Game, set and match to racing, I believe
Having endured neverending tennis last week, I know which sport makes better viewing
It was “feel good” day at Newmarket last week. And everything ran like clockwork; as happens for about 99per cent of races on British racecourses. But we take that for granted, even though a lot of paddling has to go on under the surface to make it happen.
The same cannot be said for tennis, which was competing with racing for audience share over the past fortnight, although now Wimbledon is over, that competition between sports will fall off a cliff for the next 11 months, thank goodness.
But let us reflect on what the experience would be like if racing decided to get more like tennis, because young people go to watch the racket-and-ball game and its share of the betting market is increasing.
Just imagine that the race before the July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday was a two-mile handicap, and pretend that everyone was told that if the winner hadn’t scored by at least two lengths they would all have to go around again, and again, and again; until someone had won by the necessary margin.
Sounds ridiculous? Well that is what happened at Wimbledon on “suicide watch” Friday to everyone hoping to see the Nadal/djokovic match.
I will admit that my tolerance levels may have been weakened by the position of my seat, which felt like it was inside one of those ovens that also has a grill, which was full on.
And it did not help that for six hours and 36 minutes of watching two very tall men called Kevin and John, I could not see either scoreboard properly. Not that one had to use much imagination to figure out that the most guileless, stupefying game of hit-ball in history had just gone to another tie-break.
The icing on the cake, however, was the chap sitting near me. He really needs to do something about his breath. In fact, having inhaled hours of it, I am going to the doctor today for a check-up. But on the plus side, he did manage to do most of the crossword during the match we did not go to watch.
After five hours and 16 minutes of waiting for Nadal and Djokovic to get on court, one of the crowd finally shouted out, “Come on guys, we want to see Rafa.” And the crowd roared its approval and just started shouting, “Come on Kevin” randomly to see if it cajoled one of the players to finish the wretched match.
The incumbents of the Royal Box also withered on their vines, even though the roof was partially closed to keep them out of the same cooking situation that I was in. By the end of the hit fest, Prince Andrew had bunked off and even Michael Mcintyre appeared to think it was no laughing matter; Bjorn Borg looked as if he was dying of boredom, but Sir David Attenborough did see it out. He is, of course, used to sitting around in uncomfortable surroundings for years waiting for something to happen.
The real giveaway, however, was that the Wimbledon members, who should have been occupying hundreds of empty seats behind the Royal Box, were absent. Because they know about tennis and were not going to waste their afternoon watching giants grunt and slug away.
All of which makes the recent spat at Sandown Park, after the delayed presentation of the trophy for the Eclipse Stakes, pale into insignificance.
So the next time sponsors Coral want to throw their toys out of the playpen because a perfectly legitimate stewards’ inquiry meant that ITV had gone off air before they could present their trophy to the winner, they should think about how well organised racing actually is.
If Coral were to promote tennis matches in whatever manner is permitted by that sport, they might find themselves hanging around for three hours or more before they get to do a few handshakes. Or they might not get to do it all if they have got homes and children to return to.
That is not to say, however, that racing cannot learn something from tennis, which has figured out that, by and large, the crowd these days are not keen on the players getting a good whipping after a long, hard set; although they may have made an exception for John and Kevin last Friday.