An unspecified form of protectionism might form part of the future of British horse racing after Brexit, it has been suggested during another extremely fruitful week for Irish runners at the Cheltenham Festival. Although the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup were won by British-trained horses, many races in between resulted in the home team being run ragged and British officials are now keen to ensure that a level playing field exists between the two countries.
Staffers from the British Horseracing Authority spent much of Friday fielding questions about why the domestic population of racehorses was taking such a battering at the hands of the visitors. Quietly they pointed to the levy of 1% of turnover from betting in Ireland which is directed towards funding the sport there. Since much of that betting is on British horse racing, the sport in this country is in fact a source of considerable funds for the sport in Ireland.
The future funding of British racing is currently a source of enormous anxiety, since so much of it also derives from the betting industry, which is expected to suffer from an imminent cut to betting-shop Fixed Odds Betting Terminals stakes. Matt Hancock, the culture secretary, was pressed about that subject during an appearance on ITV Racing here.
“I want to make sure that the support for horse racing is strong,” he said. “As a big fan of the sport I want to make sure that that is supported too … we’ve got to make sure that horse racing survives and thrives, as we’re seeing this week.” While so vague as to be almost meaningless, those words were being interpreted by BHA officials as a commitment. They intend to hold Hancock to his pledge of support, though there is no detail yet on what the government can be expected to do to plug any shortfall in racing’s finances that might derive from a FOBT crackdown. Any increase in taxation aimed at supporting a single sport seems out of the question.
In the meantime the BHA intends to put pressure on the Irish Turf Club to run the sport in its country on similar lines to those in Britain, with particular reference to the way weights are allotted in handicaps and the way their dope-testing is conducted.
For the first time this year the BHA has conducted unannounced testing of Irish-trained horses at their stables in the weeks before the Festival and tweeted the fact on Friday in an apparent attempt to assure racing fans that appropriate scrutiny was in place.
Evidently British officials would like to see Irish authorities doing more out-of-competition testing, just as the BHA plans to do more itself in Britain. There is also some renewed disquiet about the relative handicapping of English and Irish horses, the impression being that some Irish runners are getting into English races with less weight than they should be carrying.
Senior BHA officials will speak to their counterparts in Ireland about these issues in the coming months. If they are not satisfied with the response, it was suggested here, Irish-trained horses might not in future be able to rely on the same free access to British racing that they have hitherto enjoyed.
Whether such protectionism is appropriate would be a controversial subject even among British-based trainers, who seem inclined rather to credit their Irish rivals with high levels of skill and enviable levels of investment.
The Irish ended the meeting with 17 successes, Gordon Elliott claiming the top trainer title after sending out eight winners.
“They have got three or four owners buying the best horses,” said the Gold Cup-winning trainer, Colin Tizzard, an hour before his triumph with Native River. “It’s up to our English owners to buy these better horses.
“There’s an ebb and a tide. It will change for no reason. All of us in life get a little bit lucky sometimes. You know what it’s like, when you go to the dance hall and there’s a lovely girl there. Normally they walk the other way but sometimes when you’re young, they walk towards you.”
Tizzard was so worried about Irish dominance at that point that he was contemplating being driven out of the sport, not knowing he was to win the next two races. “I’m just worried I won’t be up here in four years, I’ll be home milking the cows.”
The final race of the Cheltenham Festival resulted in fatal injuries to two horses, taking to five the total number of horses lost during the four days of racing. Both fatalities in the Grand Annual Chase appeared to be the result of horses racing in close proximity to each other in the 22-runner field. Dresden was already falling at the second fence when he was knocked into by another horse racing right behind him, resulting in a back injury from which he could not be saved. North Hill Harvey suffered a fatal pelvic injury in a fall at the final fence, a fall caused by a loose horse jumping across him. Both were euthanised, as was Sandsend, who broke a leg during the County Hurdle as he mounted a challenge on the run to the final obstacle. Jamie Stier, chief regulatory officer for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said: “The BHA will be reviewing the circumstances leading to the fatalities at the Cheltenham Festival. We will examine the evidence from the past week over the next few days before deciding how we will pursue the review. We will also be examining whether the existing penalties for misuse of the whip, and how they apply, constitute an adequate deterrent to jockeys.”
Chris Cook
