Sport of kings dethroned for all the majesty of Cheltenham
THE Cheltenham Festival is almost upon us again and what an uplifting gathering it will be.
Even for the punters who make a loss, the sporting calendar throws up few more enriching events with the revelry of 280,000 racegoers in the Cotswold Hills an appealing snapshot of a sport in rude health.
In reality it is a Dorian Gray-style picture. For all the cheer of Cheltenham, the true state of racing in this country feels more like a death spiral.
A pincer movement of dwindling field sizes, shrinking prize money and falling crowds is pushing the sport further and further towards the margins.
Racing needs a good Cheltenham and – whip controversies or not – it will get one because it always does. But, really, that will be just papering over the cracks.
The betting revenue that helps fund the sport is falling year on year.
For a younger generation, brought up on Ray Winstone’s growling in-game instructions to them to bet responsibly, football is where they look for a flutter now.
Solving the race card puzzle is like learning another language.
Racing, to a wider extent, is not on their radar.
Older racegoers, who have ascended to the great parade ring in the sky, are not being replaced.
Attendances are down all round. In the first half of last year, they fell by nine per cent from the same period in 2019.
Less revenue means lower prize money and lower prize money makes UK racing less attractive to owners and trainers.
It is a vicious circle in which racing, with the British Horseracing Authority seemingly powerless to reverse the tide, appears to be trapped.
Sporting fashions change and horse racing in this country finds itself on the kipper tie rack.
The sport of kings holds a lot less appeal than it once did – even to the king himself.
Racing cannot rely on the patronage of King Charles III in the same way it did his mother.
Almost 60 per cent of the horses that were owned by
Queen Elizabeth II have been sold since her death, including the king’s first winner, Just Fine. It departed for Australia in November, on what is becoming an increasingly well-worn path.
The number of promising young British horses being sold to owners in the USA, Hong Kong and the Middle East is on the up too.
And the number of jockeys basing themselves abroad for large parts of the year is rising as well.
Why wouldn’t they, with more money on offer overseas for their dangerous profession?
When it comes to the big pay days in global racing, the Saudi Cup winner pockets £8.3million, the Dubai World Cup £6m and The Everest in Australia £3.4m.
No British race makes it into the top 10.
British racing is left to get by on prestige and history.thankfully it has plenty of both, otherwise the direction of travel would be headed over the cliff even faster than it already is.
There has to be a future for a sport of such grace and majesty, one woven so deeply into the fabric of the nation, but for it to be a healthy one racing needs to consistently grab the attention more often than at Festivals like this week’s. Cheltenham will always be Cheltenham and Royal Ascot will be Royal Ascot but overall there needs to be a leaner, stronger calendar with a clearer narrative. It needs the best facing the best more often with what money there is spread less thinly.
AT PRESENT there are too many threadbare fixtures up and down the country with ever-dwindling numbers of runners. The average of 8.4 horses per race across both flat and jumps racing in 2022 was an all-time low. If a race cannot attract a decent number of horses, it should be scrubbed.
And somehow the sport also needs to find more stardust in the saddle.
Frankie Dettori’s impending retirement will leave a yawning gap in that regard.
Where are the next household names capable of cutting through to the wider sporting world who, if it wasn’t for Rachael Blackmore, would probably not know the name of any other jockey?
A sport can blame football’s pervasive shadow for that if it likes – and the rest of its ills if it wants – or it can try to do something about it. The best advice for racing would be to do something about it.
And quickly.