Cue Card should have been disqualified for his jockey's use of the whip

Boxing day on a Saturday afternoon and a prime spot on terrestrial Channel 4 television. Fantastic exposure for the minority sport of horse racing.
Any casual viewer, channel surfing whilst waiting for the turkey left overs to warm up, who alighted on the coverage of Kempton Park's Christmas meeting would have seen the very best of my sport, and unfortunately a bit of the worst side as well.
As an hors d'oeuvres to the main 'King George' event, there was the glorious sight of Lizzie Kelly riding Tea for Two to victory in the Kauto Star Chase. Named after the horse with the top record ever at Kempton, this race is for the best novice horses (those in their first season jumping over the bigger fences) and has been won by many horses who have gone on to even better things - not least last year by subsequent Gold Cup winner Coneygree.
Lizzie became the first 'girl', as the male presenters on Channel 4 insist on calling female jockeys, to win a Grade 1 (basically the highest grade) steeplechase in Europe. Of course she has the advantage of riding a horse trained by her step-dad, but to the uneducated eye she rode a sensible race on what was the best horse. She did stick to the outside throughout but she got Tea for Two jumping really well, timed her challenge perfectly, and almost caressed her horse to the line without resorting to the whip.
The King George itself is the mid season championship for the best long distance steeplechasers in training. This year was a superb renewal. Apart form the temporarily incapacitated Coneygree, all the best horses in England and Ireland had turned up to contest the race. The quality of the contenders was clearly shown by the price of Sylviniaco Conti. This horse had won the previous two runnings but could be backed at a remarkable 10/1 to get the treble up. 
The finish was dramatic. Vautour, owned by the dastardly Rich Ricci, looked certain to win for the final mile. Mr Ricci is an American - boo - who made his fortune in the excess days of Barclay's Capital. There is even something of the pantomime villain about his appearance on the racecourses of Ireland and England - all tweed, trilby and sunglasses. But despite myself I cannot help but like him. His enthusiasm for the sport is infectious and he is unfailingly generous and polite in victory and defeat. 
But Ricci was denied victory in fairy tale fashion by Cue Card, fast becoming the favourite horse in the country. Cue Card started out by winning a lowly bumper at Fontwell of all places, but then went on to also win the bumper at the Cheltenham Festival at odds of 66/1. As well as foiling the usual coveted Irish victory in this race, it also put his unfashionable trainer Colin Tizzard firmly on the racing map.
Tizzard is a ruddy faced dairy farmer, born in a caravan, and speaks in a wonderful Dorset burr. Cue Card has done well in all the top races since his initial bumper upset, winning fans from across the country, but never quite removing the suspicion that he was unable to last out the blue riband distance of 3 miles plus.
This season, trained in Tizzard's newly built barn, and after an operation on 'his wind'*, he has been a revelation. He trounced Silviniaco in a race at Haydock and was expected to put in his best performance in what was his 4th appearance in the King George.
Coming to the last it looked like Cue Card was destined for second place. He jumped the fence poorly but gained on Vautour all the way to the line.
A photograph confirmed he had won by a head. Cue (Card!) joyous celebrations in the winner's enclosure, tearful interviews with the owners, Colin Tizzard himself and the jockey Paddy Brennan.
Fantastic drama and excitement yes, but also a massive own goal scored by racing on a day when it is as close as it ever is going to be, to being the centre of sporting attention. It was obvious, even to a casual observer, that Cue Card had been hit with the whip by his jockey a lot of times in the closing stages of the race. Whips are made of a 'soft' material these days but clearly Brennan had hit his horse more times than the rules allow. Cue Card would almost certainly not have won if the jockey had not done this.
For reasons best known to themselves the army of pundits employed by Channel 4 Racing failed to comment on the issue at all. But the stewards had spotted it, and after Channel 4 went off air it was announced that Brennan had been fined £4,200 and banned for 11 days for 'using the whip above the appropriate level' - i.e. hitting Cue Card too often.
The reality of this is that Cue Card won this race only because his jockey broke the rules about use of the whip. In what other sport can you win by breaking the rules, be fined and banned for doing so, but still be allowed to win?
It's hard to blame Paddy Brennan for this - indeed the rules as they stand encourage him to act in this way. I am pretty sure any jockey would accept a short ban and fine in return for winning a race of this stature.
Racing needs to wake up and realise how bad the use of the whip on a horse in this way looks. By allowing this to continue the British Horseracing Board are playing directly into the hands of extremists who would like to see horse racing banned altogether.
If Cue Card wins the Gold Cup in March his owners will collect a £1million bonus for winning the new jumping 'triple crown.' I truly hope that he does it, but not - for racing's sake - as a result of excessive use of the whip


*This is strange racing phrase used by trainers which has nothing to do with 'wind' in the human sense - rather it is a simple veterinary procedure which helps a horse breathe better when running fast at the end of a race

Flat caps, whippets, cockles and the ATR cameraman bidding for the winer of the seller - Fakenham

This year I decided to eschew Champions Day at Ascot for the delights of the first meeting of the new season at Fakenham, and what a wise choice it turned out to be.
Gate staff at Fakenham, the North Norfolk racecourse are friendly. In fairness the bowler hat brigade at Ascot have got better in recent years but it was nice not having to dodge the tie police.
There was something of the first day of term about today's meeting. Friends who had been their separate ways over the summer were meeting up again, and everything was freshly painted, I mean, creosoted.
To be honest I did not know exactly what to expect. I knew Fakenham, by virtue of its location, is out on a limb a bit. That probably explains why a chap called 'Maurice' was interviewed before racing. Maurice had made it his mission to visit every racecourse in the UK and Fakenham was the last one on the list. I think if I was involved in the track I would want to know from Maurice why he'd had left my track till last, but far from being offended the Fakenham folk even arranged for him to present the trophy to the winner of the big handicap chase on the card.
There was part of me that thought it would be all a bit rustic. The course is the tightest jump circuit in the country; Chester with obstacles. I even made a feeble joke about NIN - the old doctor shorthand, normal in Norwich - which went justifiably flat en-route. 
Turnips and tractors it is not. This is a course that makes you welcome, lets you watch the action in exciting close up and attracts some top class names. Grand National winning (x2) jockey, Leighton Aspell was there. Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls blooded highly promising novice chasers that could easily feature at the Cheltenham festival next March, and all this was watched by a large, knowledgable crowd.
Obviously the bookies were understandably nervous 

seeing a reputable judge like me turning up (I've always been faintly deluded!) but it was possible to get a good bet on in what seemed to be a robust and competitive ring, with even some layers willing to back their judgement rather than just arbing on the exchange.
Anyway enough of the technical punting/racing stuff - I heartily recommend Fakenham. Tea and coffee for £1.20, nissan huts containing a packed turn-up and eat seafood restaurant,

home made scones, cockles £3 a punnett and exciting racing.
There were flat caps a plenty, 3 whippets being walked and (Sir) Robert (er, umm Bob) Cooper was extolling the joys of the course in his own idiosyncratic style on At the Races. 
Even unflappable Bob seemed momentarily alarmed when his cameraman made a bid for the winer of the seller after the first race. But he is right - Fakenham is a country course, with Norfolk charm and excellent facilities. There's no face painting, bouncy castles, hen or stag do's or after racing pop concerts because it is the horses who are centre stage. I heartily recommended a visit.

Fakenham marks (out of 10)
Welcome/friendliness 8
Atmosphere 8
Betting ring (size, competitiveness) 6
Racecard (cost, quality) 6
Queues for bar 5
Viewing 6
Standard of racing 6

Total (out of 70) 45

Punting success - profit!

The line from Cashel's gone quiet so Found it is

Well that wasn't exactly great was it. I am no expert on rugby but even I could tell that England were poor. The rugger boys even made the football team look good in comparison. The curse of ITV strikes again. They paid hugely for the rights to the Champions' League and no English teams qualified for the knock-out stages, and now they make the Rugby World Cup central to their sports strategy and the national side do not make it. Stop giggling at the back Sky and the BBC.
Anyway to more important matters and this afternoon's Arc. Sadly no Sir Peter O'Sullivan there this year. He drove to the meeting for more then 50 years, and was reputedly even stopped by the French traffic cops for doing 100mph on the Paris ring road 4 years ago - they let him off with a warning as he was only exceeding his age by 7 years!
The marvellous mare Treve, and her equally marvellous trainer Criquette Head-Maarek, could make history as the first horse to win the Arc for the third time. 
Of course there are no certainties in racing, or indeed sport (e.g. South Africa v Japan). I cannot see our champion, Golden Horn, striking a blow for the English Derby. He's drawn in the car park, and I did not like the way he jinked right under pressure at Leapardstown last time.
For me if anything is going to dethrone Treve, it has to be another female, in the filly Found. I'll be visiting Cashel next weekend, and as anyone who has been there knows, everyone there knows somebody who knows what is going at Ballydoyle. Found has now been tipped up to me 4 times, and each time she has lost. Today will be her first time over a mile and half, I'm convinced the 3 year old fillies are better than the colts this year, and there is total silence from my connections in Tipperary. This can only mean they are all getting on before the price contracts.
Found each way for me at 20/1 - would be good for the pocket but I still hope Treve does it really.

As They Cross Wilson Avenue

Graham Green must take most of the blame. Brighton Racecourse 'enjoys' a reputation for a certain roguishness on the back of the depiction of razor gangs and racketeering in his most famous novel Brighton Rock, and the iconic Boulting Brothers film based on it.
In actual fact the events portrayed in Green's book took place at the long closed nearby Lewes racecourse, but the image has stuck.
15 years ago there was every chance that Brighton racecourse would suffer the same fate as Lewes. Long neglected by its owners, Brighton Council, it was unloved, unsafe and basically a dump.
Under the inspirational leadership of local racing fan Phil Bell - now gone onto to great things at Chepstow - the course was smartened up and has enjoyed something of a revival.
To be honest the course is never going to be Ascot but its future looks secure and a day watching the racing there is always interesting.
Last Monday was a day for real racing fans, not the stag/hen, family fun, ladies' day crowd which Brighton, along with many other courses, try to attract in the summer.
Autumn had set in, and the wind swept across the paddock. The betting jungle was sparsely populated.

Brighton is a unique racecourse, uneven with twists and turns, which favours course specialists. One of my first successful betting strategies was to follow a horse called Belper, who had only one eye. He could not win anywhere except Brighton, where he could fix his good eye on the running rail and find his way to the finishing line.
In all races except those over the shortest distance of 5 furlongs, the horses have to gallop across a road. This can be scary, especially when the wind is tugging at the straw matting put down to cover the tarmac, and the rain makes it as slippery as ice.
A tradition amongst the commentators is to mention this road in every commentary, making Wilson Avenue the second most famous road in racing folklore (after the Melling Road at Aintree obviously).
Inevitably with the inclement weather changing the going, the results on Monday proved to be a bookers' benefit with a host of long odds winners.
Highlights for me were seeing the veteran horse Megalala, 14 years old and effectively drawing his pension in horse terms, go into the stalls without any help from his jockey or stall handlers. He finished 3rd, beating horses over 10 years younger than him.
Most Brighton racedays include a seller. These are for the worst horses in training, and involve the winning horse being sold at auction immediately after the race. The great sports journalist, Ian Carnaby, sponsors a 'truly awful' selling race at Brighton every year, and in days gone by used to finish his day out in town with an evening listening to the late Rockin' Billy playing Billy Fury discs in Preston Street.
Brighton racecourse still has its many detractors. The chances of it ever hosting a Derby trial (eminently sensible because if a horse can handle Brighton it could certainly deal with the contours of Epsom) again are probably long gone. It suffers vandalism, the going can be very firm in the summer, the travellers were still allowed to camp at the 2 furlong poll this week but it remains a cracking day out.
Oh and even if the getting out stakes (or in my case the getting in deeper stakes) does not work out there is a chance of a rainbow to guide you into town afterwards.

Brighton marks (out of 10)
Welcome/friendliness 8
Atmosphere 5
Betting ring (size, competitiveness) 5
Racecard (cost, quality) 6
Queues for bar 8
Viewing 7
Standard of racing 4

Total (out of 70) 43
Punting success - lost

Shrewdies followed Hayley

My sadness at hearing the best woman jockey, Hayley Turner, is to retire at the end of the season is countered by the knowledge that she is is to end race riding in one piece.
It is with good reason that jockeys are one of the few professions who do their job followed by an ambulance, and Hayley had a really nasty fall a couple of years ago in which she received very serious injuries and was fortunate to not be killed or paralysed.
I was lucky enough to see Hayley riding at her very best, when in my judgment she was amongst the best five jockeys in the country. 
Happily Yarmouth racecourse reopened this week. The track used to have perfect going, with a good covering grass onto top of the sandy soil. As a result the top Newmarket trainers often would give their best young horses their first run at the Suffolk track.
The September festival was the highlight of the year and I made a special trip to see some hotpot maiden two-year olds run at the meeting.
Hayley Turner was riding there and outshone the other jockeys, riding a stack of winners on both fancied and unfancied.
Being near the HQ of racing Yarmouth has always had a knowledgeable crowd and it was obvious from the affection shown to Hayley that they knew how good she was. Her walk from the weighing room to the paddock saw her negotiate an obstacle course of well-wishers, autograph hunters and cynical gamblers with admirable good humour.
Over the years I won more money than I lost backing horses partnered by Hayley, but I do not think it is my pocket talking when I suggest for a couple of years she may have been the best of the lot.
The advantage for the punter was that still within racing there is a prejudice against female jockeys, especially that they are not 'strong in a finish.' This gave shrewd punters (and even unshrewd ones like me) a slight angle as her horses often went off at a price a little bit higher than if they had been ridden by a (often less skilled) male jockey.
So good luck to Hayley, thanks for the wins - and it would be nice to see her have a final winner at this year's Yarmouth September festival on its newly laid track.