National Hunt trainer Kim Bailey applauds a brilliant steeplechaser and discusses a threat by some of his fellow trainers to boycott giving TV interviews
The good, the bad and the ugly faces of racing have been seen over the past couple of weeks. Let’s deal with the good news first.
Last weekend, we enjoyed the hugely popular Dublin Racing Festival held at Leopardstown. This festival has grown and grown and not only hosts some of the best jump racing of the season – albeit mostly Irish-trained horses – but it has also become a must-visit meeting for a huge number of English racing fans.
We saw an emotional and impressive win by the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero, Galopin Des Champs. This monster of a chaser made it three Irish Gold Cups on the trot and if there was any doubt about him not being a horse of the public, that was squashed by the reception he received, even before passing the post. Noise like that has not been heard since The Boomtown Rats played there 10 years ago!
The whole meeting was brilliantly televised and great to watch, although you do have to wonder why Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead ran so few horses.
Hark back three weeks to the Berkshire Winter Million weekend. We now have our own Festival weekend, which was run for the first time with two racecourses joining forces to create three fabulous days of racing. Ascot and Windsor are close neighbours, and this new festival was set alight with racing at Windsor on Friday, Ascot on Saturday and back at Windsor on Sunday.
Let me tell you, it was a resounding success. Ascot hosted its customary great action and Windsor, which has only just returned to jump racing after being away for the best part of 20 years, did likewise. The old figure-of-eight track at Windsor is gone and the new course, which will take a while to get used to, whether by spectators or riders, is in place.
It is a great initiative, and one that I am sure will catch on and grow out of all recognition, principally because you have two racecourses willing to make it work.
Farewell to a legendary owner
Windsor was the last time we saw John Hales in the winner’s enclosure and his death last week was a shock to all in jump racing. There has hardly been a greater supporter and owner than John, who started his winning racing life with the great One Man. John’s success has been legendary and he will be hugely missed.
An ugly boycott
The ugly side of racing was shown when it was reported that trainers, who are members of Peter Savill’s breakaway Professional Racing Association (PRA), announced that they would boycott all televised interviews at Sandown last Saturday.
Dan Skelton backed the PRA’s demand for trainers to be paid for broadcast interviews and said that he and others were prepared to “stand strongly” if it came to not cooperating with the television companies on course.
Well, it certainly raised an uproar, but thankfully the PRA backed down. However, their voice has been heard and the first salvo from the PRA was, to a certain extent, a winning one, even if you don’t agree.
The battle is all about media rights and the lack of transparency of racecourses with their finances. The National Trainers Federation (NTF), which is the official representative of 97% of trainers, is involved in racing’s various decision-making structures through its membership of The Thoroughbred Group.
Its chief executive, Paul Johnson, said that while he understood the frustration of the PRA membership, the NTF did not support such a course of action.
The PRA is founded by Peter Savill, and the funds raised from talking were to go to fund the PRA.
As I said, this is the first salvo of a long battle, but we all hope strikes won’t be on the horizon. Racing needs more funding, and the racecourses are behind what prize money comes to the table. At present, many are withholding what amount they are given and where it goes – where is the transparency?
On a more positive note, the jump-racing world creeps closer to the Cheltenham Festival. Only four weeks to go!
● Whose side are you on when it comes to trainer payments for broadcast interviews? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and country, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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You might also be interested in:
Sad farewell to ‘great man’ who owned Olympic horses and a Grand National winner
Nick Skelton’s special tribute to John Hales: ‘I wouldn’t have got back in the saddle without him… he was a proper friend’
Cheltenham Festival is next stop for Gredley family’s home-bred star East India Dock
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