Racing’s triple threat and why Westminster should see big picture
Hpandemic has dealt the sport a financial blow but social media abusers and drugs are equally insidious
There is a theory that China is still trying to destroy Western democracy. And it turns out that horse racing is a very good prism through which to “war-game” this proposition.
Racing is, after all, the second-biggest sport in the UK and sustains huge employment across the breadth of the country.
It could be considered the “canary in the mine” if anyone in Westminster could be bothered to listen to it.
The three weapons of attack that I am running through the prism are pandemics, social media manipulation and narcotics.
Racing has not been financially sustainable during the pandemic. Eighteen months down the line, that may sound pretty obvious. But could our country survive another pandemic financially? Probably. But could the racing industry maintain a semblance of its current self ? Definitely not.
The combined havoc that social media and drugs are going to wreak on the sport is evident and yet I do not see anyone getting to grips with either problem.
The use of social media to destroy democracy – what else are the bot farms for? – is perhaps the most insidious weapon because it causes otherwise peaceful, law-abiding people to turn on each other.
Take, for example, the manner in which jockeys and trainers are getting attacked through this medium. We have seen only the tip of the iceberg as to the mental damage it is causing them, and we glibly assume that this abuse is coming from within our country. But is it? How can we be sure that China is not silently seeding our turmoil in the same manner that Russia stirs up strife during democratic elections?
Until the Government forces social media companies to unveil the online offenders, or shut them down, we should not make any assumptions as to the source of the abuse.
In the meantime, the British Horseracing Authority should utilise the closed intranet to communicate with its participants and make racing a social mediafree sport. The “cost” of not building up large online fan bases is a price well worth paying.
Narcotics are an even bigger threat to the peaceful enjoyment of racing. It should come as no surprise that the drug binge that has seemingly swept across the country during lockdown is now spilling onto racecourses.
One has only to watch football fans to realise that cocaine, ecstasy,
“disco biscuits” and who knows what else are fuelling violence at big sporting gatherings where young men “let their hair down”.
Racecourses need to up their game on this front. The threat of sniffer dogs and pocket searches will not be sufficient to act as a serious deterrent and safeguard the image of racing as a harmonious place for a civilised family day out.
But racecourse security personnel alone cannot win this battle. At the moment all dealers have to do to evade the cursory searches is to hide the drugs in their underpants. Any fear of getting caught is also nonexistent. There is no jeopardy.
So the “woke” concept that police stopping and searching suspected dealers outside racecourses and marching them off to a portable building for a proper search is too heavy-handed must be abandoned. Racecourses need to become a “not worth the bother” zone for those who are pushing drugs. And that is not the case at the moment.
There also has to be a serious attempt to profile the dealers. A few undercover officers in the pubs around York last week, for instance, would have identified either those well worth stopping as they entered the racecourse or people with very weak bladders.
I hasten to add that there is no reason to believe York or any other racecourse has a particular problem. This is a nationwide issue. But there is no point in blanket searching the handbags of 90-yearold ladies or Jockey Club members’ underpants.
I would not for one moment blame China for our current drug wave. The South Americans have done that part of the job for them. But worse is yet to come. Once addicted, a generation of our young will be at the mercy of an organised, hostile nation should it choose to mix debilitating poison into the drugs.
Let us just hope the World Health Organisation makes sure that does not happen.