Social distancing mats at Clonmel Racecourse during behind closed doors racing© Photo Healy Racing
Racing's reputation has taken a battering since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic first started to be felt. A lot of the flak has been grossly unfair. But the old political maxim applies about denials meaning you've lost the point already. So now is as good a time as any to proclaim how this is a great game with centuries of tradition behind it and an appeal sure to endure long into the future.
That's because there will always be a public that find the sight of a thoroughbred in full flight to be a thing of beauty, and the circus around it as enthralling a human distraction as there is to be found anywhere.
Ultimately everything else springs from that. Even the hardest industry professional or the most jaded of punters at some point first became aware of horses and jockeys in competition, plus the betting and shenanigans surrounding them, and thought that is bloody exciting. Most emotional investment, from the billionaire owner to the betting shop fan is rooted in that fundamental appeal.
Of course there will always be some for whom the bet is the thrill and it doesn't matter what it's on, just as there are the very rich in it just for the thrill of association. But at a time of such fraught uncertainty, where racing and all other entertainment can appear to be very trivial indeed, it's important to remember how the sport's allure abides.
Just how central racing's pull is to so many is underlined by just how gaping the hole left in its temporary absence.
For many who make their living from the industry the question of just how temporary this will be is of vital importance. Others facing their own economic struggles in the midst of an overarching public health crisis are keenly missing out on the sport for entertainment and distraction. It's easy to tip over into the glib in such circumstances but inevitably this crisis too shall pass and sport will survive.
Those of us in thrall to this particular part of the sporting spectrum always want it to thrive rather than just survive. Boosting one area by deriding another is an unattractive instinct at any time and racing has been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism in recent weeks, much of it smacking of caricature and ignorance.
As someone who sometimes ventures into other sporting arenas armed only with personal prejudices and a lack of expertise, I recognise the recipe only too well: mix in a stereotype or two with some sweeping generalisations, season with some topical typecasting, sprinkle a dash of cliché, and hey presto.
It's dog-whistle stuff gobbled up with relish and usually amounts to little more than mischievous fun at the expense of some dubious tastes.
However some of the stuff directed at racing since the Cheltenham debacle has tipped over into areas a lot more incendiary than that, something admittedly not helped by the industry's seeming determination sometimes to help the process along with some needless home-cooked gaffes of its own.
Such own-goals are infuriating for those of us who believe racing at its best contains a level of excitement, detail, shade, nuance, devilment, inspiration, ugliness, beauty and all round human drama that puts everything else in the shade. It is sport for grown-ups, a sort of chess requiring a level of knowledge to fully enjoy which makes other pursuits as relatively one dimensional as draughts.
Expecting everyone else to understand it is expecting too much. Presuming everyone should at least admire the levels of skill exhibited on a near-daily basis by its leading figures also presumes too much. Some find it easier and more entertaining to play with the cartoons. Others simply just don't get it.
The frustration sometimes is how racing here can seem either ambivalent about properly exhibiting its best side to those who do get it or is simply disinclined to do so. Instead it resorts to trying to keep the best side out which is not the same thing. One is an exercise in optics. The other is actively pushing for profile and attention rooted in a confidence about what it's got to offer.
Frustration at failure to try and exploit that best is at the root of much valid criticism. It will still be valid when this pandemic has someday been got under control. Pointing out where a sector is falling down is usually based in exasperation at how much better it could be. That kind of scrutiny might be uncomfortable at times but indifference is a much worse alternative.
Such considerations will feel important once again in the future although it's hard to believe during the reality of this existential present. The idea of sport resuming in any shape or form will seem irrelevant to a lot of people right now but when the time comes such a resumption will feel like a vital harbinger of normality for many others.
Racing looks placed to be the first major sport to be in a position to mount such a return.
It's important to keep in mind how even during the worst that Covid-19 threw at them, racing behind closed doors has carried on in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. The track-based model helped. But ten meetings staged behind closed doors here prior to last week's shutdown suggest such arrangements are doable.
The precise nature of how any such resumption might take place is unclear. The BHA's plans anticipate any return being "phased" and almost certainly behind closed doors. It will also be concentrated on flat racing for safety reasons and to minimise demands on emergency services. That's based on a possible May 1 return date which appears very optimistic.
Racing here is off until at least April 19 which is around when the coronavirus surge is forecast to peak. The timing of any dip on the other side of that peak is impossible to forecast. But it makes any prospect of a return to racing in the first half of May look like an outstanding result. Even then there's no knowing what restrictions may apply, including on travel within the country.
Maybe a phased return of flat racing behind closed doors at a number of tracks such as the Curragh and Dundalk might ultimately be in the offing. In the circumstances such a prospect could be as good as it gets. Right now it will be enough. All that matters in the meantime is looking for out for each and everyone.
