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We have been treated recently to some rather pious stuff about the punter being the most important person in racing. And there are places where punters are important: most everywhere around the world in fact. But here we have a specifically Irish problem involved in a very Irish solution.
Rather than platitudes it is hard cash that empowers punters throughout the globe. Because in a betting system that works, anything that turns people off going to the windows impacts financially on what goes on out on the track. There is a direct and tangible self-interest in keeping each other’s backs scratched.
In Ireland however, through a tortuous series of machinations over decades, we are soon going to have a racing industry financed by a system that has little or no connection to those betting on it.
Expectations at HRI are that legislation guaranteeing funding to racing will still be outlined next month. In itself, and certainly in the current economic climate, this is a stunning coup, particularly as it also has cross-party support in the Dail. It provides a financial insulation that other industries can only dream of.
But the reality is that that insulation reduces to the status of cannon-fodder anyone going into a betting shop to have a bet on Irish racing.
Only ten per cent of turnover is on Irish racing anyway. But soon all turnover tax will go to Irish racing whether it is generated on football, golf or tiddlywinks. That is great for racing professionals and for the overall health and status of the sport/industry in Ireland,
But in terms of labels such as “the most important person in racing,” it makes an individual like Denis Brosnan and his political abilities a helluva lot more influential than any theoretical entity such as “the punter.” And in the long-term, can such a remove be good for anyone?
We saw maybe a sign of things to come with the Golan Go case where the complexion of a race was completely changed when damage to a stall resulted in the horse running anyway from a completely disadvantageous draw.
The rule that allows this was resolutely defended by the Turf Club but it did so on the back of consultations with the trainers association where the regulatory body was left in no doubt that getting a run had to be the priority. And so something patently offside, and eminently fixable, can theoretically happen again.
It is that line of thinking that also makes it apparently acceptable within racing for integrity service budgets to be slashed in the interests of preserving prizemoney levels as high as possible.
Certainly for those within the industry, the reality has always been that “the most important person in racing” is the owner. Without the owner nothing happens and owners are going to be fighting for prizemoney generated whether people are betting on the fundamental product or not.
So how important can the punter be in such an environment? And in the long-term, can such financial insulation from the gambling realities on the ground be good for Ireland’s racing industry?
What we can confidently claim is that singing “hallelujah” everywhere does not prove piety.
It was certainly a good weekend for the afore-mentioned Denis Brosnan who saw the colt he bred, Zoffany, put in a startling display in the Phoenix Stakes.
Maybe something will be lurking in Strong Suit’s system to excuse him his third placing, or maybe it is a simple case of Richard Hughes not being able to secure him any cover.
But the raw pace Zoffany showed was hugely impressive and although he has already run six times, there is a size and scope to the Aidan O’Brien trained colt that promises the best may yet be to come.
What also came out of the Phoenix was the danger in writing off horses on the back of just one run. Glor Na Mara was hugely-touted before his Anglesey debut only to drop right out behind Dunboyne Express. His bare form improved massively to finish runner up in the Phoenix and the antennae of the Bolger team appear to be running to full capability when it comes to identifying top juvenile talent.
