Coping with the Covid-19 Crisis – Massive Shock to the Country, the Population and the Racing Ecosystem

With eight years’ experience of writing the Owner’s Opinion blog, our 1st April edition normally writes itself. One strand is trapping the reader into an April fool (and you’d be surprised how many big names have succumbed), while the other is covering contentious issues from the Cheltenham Festival. This year, I suppose, the April fool would have been about owners offering to pay trainers their fees in toilet rolls; while I was itching to write about the dominance of top trainers at the Festival, not least the notable fact of 60% of the races (16 in all) being won by novices and the considerable advantage that these trainers have in being able to assess which horses are massively ahead of the handicapper. But the Prime Minister’s sombre announcement on Monday 23rd March that emergency measures were to be introduced to lock down the country quickly parked such irrelevancies.

As of the end of March, there have been 784,000 infections worldwide from the Covid-19 virus, resulting in 37,000 deaths. It took 67 days for the first 100,000 infections; 11 days for the second; four days for the third, and that miserable exponential climb is continuing. Some politicians, particularly President Trump, have been complacent in the extreme (at the end of January he commented that “We have it totally under control. It’s just one person coming in from China”, before expecting the US to be back to normal by Easter and even coming up with a mind-numbing comment that “People have died, who have never died before”). After a disappointingly slow and typically British response of “Keep calm and carry on”, during which the country wasted a vital three months of planning, testing and production of ventilators, the gravity of the situation has been fully embraced by the vast majority of the population through lockdown and social distancing. Sadly there have been 22,141 infections to date in the UK, resulting in 1,408 deaths, but this rate does appear to be declining slightly. We all pray that this trend continues, although the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jenny Harries, believes that it could be six months before all the current social distancing restrictions are lifted.

Is it really only just over a fortnight since we were cheering on Al Boum Photo in his thoroughly game back-to-back win in the Gold Cup? For virtually all of us, this will have been the most incredible few weeks of our lives. The lockdown has already had a profound impact on everyone, and the shutters have come down on almost every business sector. A whole plantation of money trees has been found, and an arsenal of fiscal bazookas launched: $2 trillion of funds in the US; €750 billion in the EU; and £330 billion in the UK. Central banks and governments have made it clear that “spend, spend, spend” is the order of the day and they will do “whatever it takes” to bail out otherwise viable businesses. We’ve had a national “clap session” for the NHS and 700,000 people have volunteered to help support them. This is definitely the UK at war – against a terrible virus.

It was inevitable, therefore, that racing would be abandoned. During the three days of 16th to 18th March we went from racing behind closed doors to total suspension. The same happened in Ireland on 25th March. Six Nations rugby was cancelled; the Dubai World Cup postponed to 2021; the Tokyo Olympics put back to July next year; and we won’t be cheering on the winners of the trio of Grand Nationals at Fairyhouse, Aintree or Ayr. The BHA handled the situation well and avoided the reputational damage which would have ensued if racing had struggled to carry on at a time of national emergency. As ever there were a number of strong counter-arguments, particularly from former BHA Chairman Peter Savill who felt that racing had missed a huge opportunity to engage a new audience and significantly expand betting turnover, while Mark Johnston felt that it was a “grave mistake to suspend racing”.

The £4bn industry of racing employs 6,500 racing staff, looks after 14,000 racehorses and directly supports a huge ecosystem of full-time and self-employed staff. The seismic shock of lockdown is still rippling through the industry and no-one can predict the damage that will be done to racecourses, trainers, bookmakers, sales houses, breeders, consignors, stable staff, jockeys, valets, bloodstock agents, farriers, equine physiotherapists, specialist vets, feed suppliers …. and of course owners, who for the most part will continue to pay out training or keep fees even though there is no prospect of seeing their horses out on the track in the immediate future. Encouragingly, though, there has been a massive collaborative effort from all the stakeholders in racing with a constant stream of advice and a multi-workstream “industry plan” focused on racing’s resumption. Racing seems to work best in adversity, and full marks to all the groups who have rallied round.

At a personal level I’m close to Martin Keighley’s yard and with the active support of key owners we created and implemented a business continuity plan that is now fully operational around two phases. The first covers the period from 1st April to 31st May, when the majority of horses will have been turned out into the paddocks and only a very small number being kept in training and “ticking over” so that if racing does resume they can take part at summer jumps meetings. The second phase is from 1st June to 31st August when hopefully most horses will return to full training and, most importantly, the full team will come back into normal employment after two months being furloughed under the government’s emergency funding measures. Every single employee, owner and supplier was briefed on the plan within 48 hours of its creation and there has been a hugely positive response – not least from Martin’s owners who have been tremendously supportive.

In some ways, although it has been a huge challenge for National Hunt yards – not least because such plans have led to a 50% reduction in income – it is more straightforward for them than for training colleagues on the Flat, all of whom were focused on getting their horses out on the track in April / May from the traditional start of the season with the Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday 28th March. Do these trainers continue, or stand their horses down while awaiting more clarity on when racing will resume? The impact on the Racing Pattern cannot yet really be evaluated – what will happen to the Classics, and will Royal Ascot take place?

Very detailed planning has been taking place on the potential resumption of racing, although it is most unlikely to restart until the viral infection rate has begun to decline significantly. Apparently the plans include racing operating behind closed doors through regional hubs in the North, Midlands and South of the country with consecutive fixtures taking place at these tracks over, say, a week at a time, and it would be easy to imagine a considerable number of maiden two-year-old races and jumpers’ bumpers being held. These plans are designed to ensure minimal impact on the NHS, and there will be reduced field sizes and only the most experienced jockeys participating, to reduce the risk of injury. Essential racing staff and jockeys would stay at hotels (so it could be that the racecourses selected would be those with such facilities either on site or nearby) and the horses would be transported to each track daily.

The government has been encouraging the industry to develop such “self-help plans” so that racing is ready to return at the earliest possibility. Although there have been no guidelines on other plans, it is to be hoped that these will emerge soon, particularly on racing-specific financial support. In particular, the Levy Board sits on reserves of over £45m, and the Racing Foundation a further £82m, which could help considerably. In the meantime all the emergency financial measures introduced by the chancellor Rishi Sunak (who as the member for Richmond is well aware of racing’s requirements, not least in Middleham) have been seized on by trainers, racecourses, contract and self-employed staff, and also the BHA who have furloughed 200 of their 260 staff, saving £1m a month.

A crisis of epic proportions! It is to be hoped that most of us will emerge relatively unscathed, and the number one priority clearly must be the health and welfare of the population of the country. Survival is paramount, before we all turn our attention to restoring the country’s economy. The effects of the crisis are bound to be felt for many years to come, and the racing industry will be buffeted in the same way as most other business sectors. Let’s hope there aren’t too many casualties. Unfortunately the industry was not in good financial shape going into the crisis, and it’s hard to imagine it will come out of it without there being significant damage. In the short term – stay safe and stay at home.

At a personal level we will all be trying to find solace and ways of surviving the challenges of social distancing and isolation. Those who know me well are aware of my enthusiasm and passion for fine wine. My wife and I have introduced a weekend wine tasting of the very finest in our cellar. Last Saturday we savoured the delights of a 1999 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese, Cask Nr. 165, Von Schubert. It was sublime and awe-inspiring. They always say that you shouldn’t waste a crisis – and we certainly don’t intend to, on the vinous front. May you find similar pleasures.

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From the Ridiculous to the Sublime: The Racecourse Experience at Worcester, Bangor and Royal Ascot

On average I go racing twice a week, so around 100 times a year. Indeed many people like me, who organise partnerships or syndicates, probably see more variety of racecourses, Owners & Trainers facilities and the overall racecourse experience than almost anyone other than jockeys and trainers. However, because trainers by and large are far better looked after and treated than owners, our insights are probably much nearer the reality of British racing. Indeed the Racehorse Syndicates Association (RSA) has been lobbying for more input into the corridors of power on this subject, but so far have been cold-shouldered by bodies such as the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA), which is a real pity.

Anyway, over the last six weeks, three experiences have stood out: one terrible, two excellent.

First the terrible one. On 2nd June, Worcester staged its annual Ladies’ Day, with a huge crowd of over 10,000. Unfortunately the result was that temporary Owners & Trainers facilities had to be used and there was an outcry from such trainers as Alan King, Warren Greatrex and Paul Nicholls. Owners described it as the “worst track they’d ever attended”. This is a real pity, because the track itself is a fair, flat, galloping one which I like a lot, and indeed on the day our horse, Dr Dunraven, lost his maiden tag, winning a 2m handicap chase. It’s not really the fault though of the local management. Jenny Cheshire, who heads their marketing, does a fantastic job and is always incredibly helpful. The bottom line is that the owners of the track, ARC, desperately need to make significant capital investment. At the moment the Worcester owner experience is so dire that it is dissuading owners from going. A recent survey showed that 44% of owners who leave British racing do so because of the poor raceday experience. If they all went to Worcester regularly we’d have no owners left.

So on to a much better one: Bangor. The ROA does a jumps racecourse league table based on prize-money, and in that Bangor is very lowly at 39th of 41 tracks (Worcester is 34th). So you might think that Bangor is a course that owners wouldn’t like. When I went there recently I couldn’t help but notice that it is punching massively above its weight. They have recently built a brand-new Owners & Trainers room that provided a sumptuous buffet with complimentary wine for owners. There may be no stands, with viewing being from a bank at the side of the track, but all the owners I spoke to could not have been more complimentary. It just shows what inspired leadership can achieve, even at one of the lesser tracks. I’ve always subscribed to the adage that “Ships sink from the Bridge”, and with the excellent management of Chester and Bangor, these ships are definitely full steam ahead. Bravo, Bangor.

Then the third one, which is an obvious selection, being Royal Ascot. Having studied the style guide, ensured that there were no missing socks or naked shoulders, my wife and I were duly togged up for the Royal Enclosure and had the most magnificent time on one of the best days of the Flat season, Day 1 of the meeting. Admittedly we were being wined and dined in a private box, but the whole occasion was British racing at its absolute best. No complaints over prize-money at over £7.3m during the week, and I gather that there were over 300,000 spectators. The attention to detail was the best I’ve ever seen on a racecourse – not just for humans but also for the equine stars. As an example I was really impressed by the misting machines that the horses could stand by in the unsaddling area to cool down.

Encouragingly, as far I could see, there were no problems with crowd violence, although it was strange to observe sniffer dogs trying to find drugs, amnesty boxes and breathalysers at turnstiles in case anyone showed (in lovely Ascot phraseology) “overt signs of inebriation”. Apparently there were more than 100 extra security staff.

A few highlights of the meeting for me were:

• Accidental Agent: really magnificent to see this winner for Eve Johnson Houghton and her mother, Gaie, in the Queen Anne. It was Eve’s first success at Royal Ascot and it was an extremely emotional one. She said that “you’ll have to man the lifeboats” to escape all her tears. The horse was named after her maternal grandfather, John Goldsmith, who was a member of the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War. The horse was bred by Gaie, but led out of Tattersalls Book 2 in 2015 unsold at 8,000 guineas. This gives hope to all of us!


• Calyx: won a really strong edition of the Coventry over 6f, and in the process became the market leader for the 2000 Guineas next year. Talk about a chip off the old block – he was the spitting image of his dad, Kingman.


• Stradivarius: the Gold Cup has always been one of my favourite races of the season, and this was a vintage finish with three horses battling it out right to the line. Exhilarating. The horse is on track to land the £1m bonus designed to encourage the owning and breeding of stayers. All he has to do (?!?) is win the Qatar Goodwood Cup and then the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup at York. Who knows, he might even go to Australia for the Melbourne Cup in November.


• Landmark successes: everyone seemed delighted for Sir Michael Stoute to record 76 winners on the first day, beating Sir Henry Cecil’s record. Both Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore passed significant milestones with 60 and 50 Royal Ascot winners respectively.


• Startling moments: two horses, Vintage Brut and Main Street, each only beat one horse home in their respective races at the meeting. Incredibly they had changed hands at the Goffs Ascot sale on Monday night for £280,000 and £300,000. The buyer was Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Chairman of Leicester City. He actually spent considerably more than that and was well into seven figures. The phrase “more money than sense” comes to mind.

The day-to-day fare of grass-roots racing will seem something of an anticlimax for a few weeks.

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Rapidly On From Epsom to Royal Ascot – and Will We Soon See Luxury Hotels on Racecourses?

Once again going into Epsom there was a feeling that there might not be any truly outstanding horses running, but I think that view has changed following a number of superb performances, not least from Minding, Postponed and then a little bit behind them, Harzand.

A number of us were lucky enough to have a visit to Coolmore Stallions in Ireland recently, with a couple of our owners brave enough to pat the mighty Galileo. His daughter, Minding, showed great bravery and versatility, I thought, to win the Oaks having been brought almost to a standstill at the top of the straight. Aidan O’Brien was particularly effusive afterwards, saying: “Speed, class, stamina, a great mind. Real heart, courage and guts had to come into it, but she had it in abundance, like all the Galileos.” At least I’ve stood next to the great Galileo, even if I’ll never afford to buy one of his offspring. This was a particularly notable performance, as she had three demanding races in five weeks, winning the English 1,000 Guineas, coming 2nd in the Irish equivalent and then the Oaks. She looks an outstanding filly and it will be interesting to see if they bring her back in trip or keep her at 1m 4f. I could see her doing well in the Autumn, in the Arc.

Postponed has long been a favourite of mine, and he just seems to be a horse who is getting better with age. By the magnificent stallion Dubawi, he was outstanding in the Coronation Cup and presumably will now be targeted at the King George. He is currently the Arc favourite. Sea The Stars has rapidly established himself as a top stallion, and his son Harzand won the most valuable race ever staged in the UK in this year’s Derby. Amazingly it was the first win in the race for Dermot Weld, who has been a hero of mine for decades. One wonders now whether his owner, the Aga Khan, will consider having horses again in the UK. It just shows again that once a late-maturing colt really starts improving, he can take huge strides forward.

By the time this blog comes out, we will be a couple of days into Royal Ascot. Surprisingly, rather than commenting on the racing, my eyes were drawn to an article in The Times on Monday entitled “Ascot considers betting on a hotel to attract year-round big spenders”. A friend of mine, particularly when he has had a few drinks, often quotes Peter Kay from Phoenix Nights: “Garlic bread, it’s the future, I’ve tasted it!” That had me thinking that in some ways racecourses in the UK could easily redefine themselves and their assets by branching out into other related sports and leisure activities. It is easy to think that racecourses don’t really change that much, but if you take an historical perspective, the evolution has been enormous. As indeed has been their demise. I looked up the number of racecourses that have actually closed, and was staggered to learn that 186 have gone through the 19th and 20th centuries, many as a result of housing and property booms. You only have to think of Bromford Bridge in Birmingham, Alexandra Park in London, Castle Irwell in Salford, Hurst Park in Surrey and Gatwick.

Guy Henderson, the Chief Executive of Ascot, is convinced that the track is such a magnificent site that a hotel could be a real game-changer, despite the considerable capital investment. He indicated that they may look for a partner to explore the options for the site. As it is, Ascot is a highly profitable course and their annual revenues were up 10% to £75m in 2015, with profits rising by nearly 11% to £18.7m. It is easy to see top-end racecourses going down the housing and hotel route with Newbury’s ongoing redevelopment an obvious example.

All that I am hoping is that the financial re-engineering and redefinition of racecourses such as this results in substantial additional funding for owners’ and trainers’ facilities. There is no reason why the two cannot co-exist, as Ayr demonstrates so well throughout the season with the marvellous lunches provided in the Western Hotel. So maybe this is an emerging element of the future of racing. Maybe not as popular as garlic bread, but significantly more sophisticated.

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Reflections on Royal Ascot: Is It Now the Biggest Brand and Racing Event on the International Stage?

I lived in Windsor for 15 years and for a fair chunk of that time had an office in Ascot, so I’ve observed the “Royal Ascot experience” pretty closely over the last couple of decades. Personally I believe there has been a transformation in the event, particularly since the £220m of investment culminating in the opening of the new stand. In effect, Ascot has reinvented itself and has reached new heights. Having been lucky enough to go along to two days of this year’s Royal meeting, here are some reflections on both racing and broader issues.

Day 1: Savoured by the purists and the next best day’s racing after Champions’ Day

Ascot peaked early this year! Freddie Head’s Solow was majestic in the Queen Anne, making it 7 wins from 7, while Gleneagles confirmed his status as champion miler, adding to wins in the English and Irish 2000 Guineas. Not for the first time, Aidan O’Brien confirmed him as his “best ever miler”, adding to similar comments when both Henrythenavigator and Rock Of Gibraltar did exactly the same. It will be magnificent if these two clash in the Sussex Stakes.

Internationalism: I believe that Ascot this year was the best international meeting that has ever taken place in England, despite the non-attendance of California Chrome and the dismal flop of Able Friend. For the first time there were more winning horses trained outside England. In Wesley Ward, British racing has a superb ambassador. Indeed he is positively evangelical about our sport.

Day 2: Love him or loathe him, when Frankie Dettori does well, so does British Racing

Acapulco looked as though she wouldn’t have been out of place in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham – a massive filly who completely burnt off the field of 2yos in the Queen Mary. She cut an awesome presence and, in the words of Ryan Moore, “looked and rode like a 4yo”. With his win in the Prince of Wales, Free Eagle could be a potential Arc horse. Incredibly Dermot Weld had his first winner at the meeting 42 years ago. Dettori’s triumph on Osaila was his 50th winner, putting him in 4th place behind Lester Piggott (116), Pat Eddery (73) and Willie Carson (56). That is one to remember for the pub quiz! What a rejuvenation in his career.

Personalities: racing definitely needs them. I suspect there were more column inches in the daily newspapers about Dettori than about the horses that day. Although everyone appreciates Ryan Moore’s brilliance (and by the end of the fourth day, his 9th win at the meeting was a record in modern times), there is very little broader public awareness of his contribution to the sport. A challenge there for some personal re-branding?

Day 3: Embodiment of racing’s heritage with the Gold Cup

If there is one race in which I would love to have a runner, it is the Gold Cup (and like The Open, it never has a qualifying introduction – it is the Gold Cup), partly because of its heritage going back well over 200 years when the Czar donated his trophy, but far more importantly because staying warriors, in my eyes, are the real equine stars. So the captivating moment, despite its being substandard, was Trip To Paris’s win, and hopefully booking his passage to Melbourne.

Ordinary owners: the platinum tier of ownership with ultra-high net worth individuals dominating both Flat and Jumps has clearly made a huge contribution to the sport. But this can be disillusioning for the ordinary owner. On Day 1, my wife and I were standing right behind the Act D Wagg Syndicate (including jockeys’ wives such as Gillian Walsh) when their Clondaw Warrior won the Ascot Stakes, and it was marvellous to see / hear their jubilant reaction. Similarly with the La Grange Partnership that had sportingly supplemented Trip To Paris for £35,000, having been so impressed by him when he won the Chester Cup – a marvellous return on investment.

Day 4: Continuous improvement of the racing programme has been richly rewarded

It is easy to forget that 20 years ago there were only three Group 1 races at Ascot, whereas now there are eight. The racing structure has evolved, names have changed and yet the overall heritage and quality have significantly improved. None more so than this year, when Muhaarar was an impressive winner of the newly introduced Commonwealth Cup – an undoubted success and tremendous incentive for 3yo sprinters. Illuminate winning the Albany also made it an emotional day, with a winner for Richard Hannon Jr. / Richard Hughes at their last Royal Ascot together before Hughesie competes against Hannon as a trainer.

Racing as an event: over 293,000 racegoers came along over the five days to enjoy the spectacle. How many of them will attend any other meeting? Just think of the impact on the sport if the majority of them could be persuaded to attend just one more day of racing? In many ways, though, spectators are now really supporting sport as a pageant and a huge social event, rather than necessarily being interested in the sport per se. That must have massive implications for the way in which racing is promoted and the fixture list organised.

Day 5: Betting finally falls apart – normal service resumed

By the time Day 5 arrives, wallets are light and energy depleted. Alas, the Wokingham was a complete disaster, with my nap of the week Huntsman’s Close deciding it was time to become a jumper and the back-up, Watchable, only running into 5th place. One result though that I enjoyed tremendously was the win of a €12,000 purchase at Osarus in Bordeaux, Suits You, for Eoghan O’Neill in the Chesham. This is a sale where I am intending to look for a yearling in the autumn with our trainer Karl Burke, who has also bought well there.

Investment and sponsorship: the Queen’s patronage of Royal Ascot adds massive brand value and must be one of the key factors in securing the considerable sponsorship of QIPCO as the leading commercial partner with £50m committed until 2024. Indeed if you consider the six brothers behind QIPCO led by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani, Sheikh Mohammed and the Coolmore trio of Messrs. Magnier, Tabor and Smith, then ten individuals in many ways now completely dominate the Flat. Obviously fabulous for all concerned, but not without risk.

All in all, a tremendous five days and a huge showcase for British racing. Already looking forward to June 2016!

I am always interested to hear your views so please do leave a comment. If you can't see the comment box at the bottom of this post then navigate to the post using the right hand navigation or click here > and scroll to the bottom of the page. Look forward to hearing your views. Thanks very much for sharing them.

The Growth Strategy for British Racing, Part 3 of 3: Many Positives, Credit where Credit’s Due, but also Some Major Areas Still to Focus On

On the eve of Royal Ascot, it’s easy for the outsider to look at our sport and believe everything is very rosy. Over the last few months we’ve had huge crowds at the Cheltenham Festival, Aintree, Newmarket, and Epsom on Derby day where they had over 120,000 attendees. Bloodstock prices at the sales are booming and sponsorship, particularly through Qipco, is injecting the highest level of investment that British racing has ever achieved. The quality and integrity of racing in Britain are by a considerable margin the best in the world, so there are many positives.

And yet as flagged up in the last two blogs, there are deep-seated problems in the sport, particularly around funding with a major dip forecast in a couple of years. When Steve Harman was appointed Chairman of the BHA, he was determined to develop a more strategic approach to racing and drive significant changes, initially around governance and leadership at the BHA. In effect the Board has now been transformed; there is a new CEO in place in Nick Rust; and relationships with Government have never been better, with a commitment to implementing the Horserace Betting Authorisation Right within this Parliament. British racing has never had a clear strategy, and credit should be given to Steve for driving through a process that encouraged all the main stakeholders to rally round, bury their differences and for the first time, “speak with one voice”. Full marks for that. The new Strategy for Growth is actively supported by Owners for Owners and we even made a contribution into one of the pillars, on ownership. Not surprisingly, therefore, we are very much in favour of the approach, although we are also prepared to argue that there are some additional areas to emphasise.

Key Targets for Growth in the Coming Years

BHA summary: increase the number of horses in training – 1,000 new horses by 2020; raise betting participation levels – up 5% by 2018; increase racecourse attendance levels – reaching 7 million by 2020; new income for the sport - £120m p.a. by 2018.

OfO appraisal: setting clear targets is a huge step forward for racing. However we would have liked to see at least two more: return on ownership at 23% (with owners losing on average 77p in the £) is abysmal compared to almost any other country in the world. The BHA should commit to improving that in a defined way between now and 2020. Also, the targets set are in effect focusing solely on increasing revenue, but like any other turnaround strategy racing should also set clear goals for cost down. Cost reduction is not mentioned at all in the Strategy for Growth. We believe that a cumulative target of £100m cost savings over five years could be achieved, with the savings reinvested into the sport. There is enormous scope for such savings in racing administration, contractual commitments between owners and trainers and standardisation of procurement.

Growth Pillar: Customer Growth

BHA summary: national survey of attitudes towards racing; consumer insight project with the involvement of all racecourses; improvement of sponsorship leverage.

OfO appraisal: it appears that racing from a spectator standpoint is going through a structural change. The average race-goer is now attracted to big events. Top race-days and those with themes such as Ladies’ Days are increasingly popular. At the same time the lower end of racing, and particularly the all-weather, has been abandoned. Terrestrial broadcasting is in decline. As an example, viewers for the Derby dropped from 4.1m in 2006 for the BBC to 1.47m on Channel 4 this year. There is a real need to improve the attractiveness and appeal of British racing. Two immediate areas require focus. The BHA needs to be given the authority to exercise centralised control over fixtures and the race programme. This will be an interesting test of the new tripartite governance structure between the BHA, the Horsemen’s Group and the racecourses. Secondly, and as a result of this, a much more holistic approach can then be adopted towards race planning, particularly based around much-needed data analysis of the preferred pattern of race-days and race types.

Growth Pillar: Horse Population, Ownership and Breeding

BHA summary: more efficient and cheaper ownership administration; easier access to syndicates to encourage new ownership; creation of wider options for colours to encourage associations with brands and clubs; improvement of the overall ownership experience.

OfO appraisal: having influenced the goal of 1,000+ additional horses in training by 2020, we are looking forward to a range of centrally-led initiatives aiming to achieve that. Similarly a dramatic simplification of ownership administration is a “quick win” – or at least it ought to be. We have a concern that because ownership administration and the cost associated with it is a revenue generator for Weatherbys and the BHA, it will suffer from a lack of urgency. While adding to the number of horses and, as a result, the number of owners is absolutely necessary, so there should be a similar focus on decreasing the churn rate and retaining owners. The Strategy for Growth doesn’t really address this issue. So for example while we can only applaud the investment at the top of the sport, there is a concern that the “ordinary owner” remains neglected, particularly in terms of prize-money. As an example, the minimum values prize-money at Class 2 level and below is far less than it was a decade ago, with place-money in particular at derisorily low levels. There is no point investing resources in bringing lots of new owners in, if racing can’t retain them.

Growth Pillar: Racing and Betting

BHA summary: “own Thursdays”; align GB and Ireland race timings and other race timing improvements; creation of a Racing & Betting Forum, key leaders from racing, betting and the media examining ways of improving participation in betting on British racing.

OfO appraisal: in many ways the ordinary punter has been a neglected stakeholder within British racing, and we applaud the commitment to engage the “voice of the gambling customer”. However from a betting innovation perspective we were very disappointed by the lack of transformational recommendations in the Strategy for Growth. Obviously the racing right, if secured, will be a huge step forward, but we felt that there should have been more insightful analysis of the opportunities presented by the decline of the on-course betting trade and the transformation of the off-course market, particularly through digital and online gaming. Furthermore, in only three years’ time the Betfred exclusive seven-year tote pool betting licence expires. There will be considerable benefits for the racing industry in acquiring that licence, and we hope that will come back on to the agenda. Finally, British racing remains undeveloped as a global betting opportunity and that needs examining in far more detail, together with the emergence of new betting platforms to capture it.

Growth Pillar: Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW)

BHA summary: create a short list of UHNW targets and identify potential assets for investment; integration of existing efforts and resources; develop a more formal relationship with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

OfO appraisal: one definition of a UHNW individual is that they don’t just own a company – they own a country. This area by its very nature is extremely sensitive and confidential and therefore it is not surprising that this section lacks specific detail of implementation. As has been seen, however, with the huge investment from the Middle East, securing a small number of extremely wealthy individuals can generate a massively positive impact in racing. Likely to be a prime focus for the Chairman of the BHA and we wish him well in pursuing it.

Foundation Pillar: Integrity and Regulation

BHA summary: enhanced equine anti-doping measures; rewrite the rules of racing.

OfO appraisal: obviously an essential foundation because without integrity there is no faith whatsoever in the quality of British racing. However we feel that it is time to put a number of other integrity issues properly on the table and would like to see a cross-racing investigation into the integrity of the bloodstock industry, sales houses, agents and syndicate racing managers. We all know of many rumours in this sector and there is definitely a need for greater openness, transparency and, as a minimum, “light touch” regulation through the framing of required minimum standards, codes of conduct and penalties for proven breach.

Foundation Pillar: Participant Welfare and Training

BHA summary: restructure of the sport’s welfare and training provision; integrated recruitment; injury rehabilitation; funding reform.

OfO appraisal: impossible to disagree with any aspect of this pillar. It says everything about racing that until the latest reorganisation of the BHA there was no-one at the centre in a human resources leadership role. Full marks for finally acknowledging the criticality of people, skills and capability in any change management programme.

It is clearly early days in the Strategy for Growth. We will certainly keep a close eye on developments and update our readers through this blog. Best of fortune to all those involved in implementation.

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Reflections on Royal Ascot 2014 – Fabulous Showcase for British Racing …. and a Few Issues

I don’t know if you saw the typically eloquent comment from Alastair Down in the Racing Post during Royal Ascot: “Because it is easier to pander to prejudice and caricature than it is to explain the many-layered complexities of Ascot, the broad brush stroke of the media settles for the simple portrayal of the meeting as some anachronistic toff-fest by Class Distinction out of Behind The Times.” He, like me, disagrees with that, although I often have trouble with some of the “pomp and circumstance” that is always associated with the Royal meeting. But before flagging up a number of issues that came to the surface, here is a personal view of the racing:

• What a start to the meeting for Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shakkab Racing (by the way, named after a massive battle in the 19th Century in the Ottoman Empire) with Toronado winning the Queen Anne and then The Wow Signal prevailing for John Quinn. Must have been a huge sigh of relief from Harry Herbert.
• Fabulous results for Eddie Lynam with Sole Power in the King’s Stand, Anthem Alexander in the Queen Mary and Slade Power in the Diamond Jubilee. How can such a relatively small yard do so well with sprinters?
• I’ve said to all our NH trainers how much I’d love to see our horses go to one of the staying races at Royal Ascot. Wouldn’t you love to have owned Domination in the Ascot Stakes, Hartnell in the Queen’s Vase or Pique Sous in the Queen Alexandra? You could have bought all three for under €100,000! And of course, what about Landing Light, under a superbly mature ride from Joseph O’Brien in the Gold Cup where, for my money, he out-rode Ryan Moore despite hitting the horse 11 times and being banned and fined.
• I’m glad I wasn’t the punter who had £100,000 on Kingman as they swung into the straight in the St. James Palace. But I would have been, after I saw the magnificent acceleration. Hasn’t 2000 Guineas form worked out well, with winners of the Irish Guineas, English and French Derbies and now this race.
• Everyone expected Treve to show why she is Timeform’s highest rated horse in the Prince of Wales. Amazingly she is the first Arc winner to race in Britain since 1990. Obviously not right in her action, she was thrashed by The Fugue who is top class when conditions are in her favour.
• I liked the comment from Jamie Osborne after Field Of Dream won the Royal Hunt Cup, when asked: “How will you celebrate?” …. “Well!”
• Eagle Top looked a top-quality horse in the King Edward VII. Would you keep him to 1m 4f or go for the Leger?
• Great to see Telescope bounce back in the Hardwick. Although I’m not a huge Highclere fan, it’s always good to see a syndicate grab a big one at Royal Ascot. Another sigh of relief for HH. There is quite a bit of rumbling amongst owners that maybe Highclere is no longer the main focus of Messrs. Herbert and Warren.
• In the Wokingham, Karl Burke’s horse Rivellino ran a blinder from a poor draw to finish 3rd, to land a number of good each-way bets for OfO owners. Thank you, Karl!

Phew! Sorry if I left off some of your favourite horses. But what about some of the issues that inevitably surround the world’s best Flat fixture? Quite a bit of murmuring that racing / bloodstock is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of a small number of very high net worth individuals. That was reinforced by the ultra-premium Goffs London Sale, in association with Qipco, at the Orangery in Kensington Palace on the Monday evening. That notably saw mare, Crystal Gaze, with Frankel foal, selling for £1.15m to the Magnier clan. Café Society was snapped up to go to Australia, and will go to the Melbourne Cup. It now seems that all you need to do to trouser £300k+ is to have a top-notch, 95+ 1m 2f to 1m 4f Flat horse and flog it out East. There was also the appearance of a new Russian buyer, Volga Star Racing, who spent £400k on a son of Giant’s Causeway. A fabulous sale, lots of spiffing champagne for the invited audience ….. but out of the price-range of most.

On the track itself we saw Stoute’s yard bounce back, and with John Gosden, dominate the meeting; so, again, a concentration of trainer power as well as buyers. The interference rule now appears to be too lenient and needs to be tightened up again, judging by the ease with which Hartnell gained the race having almost knocked Century over in the Queen’s Vase. Jockeys, equally, are ignoring the whip rule with over 46 days in bans being doled out. There is increasing controversy about the bias on firm ground on the straight course between those drawn high vs. low. Worryingly, not a single horse came to Ascot from the Southern Hemisphere.

Finally, there was a lot of debate about BBC vs. RUK vs. Channel 4. Depending on how you interpret the figures, it looks as though viewing has dropped over 50% under the C4 stewardship. Bearing in mind that only a few years ago, Ascot used to have an excess of 1.25m viewers, while simultaneously C4 was broadcasting from other venues with ½m viewers. A lot of viewers appear to have disappeared, and if that is maintained, it has considerable funding and media rights implications. Personally I’d sack a number of the presenters and bring back more individuals who can share the passion and excitement of racing. You don’t necessarily need lots of high tech for that, but you do need to be able to communicate the essence of what makes Royal Ascot such a stand-out meeting. And, very rarely for me at Ascot, I finished in profit on the betting front! But then, so did almost everyone else.

I am always interested to hear your views so please do leave a comment. If you can't see the comment box at the bottom of this post then navigate to the post using the right hand navigation or click here > and scroll to the bottom of the page. Look forward to hearing your views. Thanks very much for sharing them.

Reflections on a Right Royal Ascot

Right from the off, this year’s Royal Ascot was a highly charged and emotional event. No sooner had there been a poignant minute’s silence in memory of Sir Henry Cecil than the meeting kicked off with the appropriately named Declaration Of War scooting home in the Queen Anne for the Magnier clan and their Florida-based new partner Joseph Allen, who owns the sire, War Front. (By the way, that splendid mare Zenyatta is now in foal to him.) This collaboration is all part of the battle for supremacy in the global bloodstock market, and was richly rewarded again when War Command slammed his field in the Coventry to become 5/1 favourite for next year’s 2000 Guineas. There must have been added pleasure for Sheikh Mohammed therefore when his Dawn Approach bounced back from the disaster of the Derby to win the St. James’s Palace Stakes. I doubt if Jim Bolger is flavour of the month at the moment with the Coolmore mafia, since he has allowed the Sheikh access by the back door to their magnificent Galileo bloodline. The mix of owners in the St. James’s Palace though hammers home why Flat racing is such a challenge for the average owner who can rarely aspire to the top rank: nine runners, with the owners being Godolphin, Khalid Abdullah, Mrs. John Magnier (with Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith) (x 3 horses), Ahmad Abdullah Al Shaikh, Mrs. Bolger and Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani (x 2). Having said that, later in the meeting it was a delight to listen to the co-owners of Clive Cox’s Lethal Force after they had won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes with a horse that only cost them €8,500 (which is about the same amount that we paid for our Aran Sky at the same sale in Ireland a couple of years later. No pressure on Karl & Elaine Burke, then!)

But without any doubt this year’s Ascot was a bad time to be a republican. Estimate’s hugely popular win for the Queen in the Gold Cup on Ladies’ Day will long be remembered as the highlight of the meeting. Obviously royal involvement has been a striking feature since the whole spectacle started in 1711, but the Queen’s enthusiasm for racing has rarely been so well rewarded, as she became the first monarch ever to have a Gold Cup winner, and it was her first Group 1 win in Britain since Dunfermline won the St. Leger in 1977. I well remember that race since it was the first Classic that I ever went to, and unfortunately for me lost a packet on Alleged, the horse Dunfermline beat. Alas he didn’t stay, although he was a terrific horse who won the Arc twice for Vincent O’Brien (and as an aside produced Shantou, the sire of our Shantou Magic).

It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Estimate possesses the stamina needed to win this marathon Flat race. Her half-brother Enzeli also won it, and her sire Monsun throws many staying types. I’d love to have one of them in the Owners for Owners National Hunt portfolio, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for Shirocco stores. Wasn’t it great though for racing to be on the front pages for all the right reasons. I suspect it is only a matter of time now before John Warren, the Queen’s racing adviser and buyer of the Highclere horses, is elevated to the peerage. It was unbelievable to see the Queen so excited throughout the final couple of furlongs of the race – just like any other owner, in fact. Mind you, John looked as though he was about to get really carried away and embrace her at one point. It could have been a fine line between a peerage or the Tower.

I know we have the self-styled Champions’ Day at Ascot in the Autumn, but surely the only genuine Flat champions’ meeting in the UK is this one. Increasingly, international racing at the highest level is a real asset of the sport, with huge potential to raise racing’s profile and bring in much-needed revenue. Wouldn’t it be better if the racing authorities worldwide agreed on a proper World Series that tied together, in a sensible and coherent way, the top races in the UK, Ireland, France, Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and the USA? At the moment, for example, if you run a horse at Champions’ Day you are really ruling out your chances of competing at the Breeders’ Cup. That can’t make much sense.

Finally though it is only appropriate to say a few words about the other immensely popular winner of the week. Anyone who watched the post-race interview with Lady Cecil after Riposte’s victory in the Ribblesdale couldn’t help but be struck by her grace and poise as she struggled to describe what the win meant. It definitely felt as though it was the 76th Royal Ascot win for Sir Henry. How sad then that the Cecils’ horse Thomas Chippendale, having won the Hardwick, collapsed and died.

Highs and lows of racing often follow in rapid succession. Yes, our sport is certainly a helter-skelter of emotions.

Great Sadness, but Magnificent Memories of Sir Henry Cecil

Everyone connected to racing has been hugely saddened this week, following the death on 11th June of Sir Henry Cecil. It would be hard to think of anyone in our sport who has been so loved by the whole racing community. A huge loss, but also as the incredibly moving obituaries have emerged over the week – particularly the one by Alastair Down in the Racing Post – there has been such a sense of reflection on and celebration of a magnificent training career. This is bound to pervade the whole of Royal Ascot next week. Apparently there is going to be a minute’s silence when the meeting opens on Tuesday, and the Queen’s Vase on Friday will be formally run in his memory.

It is actually difficult to grasp the enormity of his success since 1969, when he started training: 3,431 worldwide wins, 418 pattern races, 25 British Classic wins, 75 winners at Royal Ascot and 10 trainer titles. I’m sure we all have our own favourite horses from a career that spanned five decades. Few trainers have ever been so naturally gifted in the conditioning and training of the thoroughbred, particularly stayers. It seems a long time ago now, but I can still visualise the bold determination of that contrary character Le Moss winning the stayers’ triple crown of Ascot, Goodwood and Doncaster Gold Cups at the end of the 1970s. And amazingly Sir Henry did the same again with Ardross at the start of the following decade. He won the fillies’ Triple Crown with Oh So Sharp in 1985, and then exceeded that performance with the mighty Reference Point who completely dominated the Derby, King George and St. Leger with his captivating front-running style in 1987. I thought he wouldn’t be surpassed. But then, in the twilight of Sir Henry’s career, along came Frankel.

After the glory days, it was so sad to see the training and personal decline of Sir Henry to the nadir of 2005 when he was barely in the top 100 trainer list, and had been reduced to a miserly 12 winners. Worse was to come, with the physical decline as stomach cancer took its grip. And yet, in the same way that his beloved roses would often have a late-flowering bloom, so Frankel provided the perfect ending to a magnificent Indian summer that began with Light Shift in 2007 and ran through to Champions’ Day at Ascot in the Autumn of 2012. I always felt that Frankel’s most brilliant performance was in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot that year, when he thrashed Excelebration by 11 lengths and earned the highest ever Racing Post rating of 143. My wife Jack has a different view and thinks the 7-length victory in the Juddmonte International at York was more impressive for being over a longer trip. We were both on the Knavesmire that day, where the sense of the crowd’s overpowering goodwill towards the agonisingly frail trainer was almost tangible. We also both went to Champions’ Day to watch that victory, and followed Frankel in his final departure from the paddock, heading for his new career at stud. It was such a poignant moment, partly to see the last of a racehorse who had been undefeated over three seasons, but also because we believed he had helped keep his trainer alive, and that without him it would be hard to survive for very long. And so it has proved.

The five best Flat trainers I’ve seen are Vincent O’Brien, André Fabre, Sir Michael Stoute, Aidan O’Brien and Sir Henry Cecil. There are common characteristics: instinctive empathy for the racehorse, extreme patience and the ability to fine-tune and channel a horse’s natural talent so that it can deliver the highest quality of performance on the track. But to my eyes Sir Henry would be primus inter pares when compared to those other great trainers. Most definitely first amongst equals, not only because of what he achieved in training terms but through his charm, approachability and self-effacing dignity. A much-loved person who will be massively missed, not just by his friends and family but by the whole racing community.