, miraculously, I have whittled down my choices to these 16 animals……

BIG BUCK’S, BIG ZEB, CASEY JONES, COOLDINE, DUNGUIB, HURRICANE FLY, KAUTO STAR, KILLYGLEN, KNOCKARA BEAU, MASTER MEDIC, NOTRE PERE, SHINING GALE, SOLWHIT, TAROTINO, THE TOTHER ONE and ZAYNAR.

Now how many lists do I need to accommodate all options?……..Aaaargh!

In Friday’s blog, I touched on the “wonderful” coverage of the Breeders’ Cup by the US TV networks. So it was pleasing to read in yesterday’s ‘Racing Post’ confirmation of my view from columnist Rodney Masters.

I quote……”A US television sports producer must have noted that President Obama’s speeches are refreshingly unobstructed by soundbites and verbosity. ESPN’s coverage of the Breeders’ Cup adopted a similar strategy, and it created the perfect blend for the racing regular and non-specialist viewer, a delicate balance.

“A thoroughly professional presentation, with an array of novel and easy-to-understand graphics, their Santa Anita team was enhanced by our own Nick Luck.

“He skilfully filled in snippets of information for the US audience in the European challenge, including a precis of the Fallon story and the Conduit death threat……..”

I couldn’t have put it better myself. I wonder if Matt Chapman, of At The Races, took note. Or are we lumbered with his irrational, immature ejaculations and outrageous criticisms and exaggerations for ever more?

So there goes another Flat season riding off into the sunset.

An excellent one too, in my view. Watching the breathtaking performance by ZENYATTA in the final race at Santa Anita on Saturday night, only one regret crossed my mind. SEA THE STARS really should have been there.

With Cheltenham‘s superb Open meeting on the horizon, it won‘t take long to switch fully into jumps mode. In fact, I’ve just received the track’s pre-meeting magazine, which they send out every year to members. Talk about whetting the appetite!

Watching Johnny Murtagh floundering on LILLIE LANGTRY at the Breeders’ Cup on Friday night saved me lots of money yesterday.

For I was suddenly hit by vivid flashbacks from last year when Murtagh encountered all sorts of problems at the same Santa Anita track on fancied mounts from the Aidan O’Brien yard.

Those problems surfaced again on an awful second day for Ballydoyle when, incredibly, not one of their five top-notch runners was even placed. So I was relieved to have kept my ALFRED NOBEL, VISCOUNT NELSON and RIP VAN WINKLE money in my pocket.

Why is it that O’Brien horses do not seem to be suited to American racing? Many question their ability to hit the gates running. But question marks must surely be hovering over Murtagh now.

Argue all you like about the reasons for Ballydoyle’s record at the Breeders’ Cup. But the statistics don’t lie. O’Brien has saddled only four winners from 59 runners, while Murtagh has ridden three winners from 26 rides and only one for O‘Brien. By the time next year’s event comes round, Murtagh will have booted home only one winner in ten years -- and that was MAN OF IRON in the uncompetitive Marathon on Friday night, which ended a barren spell for the yard of six years and 28 runners. With the quality of ammunition Team Ballydoyle have had to fire, it is a record that bears no resemblance to their magnificent performances in the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe.

It all came to a head in the Breeders‘ Cup Dirt Mile last night with the defeat of hot favourite MASTERCRAFTSMAN in a weak renewal -- thanks largely to Murtagh failing hopelessly to keep the colt balanced as he made his challenge on the rail.

Contrast that to the wonderful ride, from a very similar position, given by Tom Queally on MIDDAY to win the Filles and Mares Turf on Friday. Tactically and technically, Queally’s judgement was spot-on -- and this in his first-ever Breeders’ Cup ride.

Mind you, Henry Cecil’s pilot cannot escape criticism. For 24 hours later, it was most unedifying to see his wildly excessive use of the whip on TWICE OVER in the Classic. I counted at least 20 fierce backhanders in the final two furlongs, which gave the horse no time to respond and would have landed him with a lengthy ban in this country.

Ryan Moore was similarly hard on CONDUIT in the Turf and while I accept that both were gunning for huge prizes, I will be surprised if the two horses don’t take a long time to recover from their experiences.

Add Murtagh’s shortcomings and the impression left from an entertaining weekend was that, Frankie Dettori and Olivier Peslier excepted, the American jockeys looked far more polished and effective than their European counterparts.

I must confess that the Breeders’ Cup is beginning to grow on me.

There was a time when I was totally indifferent to the end-of-season jamboree. Particularly because the racing surface, the time of year and the rules on medication loaded the dice against the European challengers. Why do we even bother going over there, I used to ask myself.

My prejudice was fuelled even further in 2007 when the great GEORGE WASHINGTON perished at muddy Monmouth Park. His death remains one of the saddest things I have seen on a racecourse.

However, times have changed. The racing world has moved on. And the temptation of global competition has become hard to resist.

I am still nervous about diving in to have a bet -- simply because I am not confident of my knowledge of American form. LILLIE LANGTRY, VISCOUNT NELSON, ALFRED NOBEL, CONDUIT and ZACINTO all appeal to me over the next two days but can I trust them to be finely tuned and acclimatised in alien surroundings at the end of a long and hard season?

Mind you, at least I’ll be glued in front of the TV, transfixed by the magnificent coverage provided by the US networks. Which is more than could be said of me a few years ago.

I still don’t think the Breeders’ Cup is the event worthy of the sycophancy afforded it in some quarters. And it is still not the definitive Europe v USA showdown. At The Races are even billing it as the World Thoroughbreds Championship. Pardon?!

But few can doubt that this weekend’s meeting at Santa Anita is a fascinating, irresistible occasion, providing a suitable tailpiece for our Flat season.

Let’s hope that the O’Brien, Stoute, Cecil and Godolphin camps can bring home a prize or two.

Want more evidence that you’re in the right game?

Consider this report prepared for the BHA and entitled Racing Together 2009. It reveals that racing does more work, and earns more money, for charities, communities and good causes than most other sports.

For example, more than 180 charity racedays have generated at least £1.8 million. Open days at trainers’ yards and racing centres have raised more than £700,000 for charity in the last ten years. Racecourse charitable trusts have donated more than £400,000 over the last six years.

Other activities include a Racing To School scheme, whereby more than 55,000 schoolchildren have been helped with their maths, literacy and science skills, plus a Horse Power scheme, whereby children with special needs learn life skills through interaction with horses. Also, youngsters in disadvantaged, inner-city areas are given access to horses, racing and riding as a tool for learning or the potential for employment.

Add to this the work done by rehabilitation centres for retired racehorses and the help given to former jockeys as they seek new careers and it is clear that the sport of racing is far from just a vehicle for gambling.

Full marks to the BHA and its admirable chief executive Nic Coward for bringing the report into the public domain. To read it all, go to britishhorseracing.com

Do I smell a rat or a red herring?

William Hill reckon they slashed the value of their sponsorship of the big handicap hurdle at Ascot on Saturday because the race was not afforded terrestrial TV coverage.

Oh really?

There was not a terrestrial TV camera in sight at Exeter today -- and yet who sponsored a card worth a whopping £133,000?

Yes, you’ve guessed it. The one and the same William Hill.

With only hours to go before the Melbourne Cup, Down Under, it seems an opportune time to mourn the loss to British racing of ALANDI.

A gritty, fast-improving stayer, John Oxx’s four-year-old won a high-class renewal of the Irish St Leger in the Curragh mud and followed up three weeks later, on very different ground, to deny the likes of Yeats and Kasbah Bliss in another Group One, the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp.

Indeed he looked the natural successor to Yeats and would have taken some stopping in the Ascot Gold Cup next summer.

Sadly Alandi won’t even be there because news has broken that he has been sold by owner the Aga Khan to race in Australia, with the primary aim of winning the Melbourne Cup in 2010.

Given that the staying division is desperately threadbare in this country at present, it is a terrible letdown. Unless Sir Michael Stoute can get PATKAI back on track, next year’s Royal Ascot showpiece could well be the weakest in living memory.

The common perception these days is that the National Hunt game is flourishing and has got its act together in every way, while Flat racing is in crisis.

Utter nonsense, of course. Jumps racing, while magnificent in the main, does have shortcomings to address. Such as too many six-race cards; such as the omission of fences because of low sun; such as the paucity of runners in too many of the decent races outside the Festivals; such as the unedifying sight of tired horses trudging through testing ground in slow-motion finishes; such as the diminishing identity and importance of too many big races through the winter because they are perceived as little more than trials for the Cheltenham Festival.

One area where the Flat is definitely ahead of the National Hunt game is that of 48-hour declarations.

Save for the grumbles of one or two trainers, 48-hour decs have been a godsend, particularly for punters. Preparing in advance matters so much, especially at weekends, so to be able to sit down for an hour or two’s study of Saturday’s Flat cards on a Thursday night, knowing exactly what’s going to run, has been bliss. The extra time has also been particularly valuable during the big week-long festivals, such as those at Royal Ascot, York and Goodwood.

Most of the major meetings over jumps between October and March are staged on Saturdays. So how annoying it is for most punters to have to wait until they return home from work on a Friday evening to find out what’s running. Especially when Friday means a night out for many.

The issue is brought into sharp focus at this time of year when the two codes collide. OK, the system is sometimes at the mercy of changes in weather, which can lead to non-runners. But that can happen with 24-hour decs too. In essence, as far as punters are concerned, the longer the cards are in the public domain beforehand, the more interest those punters are likely to show, which can only benefit the sport. So surely it makes sense to bring the jumps into the line with the Flat.

St Nicholas Abbey are the words on everyone’s lips as a humdinger of a Flat season draws to a close. Notwithstanding my comments of yesterday, déjà vu are two words also on mine.

For correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t we in similar awe after last season’s Racing Post Trophy, which was also won by a breathtaking performance from CROWDED HOUSE? And aren’t we getting it similarly wrong about the winner’s main target for 2010?

I have no doubt that St Nicholas Abbey will turn out to be a better three-year-old than Brian Meehan’s colt. But things might have been different if the latter had been prepared for the 2,000 Guineas, rather than the Derby. Because it was pure speed and an electric turn of foot that characterised Crowded House’s Doncaster win. Assets that cried out for him to be campaigned as a miler at three and assets that were also there for all to marvel at in the triumph of Aidan O‘Brien‘s colt four days ago.

The way he was ridden, the way he travelled and the way he picked up and quickened suggest the Guineas must surely be the first port of call for St Nicholas Abbey next spring.

Indeed I am a little surprised that more doubt has not been cast on his suitability for the Derby. OK, like Crowded House (by Rainbow Quest), he is by a rock-solid middle-distance sire in Montjeu, who has already produced the winners of two Epsom Derbies and three Irish versions. But like Crowded House, there is plenty of pace in the pedigree too, especially on the dam’s side. He himself is a brother of a miler, the grandsire was a miler and the dam is a half-sister to a high-class miler.

Yes, I know St Nicholas Abbey’s bloodline is laced with stamina too, featuring sons of the great Sadler’s Wells and the 1990 King George winner Belmez. But in such debates, I always defer to the evidence of my own eyes. Cast your mind back to Saturday. What did you see? Stamina or speed?

A mischievous thought has entered my head regarding the new superstar on the block, Racing Post Trophy winner ST NICHOLAS ABBEY.

Although they would never admit it in public, the Ballydoyle and Coolmore empire must have been hugely miffed to be upstaged by a fellow Irish trainer with SEA THE STARS this season, given the shedloads of money they throw at their admirable racing operation and given the fiercely competitive nature of it.

Most racing followers are in agreement that John Oxx’s colt is one of the greatest horses of all time. Many say he is the best they have ever seen.

And yet…… the decision to retire him now, shunning the Breeders’ Cup and shunning the chance to conquer the world as a four-year-old, having previously shunned the chance to land the Triple Crown, has left the door ajar.

The door ajar for someone to come along and to achieve something even better. To gobble up the same great races Sea The Stars won but also to take in the Breeders’ Cup, maybe even the St Leger along the way, and then to be kept in training to do it all over again.

Impossible? Maybe. But if anyone will be thinking about doing it, it will be O’Brien, Magnier, Tabor, Smith and Co. And the performance of St Nicholas Abbey at Doncaster on Saturday might just have persuaded them to think that little bit harder.

Congratulations to the ‘Racing Post’ on its new, all-colour look, unveiled yesterday.

I can’t decide whether it was genius or folly to announce a related price-increase on the day of its flagship race, the ‘Racing Post Trophy’. But the new look certainly gives the paper a polished, svelte appearance, in keeping with the enormous strides the ‘Post‘ , and its associated website, has made since the instalment of editor Bruce Millington.

There are aspects of the ‘Post’ that I find annoying. Notably many of its columnists and their over-eagerness, at times, to knock the sport. Indeed I feel its stable of columnists could do with an injection of fresh blood. More use should be made of the likes of Laura Thompson and Ian Carnaby, while Lee Mottershead deserves his own column and Dave Nevison and Lydia Hyslop would be welcome ‘new signings’.

Similar negativity often clouds the paper‘s news coverage too. Their current agenda is blighted by an apparent bid to draw a dividing line between Flat racing and jumps racing, which can only be counter-productive. And in the absence of any meaningful competition, the paper often assumes a misplaced, moral high-ground.

But on the whole, the assets of the ‘Post’ far outweigh its shortcomings. As a purveyor of information and statistics, it is a goldmine and unmissable for any serious punter or racing aficionado. The sport is truly blessed.

Tomorrow is a day for giving thanks for racing’s TV coverage.

It’s a day when the best of the end of the Flat season collides head-on with the best of the start of the jumps season.

I could, quite happily, scoot off to Aintree, Chepstow, Doncaster or Newbury -- and feast on a quality card. Instead I’m going to pull up the armchair, turn on the fire and park myself in front of the telly to feast on all four cards at once. Laptop or mobile phone close by in case I fancy a flutter.

I’m able to do this courtesy not only of Channel 4’s terrestrial coverage but also of two dedicated racing channels, both, by and large, slick, professional, informative and successful.

Is any other sport as fortunate as racing in this regard? Why, we even have a national daily newspaper devoted to the sport too.

So let’s stop bleating about the BBC’s attitude towards racing which, incidentally, is far more sensible than it is given credit for, and let’s remember, as AL ZIR storms home in the Racing Post Trophy, how lucky we are.

I only hope the afternoon isn’t spoiled by the forecast heavy rain. Or by Matt Chapman…….

Some racing journalists are so cocooned in their Press-box ivory towers that they lose sight of the real world.

Protocol prevents me from naming this one. But he was guilty of an incredible assertion in a recent column. Jumps racing, he said, has “lapped” Flat racing in terms of popularity because trainers, like Paul Nicholls, are more open with the Press and “punters up and down the country believe they get treated so much better through the winter months”.

This is patronising prattle. As if the average racegoer, when taking stock of where he might go racing this coming weekend, will choose Chepstow or Aintree, ahead of Doncaster or Newbury, because that naughty Sir Michael Stoute doesn’t talk to the Press very much.

Let’s expose this myth once and for all. While it would be preferable if all trainers spoke openly about their horses, it boils down to freedom of choice, not to mention obligations to owners, and cannot possibly be made mandatory. The real reason -- and here is the crux -- why some members of the Press fraternity bang on about it so much is, quite simply, because it would make their job far easier.

While on the subject of Press men, with depressing familiarity, Alan Lee, of ‘The Times’, yesterday criticised Champions’ Day at Newmarket because of its crowd figure of 12,500, which he branded “risible”.

In actual fact, such an attendance was perfectly satisfactory, compared to the average figure for the Rowley Mile and considering we are still gripped by recession. Furthermore, it was THREE times bigger than the average daily racecourse-attendance for 2009 and 2,500 higher than the number of signatures the ‘Racing Post’ attracted for its flawed and futile petition against the BBC, despite a rabid campaign.

The main point to make here, though, is that the obsession of Lee and others with measuring the success of meetings by their attendances has become glib, simplistic and misleading, particularly in the digital age, which provides so many platforms for following racing.

Unlike many other sports, such as football, a host of factors needs to be assessed. Not least the size of sponsorship, a field in which Newmarket so excelled, they were able to stage a card worth more than £1.2 million.

And what of the public response? Well, consider this comparison with football. The primary raison d’etre of most football fans is to support their team, which can be most effectively achieved by going to a match. The primary raison d’etre of most racing fans is to have a bet, which does not have to be achieved by going to a meeting.

There might have been only 12,500 behind the gates of the Rowley Mile last Saturday but how many thousands more were following the absorbing action, as it happened, on TV or online or in the betting shops? How many thousands more showed their interest in the meeting by having a flutter?

Lee suggests reforming the format of the meeting and forcing Newmarket to alternate, as its venue, with Ascot and York “to get the punters queueing”. No problem, but he knows that if Champions’ Day was held at Ascot even in its current format, it would attract a crowd of around 25,000 and if it was held at York even in its current format, the gate would probably be nearer 30,000, so he cannot have it both ways. He cannot use attendance figures as a stick with which to beat the meeting.

It is the equivalent of judging Lee‘s newspaper, ‘The Times’, on its circulation figures when held up in comparison to ‘The Sun’ or the ‘Daily Mail’. They are nowhere near as high but that is not to denigrate an excellent paper, nor its place in the overall scheme of things.

Mainly for geographical reasons, Newmarket (as well as other Grade One venues, such as Newbury) cannot attract the gates of the big-city or big-festival tracks. Unless, of course, they are staging sideshow concerts, which excite the non-racing locals and followers of the particular artiste or band.

Champions’ Day does not need Simply Red or Madness to sell it. The event represents high-quality racing in its purest form, appreciated richly by the sport’s dedicated devotees. We must not lose faith in it.

‘Hitting a flat spot’ is a well-worn, over-used cliché that is now part and parcel of the racing vernacular. There isn’t anyone in the sport who doesn’t know what it means.

But who coined the phrase? Who is responsible for its universal acceptance?

Could it have been the great INGLIS DREVER? The horse for whom flat spots were obligatory moments in nearly all of his races. Usually about a mile from home and usually followed by relentless surges, or even genuine turns of foot, that would land him major pots, including three Ladbrokes World Hurdles.

It was a characteristic that earned Howard Johnson’s hurdler a place in the hearts of all jumping aficionados. And it is why his death is seriously mourned. Not just because when he dug deep, he dug many a punter out of a financial hole. But also because he possessed the two attributes we all demand most from our equine heroes -- class and guts.

Farewell, old fella.

A message this morning to those of you who believe that Flat seasons require new-fangled, super-sparkly finales. Or at least one not confined to the Bois Du Boulogne or California.

Jump out of bed. Wipe the sleep from your eyes. Remove the National Hunt blinkers, sponsored by the ‘Racing Post’, from your face. Pick up the said ‘Post’. And study the card for Newmarket today.

I defy any of you not to salivate over the quality of such a mouthwatering set of races. And then I defy any of you to devise anything better (within the realms of realism, not fantasy) that could have rounded off what has been a magnificent Flat campaign.

I have been meaning to get this off my chest for a long time now. So here goes.

Why, oh why, when racecards are published in the morning papers are trainers allowed to add the rider “will only run if the ground is suitable”?

What the hell does such irrelevant dross mean? What is their definition of ‘suitable’ for that particular horse? Do they want rain? Do they want sun? Do they want snow? The information is of no use to punters whatsoever.

In these days of increased openness, if there is a doubt about a horse’s participation, the authorities should ensure that trainers are far more specific.

So what do you make of the decision to retire SEA THE STARS?

Are you annoyed that he has been deprived of the chance to add the Breeders’ Cup to his string of Group Ones and so claim world domination? After all, the Americans are very insular in their attitudes towards sport and will take some persuading about the greatness of the colt now that he has shirked the chance to beat their own.

Or are you pleased that a line has been drawn under his remarkable career to avoid the risk to his reputation or wellbeing that participation in the Breeders’ Cup might have carried? After all, the American jamboree has limited appeal to a European audience.

You decide.

As the new jumps season gathers momentum at Chepstow and Bangor today, a full-scale row has broken out about the BHA’s new rule to ban the remounting of horses once a race has started.

The reaction of many professionals within the jumping game has been little short of scandalous.

OK, we live in an increasingly politically correct world. But the image of the game is of paramount importance and the welfare of the horse is sacrosanct.

Gone are the days of trainer Tim Forster instructing his Grand National jockeys to “keep remounting”. In this day and age, the practice can be construed by the public as risky, dangerous and cruel.

In my view, the BHA should have banned remounting after the unsavoury sight of Ruby Walsh getting back aboard KAUTO STAR after a fall at the second-last in a novice chase at Exeter in 2005 and setting him alight again as if nothing untoward had happened. Kauto was subsequently injured for nine months and, who knows, we might even have been denied his glorious achievements since.

Better late than never, though, and the BHA are right to implement the ban now. Justification can be found in the outrageous comment attributed to champion jockey Tony McCoy when he was asked why he objected to the ban. “I won £55,000 for an owner when I remounted in the Grand National, so it doesn’t make any sense to ban it,” said McCoy.

Sorry AP, but the horse must come before the money.

It has become almost de rigueur (I’m still in Parisian mode), in many quarters, to predict doom and gloom for racing amid the economic recession. I recall one particular piece by Alastair Down in the ‘Racing Post’ about five or six months ago suggesting the sport was heading for unmitigated disaster.

I hope Down and his ilk have read the findings of a new economic-impact study prepared for the BHA by Deloitte. It reads:

“We are confident the sport has the ability to bounce back once economic conditions improve. An intrinsic advantage that racing has is the passion and commitment of its core followers and participants.

“There are challenges for owners and breeders but racecourse attendances are holding up quite well and media rights revenues are increasing.

“One impact of the recession has been a ‘flight to quality’ where consumers increasingly focus on the top events. Racing has the advantage of having a number of such events and attendances at the big festivals in 2009 have generally held up well.”

Full marks to the BHA, with whom I am increasingly impressed, for shouting about this study from the rooftops. Chief executive Nic Coward has been quick to describe its findings as “striking” and urges everyone within racing to stay positive.

“Racing remains, by a clear margin, the country’s second biggest sport after the modern commercial and social phenomenon that is football,” says Coward.

“The report is not intended to be an exercise in showing off but more people should shout a little louder about things going on in and around the sport, particularly about the impact on the lives of those influenced by it.

“Racing is part of the country’s social fabric and makes an enormous contribution to a wide variety of communities. In spite of the economic downturn, we have a lot to shout about.”

Hear, hear.

The Racing For Change brigade have made it clear that they are determined to attract a younger audience to the sport. People, perhaps, from the same generation as Christopher Tsui, 28-year-old owner of the great SEA THE STARS.

Tsui confesses to being bowled over by all the attention afforded him this season. But what does he think of racing? As a young man, he surely views the sport as old-fashioned, outmoded, floundering in a rut of tradition, ripe for change?

Not a bit of it. And I quote: “I love European racing because this is where you have the history of the thoroughbred and the great races like the Epsom Derby and the Arc. There is so much racing history in Europe and when you study all the great champions, it is fascinating.”

Tsui’s remarks come from a wonderful, enlightening interview by Lee Mottershead, of the ‘Racing Post’, which adds even more to the uplifting experience that everyone in racing seems to have felt through the crowning of Sea The Stars in Paris last Sunday. The interview underlines that, like trainer John Oxx and jockey Mick Kinane, Tsui has handled the horse’s rise to superstardom with professional, dignified aplomb all season.

It’s hard enough to win an Arc, the ultimate middle-distance race of the year. It is even harder to win it after a long, hard season that has already taken in five Group One victories, at various trips, tracking back to the first Saturday in May. But to manage it also after the kind of tormented run SEA THE STARS had to endure through the race at Longchamp yesterday is quite extraordinary and utter confirmation that he is, very probably, the greatest horse of all time.

After breaking smartly, jockey Mick Kinane was forced to take a pull of restraint for fear his mount might end up in front. But one pull became several as the colt proved reluctant to play ball and, as a result, he lost his prominent pitch. Although Sea The Stars just about settled eventually, he remained further back than is ideal and almost surrendered his place on the inner as they turned into the home straight, which would have been catastrophic.

What happened next only THE superstars can achieve -- and they don’t come along very often. The colt unleashed breathtaking acceleration and also astonishing dexterity at the same time, quickening while Kinane manoeuvred room for himself, weaving in and out of horses in front. Suddenly, from being in a position that most equine mortals would have found hopeless, Sea The Stars was ahead, clear and on his way to history. Stacked up behind him were no fewer than six Group One winners.

In my pre-race blog on Saturday, I asked for an Arc worthy of its status as the maker and breaker of champions. We got that. Rather crassly, I also asked someone to explain to me why it would be so good for racing if Sea The Stars won it. The horse himself provided the answer. It was a spellbinding exhibition.

With hindsight, the question I posed was churlish and mean-spirited. I knew what I wanted to say. I was annoyed that such a marvellous race as the Arc was being billed as a one-horse party, to which no others were invited. But my message was clumsily and insensitively conveyed.

Now that it’s over, it is all so obvious why Sea The Stars’ triumph is so marvellous for the sport. Because he has elevated standards to heights never occupied before. He has turned the impossible into possible.

Debates will always rage about the best horse ever seen, and the search for a definitive answer is severely hampered by the need to transcend different eras, different generations. But to win the 1,000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse, International, Irish Champion and Arc in the space of five months is a unique achievement and one unlikely to be matched. To top it off at the Breeders’ Cup would represent Utopia.

Sea The Stars’ achievement is also a timely shot in the arm for Flat racing, at a time when it has become fashionable to deride it, particularly among ‘Racing Post’ opinionists. And it is a timely reminder for the Racing For Change brigade that what matters most within the sport is the product and its protagonists. Never mind the sideshows and the gimmicks. Have the confidence to market and promote the racing itself and to focus on the horse. Surely even Newbury can see the advantage Sea The Stars has over an Abba tribute band.

Also, let’s hear no more of this nonsense about the Flat game lacking ‘narrative’. As he progressed from the Classics against his own age group to taking on the older horses at 10f and then 12f and on to the top international contests around the world, Sea The Stars’ season has underlined that a compelling ‘narrative’ does indeed exist, via an often-criticised, but brilliantly conceived, European Pattern that stands the test of time over and over again.

Now we wait to see if Sea The Stars’ majesty stands the test of time. Somehow, I think it will.

Do you get the impression that this weekend’s Arc is being treated in many quarters as a SEA THE STARS’ benefit? Like a testimonial for a cricketer? He turns up, everyone pats him on the back and massages his ego and he rides off into the sunset with all the booty?

With dreary predictability, personalities from within the sport have been wheeled out this week to say how they hope SEA THE STARS wins and how good it would be for racing if he does.

Would someone please explain to me why it would be so good for racing? As if, by implication, it would not be so good if CONDUIT ended the long wait by one of the world’s great trainers, Sir Michael Stoute, to win the race. As if, by implication, it would not be good for racing if DAR RE MI made the French stewards eat humble pie for what happened in the Prix Vermeille by winning the race.

If, as many clearly expect, Sea The Stars trots up, it would be good for the horse and his connections, not to mention the legions of punters who have money on him. But what would be good for racing most of all is an Arc worthy of the race’s great status as the maker and breaker of champions.

Sea The Stars is, of course, already a magnificent champion. But like all champions before him, he cannot be considered a legendary great unless he wins the Arc. It is the ultimate test at the end of a long, hard season for a three-year-old.

The odds have shortened on him managing it after the draw allotted him a handy inside stall. And there is no doubt his price reflects his chance according to the formbook, even if there is a suspicion that he has beaten only the same handful of rivals and has yet to be given a true examination over this 12f trip.

But the idea that racing would, somehow, be doing him some kind of disservice unless he wins is utter nonsense.

Personally, I always prefer my Arc selection to have been prepared specifically for the race. Under the misguided understanding that the race is generally run of Softish ground, John Oxx has been firmly against it for most of the season as a target for Sea The Stars.

In contrast, Sir Michael Stoute has trained Conduit for two assignments this term -- the King George and the Arc. The colt is a three-time Group One winner. He is a Classic winner. A Breeders’ Cup winner. He acts on any ground. He has shown the pace to win over 10f and the stamina to win over 14f. When he was beaten by Sea The Stars in the Coral Eclipse, it was over an inadequate trip under an injudicious hold-up ride. From his modest draw, he will need the ride of a lifetime, this time, from Ryan Moore. But when you erase all the sentimental, patronising hype, there is no doubt he would be as worthy a winner as Sea The Stars.

Having trumpeted the merits of the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket, I must say I have been taken aback by the small size of the fields on the opening two days, particularly today.

It is no surprise to see the two Group One events numerically challenged. After all, there is only so much top-class talent to go round. And in any event, both the Middle Park Stakes and the Cheveley Park Stakes are fantastic renewals.

But why does the Listed event attract only four runners? And why does the £20,000 10f handicap for three-year-olds attract only three runners? Even the two-year-old maiden, which split into two divisions for almost 30 horses last season, boasts a field of only nine. And it beggars belief that the Newmarket Challenge Whip, an anomalous event carrying no prize money whatsoever, can attract as many runners as the Godolphin Stakes worth £40,000.

No doubt the inquest will unfold in the coming days. I look forward to the reasons put forward by owners, trainers, the course and anyone else with a vested interest. It would be tragic if Newmarket was forced to re-think the superb format of this three-day meeting.

The unsatisfactory result of this afternoon’s Group Three Somerville Tattersalls Stakes (won by the 33/1 poke SIR PARKY) continues a curious trend with recent Pattern races for juveniles. What did you make, for instance, of the big two-year-old contests last weekend?

I was desperately disappointed by the Fillies’ Mile and Royal Lodge at Ascot. The former was won by a maiden and the latter by a colt beaten in a Nursery last time.

The Sales races at The Curragh were as fascinating as ever but, again, I was miffed to see them won by juveniles already exposed.

Similarly, I was not as impressed as most by the victory of ST NICHOLAS ABBEY in the Group Two Juddmonte Beresford Stakes.Yes, it was a nice performance from Aidan O’Brien’s colt but nothing more, especially when you consider he was a 2/5 shot in a very ordinary renewal of the race. On a line through the runner-up, his form still has some way to go to match the hype -- or even to match his stablemate, VISCOUNT NELSON, whom I suspect is being wildly under-rated.

Hold your bets on the weekend’s big two punting races, the Cambridgeshire and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The latest weather- forecast predicts heavy rain for the Newmarket area on Friday night into Saturday. While a maximum field of 20 looks probable for the Arc after the latest declaration stage. That might not frighten SEA THE STARS supporters but a big field adds importance to the draw and it is a telling statistic that 13 of the last 15 Arc winners have been berthed in stalls seven or lower.

I do try and bite my lip and stay calm whenever I read Alastair Down’s column in the ‘Racing Post’ these days. I find myself disagreeing with most of his opinions and I am saddened by the fact that once the wittiest and most incisive writer in the game is now, in my estimation, the ‘grumpy old man’ of the racing columnists.

Over the last year or two, Down has given the impression that he has rarely wasted a moment to decry racing and predict doom and gloom for the sport. Whether this be in the shape of a full-blown assault or a quiet aside. All apparently bolstered by the views of half-baked mavericks or by unattributed quotes from anonymous acquaintances.

In recent months, his personal agenda has taken a new twist with attempts to portray racing as, actually, two sports in one. Jump racing, whose virtues must be extolled, and Flat racing, for whom the bell tolls.

This agenda was extended last week when the ‘Post’ conducted a ‘great debate’ over whether racegoers preferred the National Hunt game or the Flat.

Now I totally accept that Down has a right to his own views. It is annoying that they might help to influence opinion within racing, particularly at a time when the mood is for change, but he is an experienced, award-winning journalist whose columns remain widely read.

However it is one thing having an opinion and quite another claiming that the public at large agree with it. So my lip could be bitten no more, and my laptop could be buttoned no more, after reading his latest diatribe in today’s ‘Post’.

Very conveniently, Down is at hand to give his reaction to the findings of the paper’s ‘debate’ on the two codes of racing and the statistics which show that 63% of readers prefer the jumps, 21% the Flat and 16% both. He suggests that such figures should be taken on board and acted upon by the Racing For Change brigade.

What Down fails to acknowledge is that these statistics do NOT relate to a proper survey, poll or vote carried out by the ‘Post’. The 'debate' was never even billed as such. Instead the figures merely relate to the responses by readers who were simply asked to let the ‘Post’ know, via their terrific website, which code they prefer. Crucially, the option of loving BOTH codes was not even touted, yet still 16% of readers went for it. Which suggests to me, very strongly, that had a proper, comprehensive survey been conducted, complete with three options -- jumps, Flat or both -- and embracing ALL 'Post' readers, not just those who use the website, the result would have been very different. Indeed I would go so far as to say that ‘both’ would have won.

Then again, that would not have suited Down’s agenda which, in my opinion, is tantamount to Racing For Division, rather than Racing For Change. Not good at a time when the main priority must surely be to aim for unity at long last among the many parties and interests within the sport.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24

Please forgive me if the Turfblog goes a bit quieter than normal over the next week or so. I’m off to Ascot for three days this weekend, swiftly followed by three more days at Newmarket next week. And in between time, I’ve somehow got to hold down a full-time job!

The Ascot Festival has perhaps lost a bit of its lustre in recent years. But it is still a terrific meeting, combining quality and variety. And going racing at the ‘new Ascot’ has been much more enjoyable since admirable guru Charles Barnett started calling the shots. Barnett transformed Aintree and he’s even showing signs of making Ascot’s spectacular but spectator-unfriendly grandstand work.

The Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket is, in my view, the most under-estimated, unheralded three days’ racing of the entire Flat calendar, particularly on the juvenile front.

There is also a tremendous card at The Curragh on Sunday, not to mention the Arc jamboree at Longchamp to look forward to next weekend.

Great times! Best of luck and see you soon!

I am pleased to hear that Racing UK have all but achieved the 30,000 subscribers they need to survive as a viable, stand-alone TV channel after the demise of their partner, Setanta Sports.

Setanta going bust was hardly their fault and the decision to revert to their £20-per-month fee did not warrant the criticism it received in some quarters.

Many of the critics wrote to, or even work for, the ‘Racing Post’. Yet to buy the RP every day adds up to £11.50 per week or £46 per month.

It beggars belief how anyone can argue that £20 to have access to some of the world’s best racing, either via your TV or laptop, is anything but sensational value for money. I vehemently disagree with Racing UK’s insistence that we must pay extra for a second TV/box (unless it is to be used for commercial purposes) but that’s a discussion for another day.

Mind you, as generous subscribers, we now have the right to demand answers to questions. Questions such as: why don’t Racing UK broadcast the breadth of programmes featured on the free-to-air At The Races channel? And why is the RUK website lamentably worse than ATR’s?

And we can also demand standards of high quality. Unlike those spotted in RUK’s latest ‘Club Magazine’. The publication is a decent read, particularly the brilliant Nick Luck’s illuminating views on the crackpot notion that jockeys and trainers should be forced to speak to the media as a condition of their licences.

However it lets itself down badly in the ‘What’s On’ section, which previews forthcoming big meetings to be shown by RUK. On November 28, apparently, we can see the Hennessy Gold Cup from Newbury, which “has been won four times in the past by the mighty Florida Pearl”. Wow! They must have been some weight-carrying performances!

Is it just me or does anyone else find the Ayr Gold Cup the hardest race of the year to solve? At the risk of sounding like Tom Segal during a bad run (which he palpably isn’t at the moment!!), I simply cannot fathom it.

I have twice backed the winner at tasty odds. Funnily enough, both horses were trained by Richard Hannon -- WILDWOOD FLOWER and PRESTO SHINKO. But don’t ask me how or why. Most years, there just seem to be too many imponderables to conquer.

At the ante-post stage, you start wondering whether or not your horse will even get a run. My fancy this time round, ROKER PARK, missed the cut by five.

Next you wonder about the state of the ground. This week, Ayr was Soft at the start of the week, yet the race was run on a fastish surface.

Next, you have the draw, and all the crazy theories surrounding it, to contend with. Again, the week began with most ‘experts’ sure you needed a high stall. After the Silver Cup and the new Bronze Cup, it appeared clear you needed a low berth. But even then, many felt it didn’t matter. It was a case of needing to be where the pace is.

The fact that this year’s renewal was won by a horse in JIMMY STYLES who had become a desperate disappointment since starting favourite for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and by a trainer in Clive Cox who was unable to claim the draw he wanted because his phone wouldn’t work just about summed up the whole shenanigan.

For Ayr Gold Cup, read Headache Gold Cup!

A quick quiz for you today. Can you spot the odd one out among these sporting scandals? Which are real and which is made up?

BLOODGATE (RUGBY UNION) -- one of the country’s top teams, Harlequins, and former England star Dean Richards are accused, of, and found guilty of, cheating by faking an injury, using a toy blood-capsule, to gain an advantage. Public outrage.

DIVEGATE (FOOTBALL) -- one of the country’s leading strikers, Eduardo, is vilified and accused of cheating after apparently taking a dive to win a penalty for Arsenal in a Champions League tie against Celtic. Public outrage.

GENDERGATE (ATHLETICS) -- one of the world’s top runners, 18-year-old South African Caster Semenya, is accused of cheating by storming to victory in the women’s 800m World Championships when she is, in fact, a man. Public outrage.

CRASHGATE (MOTOR RACING) -- one of the top Formula One teams, Renault, are accused of cheating by ordering driver Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash deliberately and so help teammate Fernando Alonso to victory in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Public outrage.

LEGERGATE (HORSE RACING) -- two horses from the one of the country’s leading stables, Godolphin, are neck and neck in the final furlong of one of the year’s top races, the St Leger. The jockey on their number two contender and lesser fancied horse, MASTERY, lets the jockey on their number one contender and the favourite, KITE WOOD, win the contest.

And they reckon racing is bent.

My four days’ punting at Doncaster’s Leger Festival were not particularly successful. However I felt I did little wrong. Made very few bad decisions. It was just the way the cookie crumbled. Lots of seconds and pieces of bad luck. You know the kind of thing.

In contrast, I am overwhelmed today by a feeling of sheer frustration at two bad decisions I made in races at The Curragh over the weekend. The failure to be brave enough to back, or even tip, KINGSFORT and BORDER PATROL, even though I identified both of them earlier in the season as potential stars.

Both represented glaringly good value against short-priced favourites from the Aidan O’Brien yard. And yet I wasn’t courageous enough to ignore the worry that both were stepping up in class and both were coming back from long absences.

Class told. By surging home in the Group One National Stakes on Saturday, Kingsfort underlined that he is a serious prospect for Classic glory next season. This is always a hugely reliable race and Kevin Prendergast’s colt must be some animal to win it on the back of a sole maiden win and after being laid low, in the meantime, by a virus. By grinding down the favourite in a Group Three contest yesterday, Border Patrol showed that he must be respected in any company at 7f or 1m, providing the ground is not too quick. This was only the fifth start of his career and he has improved for every one.

So was the Leger rescued by a top-class performance? The simple answer is no.

In a nutshell, MASTERY outstayed his stablemate, KITE WOOD, on ground a shade too lively for the latter. Kite Wood would have won with cut in the ground. There again, MONITOR CLOSE would have won had his stamina not given way in the final furlong, so strongly did he travel up to that point. And there again, on his form in front of Mastery in France, AGE OF AQUARIUS would have won had he not suffered a late setback.

Ifs and buts that sum up the 2009 Leger really. Lacking in outstanding quality.

It must be the first time the Leger has been won by a horse that had been well beaten earlier in the season in the Queen's Vase, a Group Three 2m event at Royal Ascot. Mind you, I did suspect at the time that it was an above-average renewal. Mastery was third, behind the very impressive winner, Mark Johnston's HOLBERG, who has not been seen since because of injury, and YANKEE DOODLE, of Aidan O'Brien's, who went on to run well behind ALANDI, the gritty winner of the top-class Irish Leger, which was also staged yesterday.

Holberg's re-appearance, very possibly for Godolphin next season, is now eagerly awaited, while the subsequent efforts of Yankee Doodle suggest he might have been a better choice for the race than his Ballydoyle stablemate CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD, who was disappointing in his first crack at Group company.

The sub-standard Doncaster showpiece failed to detract from the four-day meeting as a whole, which was a success, I thought. Clearly helped by a gift from the gods in the form of glorious weather , it was capped by a bumper crowd of 30,000 on Leger Day itself.

Surprisingly, I felt the course coped well with such a turnout. Lessons had clearly been learned from previous years. Bars and food outlets were well staffed and strategically placed to ensure the crowd was evenly spread, and queues and congestion were limited.

My only complaints concerned the main stand. It is one of the newest in the country, so why is it not blessed with an air-conditioning system? Or if it is, one that works. I accept that the management were probably taken by surprise by the warm weather but the public areas inside the County Enclosure were uncomfortably clammy.

Even more uncomfortable would have been Trades Descriptions Act watchdogs had they been present to read the track’s promotional blurb about a stand that promises “panoramic views of the famous Town Moor course”.

As I touched on in this column last year, and others have touched on since, it does no such thing -- unless, maybe, if you’re lucky enough to be waited on in one of the highest corporate-hospitality boxes that rise into the South Yorkshire sky. Pay at the turnstiles and take your place on the public terracing or in the public seats and your view of the whole of the back straight is blocked by a double-decker hospitality building, a funfair and an array of trees, all inconveniently situated in the middle of the course. In other words, from the Leger start to the turn into the home straight (more than 1m), you see virtually nothing.

A plethora of big screens are on hand, of course, to show the action as it unfolds. But the best way to watch on a screen is to stay at home. Racecourses that are unable to provide a decent view of what their customers pay for -- and Doncaster are not alone on this -- are playing a dangerous, risky game.

Tipster Tom Segal, aka Pricewise of the ‘Racing Post’, makes me chuckle. I am amused when he openly sulks in his columns during bad runs without winners and blames the tracks for his own shortcomings.
 
Goodwood and Ascot consistently receive flak. To such an extent this year that Segal made the extraordinary assertion, after another traumatic week on the Sussex Downs, that the reason he can’t tip winners at Goodwood is because it doesn’t suit the kind of horses he goes for -- animals who are held up on the inside rail. Too many, he reasoned, get blocked in and don’t get a run.

In a further veiled dig, he lauded the appeal of York as a galloping track and made the preposterous prediction that the fare at this year’s Ebor Festival would be better than Royal Ascot!

How hilarious it was, then, when his big tip of the week, CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD in the Ebor itself, was given just the kind of ride he purports to support, held up on the inner -- only to be denied victory because jockey Johnny Murtagh got hemmed in!

Anyway, the reason I’m focusing on Segal is because his current woes continued yesterday when he got himself in another almighty muddle while assessing the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp. He decried the chances of the eventual winner, AQLAAM, because of his outside draw, completely forgetting that, in France, horses with low draws race on the inner!

Notwithstanding such a schoolboy error, Segal deserves full marks for being brave enough to tackle the big autumn handicaps, the Cambridgeshire and the Cesarewitch, in a couple of ante-post ‘Pricewise’ specials in the RP last week.

At this stage, with more than 100 entries remaining in each, the races look impossible to solve.

Segal has somehow narrowed it down to one or two recommended bets. The best I can do is narrow it down to NINE possibles for the Cambridgeshire and SEVEN for the Ces!!

For the record, these are: CAMBRIDGESHIRE -- Sirvino, Foolin Myself, Shamali, Alazeyab, Fareer, Invisble Man, Tryst, Credit Swap and Applause. CESAREWITCH -- Darley Sun, Swingkeel, Aajel, Wells Lyrical, Saga De Tercey, Alanbrooke and Hawk Mountain.

Regular readers of this column will know that I bow to no-one in my admiration of the skills of dual-purpose trainer John Quinn. His ability to churn out winners with all types of horses, both on the Flat and over jumps, bears the hallmark of genius.

So one can only imagine the devastation and grief that must have ripped through his Malton yard since the news broke of the death of one of Quinn’s apprentices, Jamie Kyne, in a fire at nearby Norton.

Under Quinn’s shrewd tutelage, Jamie (18) had quickly developed into one of the best apprentice jockeys in the country.

The sense of loss is so great that the tragedy has sadly overshadowed all the headline-making events on the track this weekend -- most notably the continued brilliance of SEA THE STARS, the comeback of Kieren Fallon, the wonderfully gritty victory of REGAL PARADE in the Betfred Sprint Cup and the masterstroke by trainer John Gosden to apply cheekpeices to entice a return to the Group One winner’s enclosure by RAINBOW VIEW.

My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to all the family and friends of Jamie Kyne and 19-year-old fellow apprentice Jan Wilson, who also perished in the fire.

So Kieren Fallon, six-times champion jockey, is back. Riding on British tracks for the first time in more than three years.

And boy, hasn’t he made sure the world knows it! The PR machine has hit overdrive in recent weeks as Fallon has made himself available to every racing and sports journalist under the sun. The coverage has been comprehensive, to say the least, and Fallon has not been slow in coming forward about his prospects. “Back me with all the money you’ve got,” he is reported to have told one journo asking about a bet to become champion jockey in 2010.

We now sit back and wait to see if the hype is justified. Can he rekindle the magic flame? Is he really a changed personality?

Fallon is a man who polarises opinion within racing. He arouses strong views, both for and against. But there is little doubt he has been, and might well be again, an outstanding jockey and a gifted horseman. One of the best of the modern era. I still drool over the ride he gave KRIS KIN to win the 2003 Derby. I talk through my pocket but it was a ride that had control, finesse, judgement, timing, courage, strength, the lot.

As far as his well-documented misdemeanours go, I’m a great believer in doing time for the crime and starting from a clean slate afterwards. Racing should welcome him back.

However the tone of the fanfare to herald his comeback has been unduly hysterical in some quarters. One racing columnist with a national newspaper, whose opinions I normally respect, profferred preposterous notions that Flat racing has been dull because of Fallon’s absence and forecast that he would return with a blitzkrieg of winners. The ‘Racing Post’ threatened to follow a similarly OTT direction earlier in the week but retrieved the correct balance with wise, sensible pieces today by James Willoughby and David Ashforth that sounded proper notes of caution.

Fallon’s comeback is sure to enrich the sport and add fascination, intrigue, colour and drama. But he comes back as one player in a huge game that has moved on since he booted home DYLAN THOMAS in the 2007 Arc. He has a long way to go before he can be considered champion-jockey material again and also before he can be considered ‘changed-person’ material. Yes, he’s happy, smiling and relaxed now. Raring to prove a point. But aren’t we all after a holiday? The test will come when the daily grind of riding, travelling, riding, travelling kicks in again. When the pressure mounts and when the searching demands he and his PR machine have placed on him over the last few days need to be justified.

In recent days, fellow fanatics will, no doubt, have received through the post their paraphernalia from Cheltenham and Aintree, reminding that it’s time to book tickets for the jumps season. It’s always an exciting, if expensive, moment!

Recouping the cost with a successful ante-post bet is harder than it sounds. But scanning through the ante-post lists this morning, I note that ZAYNAR, whom I advised at 16s at the end of last season, is still available with Coral at 14/1 for the Champion Hurdle.

For me, that is a very attractive price for a horse still on the upgrade. Given that Victor Chandler is a part-owner, it could be significant that his firm are as low as 8/1.

A new month -- and a terrific one for racing, in my opinion, what with Betfred Sprint Cup day at Haydock and the marvellous St Leger meeting, followed by two excellent and informative days at Newbury, plus the Ayr Gold Cup, and all topped off by what used to be known as the Ascot Festival.

It’s hard to remember two more unsatisfactory Leger trials than those we have had at Goodwood and York this season. The form of the Gordon Stakes is not working out at all, while the Great Voltigeur was an utter mess.

KITE WOOD is a solid, worthy favourite for the final Classic. It’s hard to crab his victory over older rivals at Newbury last time. But is he sexy enough to win a Leger?

I’m yet to be convinced and I’m pleased I had the foresight to have a bit on CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD at 16s before he ran so well in the Ebor. But potentially by far the most fascinating challenger to Kite Wood is Henry Cecil’s rangy, exciting colt MANIFEST.

He has yet to be supplemented and because he has only contested maidens, all the Doncaster stats and trends are against him. All recent Leger winners had previously run in some form of Group race, while most had contested a Derby (Changingoftheguard, incidentally, won the Ulster Derby!!)

But Manifest was staggeringly impressive at Newmarket last time and has earned rave reviews on the gallops, not to mention a seal of approval from Kieren Fallon. By all accounts, the colt left stablemate FATHER TIME for dead over the weekend.

Now Father Time is no superstar and disappointed in the Voltigeur. But he’s no mug either. After all, he is a Royal Ascot winner. If the gallops report is to be believed, Teddy Grimthorpe and Co are surely going to find it very hard to resist stumping up the cash to saddle Manifest on the Town Moor on September 12.

I’ve had time to reflect on a letter I had published by the ‘Racing Post’ yesterday. It was written a little in the heat of the moment. At a time when I was spitting feathers. But I’m pleased I sent it.

My main motivation for the missive was a response to comments made by Stephen Higgins, managing director of Newbury racecourse, who himself was responding to criticism of the track at their Simply Red concert day on August 15.

If you recall, the day was hailed a huge success by the track because it attracted a record crowd of 26,000. But by all accounts, many regular racegoers did not enjoy the experience one bit, mainly because, unbelievably, the stage erected for the concert blocked the view from the stands of the racing between the 3f and 1f markers!

Higgins tried to justify the decision and what drove me to the pen was his comment that “Racing alone is not always sufficient to drive attendances.” A shocking admission, if ever I’ve read one.

“Was this the pivotal moment when racecourse managers finally gave up on the sport they serve?” I wrote.

I continued in similar vein, questioning why racecourses like Newbury do not promote their fine, quality racing with as much energy and vigour as their ‘cashflow sideshows’.

I am not against post-racing concerts. Providing racecourse managers are honest and admit that they exist to fill the coffers. There is little or no evidence that they are encouraging more people to go racing, while there IS evidence that they are in danger of alienating regular racegoers. And when they physically hamper or handicap the primary reason why tracks exist (ie: blocking the view of the racing) it should come as no surprise when those regular racegoers complain and say: hold on, that’s a step too far.

The ‘Post’ published Mr Higgins’s response to my letter. It is a reasonable defence of the course’s position. But I do feel strongly that racing purists/fanatics/addicts, call us what you will, speak up in situations like this. Sadly, we have no official body or organisation within the sport that will do it for us and if we don’t speak out, our views will be trampled on.

I love Newbury and I love going racing there. It is one my top-three favourite courses in the country. The racing and its facilities, in my view, are spot-on. But there is a balance to be found between looking after your core customers and attempting to woo new customers. A fine line has to be trod. I believe Newbury stepped the wrong side of the line on August 15 and, judging by the way they market their Flat season, they could soon be taking giant strides the wrong side. Only by disaffected people standing up and saying so will they start to think twice or to think again.

Anyone who hasn’t seen my letter and wants to have a look at it should contact me at richard.silverwood@sky.com I will send it by return e-mail.

SUNDAY AUGUST 30

The ‘Racing Post’, too often depressingly negative about racing, gets full marks today for the most inspirational and uplifting article by Brough Scott.

It focuses on an idea by the Horsemen’s Group to put together a promotional film extolling the virtues of racehorse-ownership -- and their success in persuading stars and celebrities to feature in it.

Michael Holding tells how his first winner as an owner was better than taking ten wickets in a Test match. Judi Dench tells how she was reduced to tears when her horse, Smokey Oakey, won the Lincoln.

But it is actor James Nesbitt who steals the show, and the article. Savour this: “The first thing I would do is encourage people to go racing. People are turned off the idea because they don’t think it is for them. They don’t understand the majesty of the spectacle, the thrill of entering this vast arena filled with people with the right bonhomie all focused on this one, sharp, exclusive event. Racing is good for the spirit. Good if you win, sad if you lose, but still great. You can get as much pleasure in moaning about your losses as celebrating your victory. But what I have really discovered about owning a horse is how adored and cherished the animals are by the trainers and lads and everyone.”

There is more of the same, lots more, and I urge you to try and read the article, if you can. What’s more, I reckon it should be pinned on the walls of everyone involved in the Racing For Change initiative.

SATURDAY AUGUST 29

I’m often asked what kind of horse I would love to own. I usually reply any that proved good enough to run at either the Cheltenham Festival or Royal Ascot. But watching Newmarket on TV today brought the definitive answer -- an animal with the talent and amazing consistency and durability of THE TATLING.

He’s been on the go since 1999! He’s now 12 years old and this was his 129th race! Of those 129 races, he’s now finished in the first three 52 times -- not far off a 50% strike-rate -- and won prize money in excess of £673,000. Now that’s what I call a dream horse to own.

FRIDAY AUGUST 28

A healthy debate is raging within racing at the moment about York’s decision to extend their Ebor Festival to four days. Sadly, it is lacking a contribution of any significance from the course itself, which seems happy to rely on the glib terminology of the marketing men.

I am fiercely protective of York. Along with the Cheltenham Festival, the Ebor meeting was the first major meeting I made a point of staying away for, back in the 1980s. Terrific racing in a wonderful city.

Personally, I have no complaints about the switch to four days and it puzzles me how York can possibly deny what even the dumb and dumber realise -- that the move has been undertaken to make more money.

However I have one large proviso -- that each day’s card carries SEVEN races, rather than six.

The three-day festival had seven races per day. A programme of only six races on each of the four days undoubtedly dilutes the appeal of the meeting.

Of the major meetings, only the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot can get away with six races per day. York’s fare isn’t strong enough.

The handicaps sometimes lack quality, while the Group races sometimes lack strength in depth and a competitive edge. OK, it was great to see SEA THE STARS and SARISKA in two of the meeting‘s Group One events. But only one serious rival turned up to take each of them on, while the 2m Lonsdale Cup was possibly the worst Group Two I have ever seen.

On a six-race card, it only takes one of the races to come up short to devalue the whole day. York 2009 was still most enjoyable. The course continues to get most things right. But only the fourth and final day of York 2009 delivered all the goods, in my view.

Whether the racing community agree with me or not, only time will tell. But whatever they might say in public, I’m not so sure that the hierarchy at the Knavesmire will be too pleased with the figures from the first four-day festival, revealing that the total number of spectators rose by only 7% from the last three-day format in 2007.

Ensuring value for money is the easiest way to improve those figures -- and adding an extra race each day is the obvious option available.