All three of Monday’s race meetings in Britain will be broadcast on At The Races, which is available in any home with a basic satellite or cable package, while subscribers to Racing UK, its subscription-based rival, will get hour upon hour of replays for their £25 a month.
Midwinter Mondays, though, are not what they pay for, as RUK has much of the best of British racing and the bulk of our good stuff is staged between Wednesday and Saturday. As a result, today’s apparently lop-sided split between three meetings on ATR and nothing on RUK is probably in the best interests of the sport as a whole, as in effect it gives away the low-key action at a knock-down price while reserving the premium product for those who are willing – and able – to pay nearly £300 a year for it.
It is positive in terms of the coverage too, as RUK, with fewer but better races on its roster and guaranteed income from its subscribers, can give the best of British racing the close attention it deserves. So perhaps we should all appreciate what we have while we still can, because if Michael O’Leary is right, At The Races will be on borrowed time after RUK grabbed the rights to cover Irish racing – about 350 meetings per year and around 70 Pattern events – from 1 January next year.
“If Racing UK takes over Irish racing then At The Races folds,” O’Leary told the Racing Post’s Richard Forristal. “And what happens then in two or three years’ time when the deal comes up again and there’s no alternative? I don’t understand the decision making.
“If Racing UK offered a huge amount for the rights then fine, but whoever’s selling the rights should come out and say that. I’ve seen nothing yet to say Racing UK have offered double the money. What’s the money? I would be very worried if Racing UK has a monopoly because I don’t see At The Races surviving. And that would be a very damaging development to Irish racing.”
O’Leary’s view reflects widespread concern in Irish racing about what seems an inevitable switch to RUK. This is because, in the complex web of rights sales for different markets – betting shops, home viewers, international and so on – the Irish rights have already been sold to Satellite Information Services (SIS), and it is SIS which is now switching sides to join Racecourse Media Group, the parent company of RUK. Any attempt to derail the move would almost certainly lead to a very costly contractual wrangle with between Irish racing and SIS.
ATR viewers will see their programme of live racing pretty much cut in half, unless the channel can persuade some RMG tracks to jump the other way, but RUK’s schedule will often be full to bursting from 1 January. There will surely be more clashes between races and split-screens on the busiest days, which is hugely irritating for viewers.
All in all, the only certain winner here appears to be RMG, which will be able to squeeze more money from its rights while giving a good, perhaps even terminal, kicking to its only rival. In the grander scheme, though, it does look very much like a return to the kind of narrow-minded focus on factional interests with no regard for the bigger picture racing had been doing its best to leave behind.
As for today’s cards, Jackfinbar (7.15) posted a useful time over course and distance last month and is a very fair price at around 3-1 to follow up at Wolverhampton this evening. Smooth Stepper (2.45) and Sky Full Of Stars (3.20) both have solid chances over the jumps at Newcastle, while Ashkoul (3.35) appeals at around 7-4 against the odds-on Global Citizen in what is effectively a match for the novice hurdle at Southwell.
Nicky Henderson 35% (23)
Nick Williams 33% (9)
Paul Nicholls 31% (26)
Donald McCain 27% (30)
Kim Bailey 23% (13)
Sue Smith 20% (20)
Neil Mulholland 19% (21)
Dan Skelton 18% (34)
Harry Fry 18% (11)
Gary Moore 17% (36)
Kerry Lee 17% (12)
David Pipe 17% (12)
Colin Tizzard 16% (25)
Fergal O'Brien 15% (13)
Dr Richard Newland 14% (7)
Lucinda Russell 13% (24)
Philip Hobbs 13% (16)
Nicky Richards 13% (16)
Tim Vaughan 13% (15)
Tom George 11% (19)
Warren Greatrex 11% (19)
Evan Williams 10% (31)
Alan King 10% (21)
Charlie Longsdon 10% (21)
Brian Ellison 10% (20)
Oliver Sherwood 10% (10)
Nigel Twiston-Davies 9% (22)
Ian Williams 9% (22)
Jonjo O'Neill 8% (25)
Emma Lavelle 8% (13)
Venetia Williams 6% (18)
Ben Pauling 0% (7)
Peter Bowen 0% (6)
Malcolm / Ruth Jefferson 0% (8)
Rebecca Curtis 0% (1)
After briefly dropping to fourth in last week's table, Nicky Henderson is back in his accustomed position at the top, thanks in part to a treble at Sandown on Saturday. Paul Nicholls is also firing on all cylinders for the first time in several weeks, with five winners over the weekend.
Colin Tizzard's fortunes appear to be reviving, judging by a Wincanton treble on Thursday. Philip Hobbs has had a couple of winners in the past fortnight, but they came in a bumper and a two-runner novice hurdle and he'll be hoping for much better from his string before the Festival comes round, having had a thin time of it since the start of December.
The Venetia Williams yard has been a sleeping giant so far this winter. Ben Pauling has now gone for seven weeks without a winner, though he has three clear chances to end that run at Southwell today.
• Each Monday through the core jumps season, we're monitoring the relative success of 35 major jumps stables. The percentage figure is their win strike-rate for the last fortnight, while their total number of runners in that time is in brackets.
Newcastle 1.40 Oriental Cross 2.15 Undefined Beauty 2.45 Smooth Stepper 3.20 Sky Full Of Stars 3.50 Rosquero 4.20 Absolutely Dylan
Southwell 2.00 Two Swallows 2.30 Ulis De Vassy 3.00 Boreham Bill 3.35 Ashkoul 4.05 Lex Talionis 4.35 Miss Fleming
Wolverhampton 4.45 Burauq 5.15 Three Majors 5.45 Major Crispies 6.15 Arcanada (nb) 6.45 Indian Red 7.15 Jackfinbar (nap) 7.45 Samovar
