It is four days since a family court found that Sheikh Mohammed had probably ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, one of whom was in Britain at the time she was taken. It seems fairly clear that the British Horseracing Authority does not intend to say anything in response. Officials apparently see the government’s silence as justifying their own but, while deferring to government is a responsible way to deal with the coronavirus, it looks like a convenient cop-out in this case.
Saying and doing nothing reduces the risk of the Maktoum money tap being turned off. No executive wants to be known as the one who chased away the sport’s greatest benefactor and thereby impoverished Newmarket.
But silence will also have a cost. What will it look like to racing’s casual followers, to marketing managers in charge of sponsorship budgets or to the world at large, the next time one of the Sheikh’s horses wins a major prize in this country?
We may very well find out in a couple of months, with the running of the 2,000 Guineas, the first Classic of the year. Pinatubo, an exhilarating beast who rocketed through his juvenile season unbeaten, has long been the hot favourite. He will carry the blue colours of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.
We have seen the scene many times before, as the Sheikh is fawned over by racing’s most senior figures in the winner’s enclosure, while the jockey profusely thanks His Highness for the opportunity. Surely it will have a different aspect this time, seen through the prism of last week’s judgment.
What will they make of it, racing’s future audience, watching on television? Imagine some horse-mad teenager who might have been the next Hayley Turner or Hollie Doyle, now thinking to herself what it must be like to be snatched off the streets of Cambridge by armed men, sedated and smuggled overseas. Will horse racing still be the right sport for her?
The ruling body should now open a conversation about how to limit the importance of one investor in the sport. It should consider limits on the number of horses one owner can have in training, on how much they can spend at British auctions in a single year, on how many racing stables they can own.
Such thoughts are anathema to most insiders, who have a hard enough time finding sufficient investors as it is. But perhaps limiting the impact of a single big-hitter may make the sport more attractive to other owners.
The aim must be to avoid, in future, the crushing moral shame of the present situation, with racing so beholden to one individual that it dare utter no criticism or hint at taking action against them, even in a case as appalling as the one described in court last week.
Kempton
1.55 Latent Heat 2.30 Artillery 3.05 Furqaan 3.40 Broughton Sunpearl 4.15 Enthaar 4.50 Gold Standard
Plumpton
2.00 Annual Invictus 2.35 Vicenzo Mio 3.10 Minella Daddy 3.45 River Arrow 4.20 Midnight Calamity 4.55 Champion Chase
Stratford
2.10 Elysian Flame 2.45 Darling Alko 3.20 Looks Like Power 3.55 Tidal Flow 4.30 Rootless Tree 5.05 Fixe Le Kap 5.35 Staithes
Taunton
2.20 Glajou 2.55 Grand Slam 3.30 Peterborough 4.05 Nineohtwooneoh (nap) 4.40 Seaston Spirit 5.15 Ballybreen (nb) 5.50 Kilmington Rose
Wolverhampton
5.40 Dragon Sun 6.10 Daafr 6.40 Night Voyager 7.10 Mooharreeba 7.40 Queen Aya 8.10 Effronte
Monday’s best bets
I’m not entirely convinced of the need for five race-meetings on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival but let’s call it a feast of action and get on with it. My focus is at Taunton, though the ground there is a lot more testing than you’d expect for mid-March, which may lead to the odd shock.
I don’t think it’ll be a problem for Nineohtwooneoh (4.05), who proved way ahead of his mark when scoring at Musselburgh last month. The Paul Nicholls/JP McManus runner is up 10lb but can go in again at even money.
The winning run ended last week for Ballybreen (5.15) but he still ran a fine race and was beaten only by a 66-1 shot unexpectedly bouncing back to form. He gets to run off the same mark in today’s hurdles contest and his slogging ability should stand him in good stead at 9-4.
In Stratford’s opener, there’s been interest in Elysian Flame (2.10) but the 13-8 is still fair for this juvenile hurdle. Mick Easterby’s chestnut gets a much more straightforward chance than he has so far faced over obstacles and the ground will not be as testing as when he got tired in a Grade One at Chepstow over Christmas.
This week …
… it’s that Cheltenham Festival thing you may have heard of. We’ll have our usual in-depth coverage on Talking Horses from Tuesday to Friday, including a tipping competition each day, the prize for which is a £100 account credit kindly offered by Betfair.
