Dark clouds at Newbury but sunshine on the horizon.

(Newbury Paddock: The racecourse has removed cables in the paddock area following fatalities)

The events of this weekend witnessed in the Newbury paddock are hopefully never to be repeated again. A distressing event ending in the deaths of two racehorses and the stress caused to many others resulting in the dismissal of the remainder of the Newbury racecard.

Occasions such as these are infrequent and should not overshadow the wonderful sport of horse racing. It is fortunate not to have effected (physically) any human. As Ruby Walsh states in his autobiography, it is horrible when racehorses die but it is nothing compared to when people die. And this does happen, more common than perhaps the weekend racing enthusiast may know. That is not to say they should be aware, but it is a fact of life for many people associated with racing. Work riders have died on gallops while schooling horses, recently a young amateur jockey died after falling in a point to point event. This dark shadow of racing exists in a sport which is often so dangerous.

A freak accident like that which occurred this weekend will no doubt have an effect on the spectatorship of the sport, cast into the spotlight through media outlets nationally. In a year where reports suggest an increase in the numbers of racegoers throughout last year, despite the abandonments at some of the larger meets this is just the occasion which could sour the potential new racing fan.

This should not be the case, let us understand the sensitivity of the animals involved yesterday and indeed everyday, and hose many people associated so closely with the care and welfare of them. Let us continue enjoying this beautiful sport in all it's glory and let us look forward to what lies ahead, the Cheltenham Festival, The Grand National and the beginning of the 2011 Flat season.

(Flat racing: Beverley racecourse)

Into the Cosmos

The 2010 renewal of the St Leger at Doncaster took main stage this Saturday as Arctic Cosmos snatched victory from the lacklustre efforts of Rewilding. The going was always going to be an issue for Godolphin’s Rewilding and the mount of Frankie Dettori would have opted for a little less moisture than was present.

The uneasy 11-8 early morning fancy left the stalls at a more fitting 11-10 chance but Frankie was working hard from three furlongs out. The book made the race look like there was only ever going to be one winner offering each way value in anything else in the field. Dandino owned by the Elite Racing Club, the same syndicate who basked in the successes of Soviet Song years ago looked to be the smaller punters interest but the 3 year old colt failed to impress under Paul Mulrennan finishing 8th in the field of 10 runners.


William Buick took the honours for Jamie Gosden aboard Arctic Cosmos registering a length and three quarter success over Aiden O’ Brien’s Midas Touch and third placed outsider of the field Corsica placing at 40-1 after touching 66-1 earlier in the day.

Speculation earlier in the week led to the possibility that Rewilding could have been keeping a little in the tank if his proposed interest in the Arc de Triomphe bears fruition. But if this is true he will want a drying track for his run.


Elsewhere Sans Frontieres provided the recovery at the Curragh for favourite backers returning at 13-8 under an Olivier Peslier ride. Jeremy Noseda’s four year old colt stayed on well recording a victory of three quarters of a length over Profound Beauty in the 1 mile 6 furlong event.

Rip'ped apart by O'Brien pacemaker

CAPE'able Aiden O'Brien dominates in Ireland while McCoy shows what is to come after the flat season!

(Rip Van Wincle: Beaten by Cape Blanco in Ireland)

It was not all fun and games this Saturday at Leapardstown as hot jolly Rip Van Wincle failed to make the cut allowing O'Brien's "pacemaker" to claim the rewards of the Irish showpiece.

We may have all been fooled this weekend with winner of the Irish Derby Cape Blanco destroying the all star field seeing Henry Cecil's Twice Over and O'Briens favoured horse Rip Van Wincle winner of the Juddmonte International at York left behind in the wake of a five and a half length success.


That was no small feat either, to be victorious by five lengths in a field containing the best flat horses around while making them look like debutants Cape Blanco under a confident Heffernan ride stole the show...and it must be said, the punters money.


At 8/11 Rip Van Wincle could not seem to get a smooth voyage through to head proceedings as he appeared to be boxed in and lose valuable pace and ground on the eventual winner. From the start of the race O Brien's second string led and seemed to never run out of steam making the event look like a stroll in the park and giving Aiden O'Brien his seventh winner in the event.


Across the water at Haydock Park O'Brien was teeing up for the Sprint Cup with Starspangledbanner until Markhab ruined the festivities with the O'Brien horse beaten three and three quarter lengths into fifth spot giving jockey Pat Cosgrove a share of the £163,810 prize money.


This week sees the opening of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster on Wednesday to mark the closure of the flat racing season. AP McCoy was at Fontwell Park today to give punters a taster of what is to come in the winter months with the champion's performance on the heavily backed Another Trump for trainer Jonjo O'Neill in the opener at Worcester today in a typical AP finish.

(A P erfect finish: McCoy riding out a finish)

RFC promotes racehorse ownership

(United for change: Owen and friends could promote horse racing)

The Sport of Kings?


Interestingly the “sport of kings” jest is something Racing For Change are looking to avoid. The belief that horse racing does not appeal to many younger members of the population is widely to do with the lack of knowledge of the sport causing people to view horse racing as a game for the rich and famous. This notion could however be forgiven as it is clear horse racing has a wealth of celebrities who brush shoulders with the jockeys in the paddock pre race.

Michael Owen and Alex Ferguson of Manchester United are familiar figures in the parade ring and can be seen discussing tactics with the respective horse trainers before racing. Tottenham Hotspur’s Peter Crouch has been spotted at Cheltenham and his manager Harry Redknapp is known to take an interest in the equine world.


It is clear then that only certain wage brackets may afford to take active part in horse racing, for the rest of us there is the prospect of spectatorship and for the majority of the population this is as close as you get to the action. This could be something which may be interestingly discussed at the British Horse Racing Authority and it is something Racing For Change are currently attempting to improve through the creation of racing clubs at targeted universities across the country.


This is something Racing For Change is now bidding to change through promoting the ease in which a share in a racehorse can be gained. According to RFC up a mere £200 per year can be used to claim a stake in your own racehorse through either a racing club or syndicate.


The best outcome will be that more people own racehorses and more people therefore have an interest. Friends of owners may tag along for a day at the races and the attendance of race meetings may escalate. However, again in order to market racehorse ownership the correct target audience needs to be approached. It is difficult to gain the interest of those who do not already have an interest already in some capacity. I am a firm believer that for the young to be influenced it needs to be an influence from a major celebrity. Someone like Michael Owen would be perfect in promoting racing through his status but this of course requires money in order for it to work.

Maybe the old notion of “you have to speculate to accumulate” should be taken note of.

(In my club: Jamie Spence and Soviet Song owned by the Elite Racing Club syndicate)

Matt Dawson is new presenter for Channel Four Racing

(More to racing than meets the eye: Jon Mcririck will present alongside Matt Dawson)

Celebrities are key to Racing's success

What a great idea by Channel Four bosses to introduce ex-rugby player Matt Dawson to the presenting line-up. This afternoon's coverage of the Glorious Goodwood Festival featured Dawson alongside the usual presenters discussing his experiences during his first week in the industry. It was good to hear that racing now has more of an appeal to him than a week or so before Goodwood.

"There are so many things that affect the winner of a race", said Dawson "Before I read the racecard and looked at the form and decided which horse was going to win, but it is about preparations, conditions, how they are in the parade ring".

Dawson has clearly already created positive vibes for horse racing through his addition to the team. Taking celebrities from other sports could be the way to attract younger viewers but imagine the effect someone from the football world would have on younger viewers. Maybe Michael Owen could be approached, with his love for racing this could be an ideal opportunity to attract new audiences.

Ex-snooker player John Parrott is another example of presenters from other sports making the connections for different fans, maybe Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan could guest present the Morning Line.

The lack of competition for Channel Four now that the BBC have such limited coverage of the sport suggests they are open to any ideas that may improve audiences of the sport. Of course some of Channel Four Racing's traditional viewers may be pessimistic about new ideas to attract new fans but unfortunately this is what it may take to build larger fan bases.

So, well done Channel Four for making attempts to re-invent the sport and bringing it to a younger audience, what is left to do is the marketing of it at the right times. It helps that the football season is not in the way of a Saturday afternoon just yet. Could it be advertised between episodes of The Simpsons and Hollyoaks midweek? Maybe not just yet. Let's hope Matt Dawson appeals to younger viewers or we may see Homer Simpson costumes in the grandstands.

('DOH' nt' you fancy a day at the races?: Homer may appeal to new fans)

Back Hanagan for Every ride

(Champion?: Hanagan is closer than ever to top jockey)

Paul is Hanagin' on

Maybe a career in tipping racehorses is what I should do, instead of trying to attract potential employers with blogs about racing. After Hanagan's mount Harrison George obliged last week and I had written about it in the last post it is easy to say "I told you so!". But sometimes it isn't so difficult to find that winner this year.

If you had backed all Paul Hanagan's mounts this season from 559 rides so far you would have made a profit of £10.57 for £1 stakes. Not much you might say, but bearing in mind that Ryan Moore and Richard Hughes, the second and third in the championship this year it would have cost £37.94 and £22.16 respectively. The fact that Hanagan appears to like to win on fair priced horses is a good thing for his supporters. Take yesterday for example, while Richard Hughes rode the best horse Hannon has ever trained Canford Cliffs in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in a thrilling event Hanagan was pushing all out on the 10/1 priced Mortitia later in the afternoon.

Interestingly four jockeys, Hanagan, Moore, Hughes and Dettori all have a 20% strike rate this season but Hanagan has had more rides, still, it is the prices that count for the punter. With Hanagan's prize money exceeding £592,ooo and Ryan Moore's amounting to over £2 million it is clear that Hanagan just wants to win, regardless of the prize money, or how important the race may be. Hanagan my still be overlooked somewhat for the major rides in the major races but surely this is all set to change.

With Ryan Moore yet to complete the ban he picked up on Saturday this could leave even more time for Hanagan to surge forward in the championship table. Priced up around 1/2 for the title he will have to maintain the desire to win on every horse he sits on as Ryan Moore creeps ever closer with the winners. The bookmakers suggest Hanagan will win but they are careful to only offer the 6/4 mark for last years champion. However, this week suggest that Richard Hughes is still not out of running with his partnership with Richard Hannon proving deadly so far during this glorious Goodwood meeting.

After the World Cup Horse racing continues to provide a spectacle

(The Italian Job: Frankie Dettori is an ambassador of the sport)

Horse Racing stands proud in the wake of World Cup

Having not updated for a while now it seems fitting to apologise for the somewhat lack of effort in maintaining The Racegoer blog. But excuses could be made following a notable lack of resources on which one can be creative as well as the lack of opportunity in the midst of headlines dominated by the lacklustre performance of 23 Englishmen and their Italian commander.

One Italian should be commended however for the effort he maintains in his and our beloved sport, a sport which will still be building up to the next event and really never fails to be another boring World Cup Saga is one Lanfranco Dettori. At the Curragh tomorrow Frankie climbs aboard Hibaayeb sporting the colours of Godolphin in the Darley Irish Oaks to dispute favouritism with Champion Jockey Ryan Moore aboard Snow Fairy for the home fans and French raider Rosanara ridden by Gerald Mosse. Judging by the performance of the French in the World Cup Rosanara should be left behind leaving Hibaayeb and Snow Fairy to battle it out for the 246,500 Euros. The class of Snow Fairy looks certain to show through having had outings in Listed races and after its success by a neck in the Investec Oaks at Epsom earlier last month under the same jockey it looks the one to beat with Frankie's mount looking to re-enact it's form in the Ribblesdale stakes. The addition of weight to Hibaayeb following that race will tell over the 1 mile 4 furlong event tomorrow but Hibaayeb's confident 3 and a quarter length success suggests an interesting tussle. Otherwise Sir Michael Stoute's runner Eldalil will be hoping to reverse places with Hibaayeb and go one better under Richard Hills.

Back to today Paul Hanagan teams up with trainer Richard Fahey again at Haydock Park in the 8:10 bidding to add to his already impressive haul of 98 winners so far this season. Hanagan's best chance looks to be with Harrison George in the 8:10 and a possible double to take him to the magical hundred could lie with Mighty Clarets an hour later in the 9:10 again for Richard Fahey with the pairing looking good for this years title.