Safe Cross Code

Just how elitist National Hunt racing has got was evident at the opening of Ireland's flat turf season on Sunday. This is normally an unloved date wedged between Cheltenham and the Grand Nationals. But if there wasn't rapture at the prospect of eight months of flat action there was anticipation. Maybe even some relief. In the past a lot of 'little guys' famously wouldn't cross the road to a closed-shop flat fixture. But the codes have crossed. Somehow the flat has become the new egalitarian.

Of course that's an exaggeration. It's not like Irish flat racing doesn't have its owner and trainer behemoths. At elite level there is a concentration of wealth and resources to put some of the jump game's big-hitters in the hae'penny place. But opportunity lurks further down the ranks that often doesn't appear to exist over the jumps anymore. And it's keeping a lot of owners and trainers going.

Plenty will tell you their heart is in the jumps but their head says they wouldn't survive without the flat. It used to be dismissed as a business rather than a sport. But it is that greater global market which is keeping a lot of industry heads above water and you've got to be able to afford your passion.

It's why many trainers are paying more and more attention to the flat. From an outside point of view however it's interesting to examine if punters and fans generally are inclined to follow suit, enticed by a greater spread providing, in perception terms at least, greater competition.

One racing stalwart told me she is anticipating a summer of quality competition not confined to runners from Gigginstown and Martinstown with most of the quality races mopped up by Messrs Mullins and Elliott. As for Ballydoyle being a major mop too, she said at least there are regular overseas runners taking them on and it's not like they're all over the little day to day races too.

Whatever your take on that it is reflective of a shift in attitude. Wrapping the green flag around 17 Irish trained Cheltenham festival winners is fine. If the best National Hunt horses stay in Ireland then all to the good. But with 15 of the 17 in the hands of just two trainers, and seven belonging to one owner, there's no point pretending the 'little guy' game doesn't look an awful lot like an oligarchy.

The impact of that concentration in terms of quality is stamped all over a period of unprecedented success for Irish trained jumpers. And if there has been a less welcome impact in terms of other trainers cutting back or getting out altogether, the response is likely to be that that's the market and noblesse oblige ain't obligatory.

It is some volte-face though when the start of the flat is welcomed by many as bringing greater competition, diversity and opportunity. It's like there's been a mini revolution. Most revolutions come from the bottom up. This appears to be a rare one going from the top down.

Just how dominant the Mullins-Elliott axis has become was thrown into focus on the same day by the latter's astonishing achievement in saddling a record 194th winner in an Irish National Hunt season. That's with six weeks of the season yet to go. It means in all likelihood both he and Mullins - currently on 183 - will finish the campaign with over 200 winners apiece.

Even on a calendar year basis it's hard to imagine two trainers managing the same feat on the flat. But it's the contrast to Britain's top trainers which is perhaps more illuminating. Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls have 123 and 107 winners respectively. Dan Skelton has won the most races with 146. And it's generally accepted there are a lot more opportunities across the Irish Sea.

This is a brief flat racing window before focus returns to the Nationals and Punchestown so it's worth noting a number of elements to the upcoming summer action.

Colin Keane has resumed as he left off after a championship winning 2017 that ended perfectly with a century of home winners and a maiden Group One in Italy.

It's such timing that makes him a prized rider here. So it will be fascinating in 2018 to see if his services are availed of to a much greater extent by owners and trainers overseas. When you see the standard of some jockeys riding in the UK in particular it's hard to understand why a substantial talent like Keane's would be ignored on the big days.

Having said that his powerbase at Ger Lyons's continues to expand, certainly in scope if not ambition: one thing never in short supply has been ambition. All the ambition in the world though can only work with the raw material at hand. So Juddmonte's decision to send horses to Lyons is a significant statement of confidence in the Irishman.

In relation to the Curragh and the decision to again keep the Derby and 'Champions Weekend' there during reconstruction in 2018, well, that ship has sailed. That doesn't mean lobbing a salvo or two after it isn't merited. But it's a done deal now. And if you're looking for an upside, the whole sorry episode has at least illuminated how irrelevant the race-going public actually is here.

It's 5-2 about Aidan O'Brien breaking his own world record of 28 Group 1's victories this year. Worse bets will be struck in 2018 when you consider the stranglehold Ballydoyle has at the top of the classic betting. A possible lack of depth in the older horse brigade might be a problem though. Mind you the loss of stars such as Minding hardly slowed O'Brien down in 2017.

The implications of Saxon Warrior enjoying a stellar classic campaign could be massive. A Japanese bred son of their greatest star, Deep Impact, cutting a swathe through European racing for Coolmore is one to get globalisation enthusiasts purring. Saxon Warrior looks to have matured over the winter into a magnificent slab of a colt. But at least with Epsom's twists and turns in mind, might that size become an issue?

Finally, a much more boring contest in 2018 will be to find the next chairman of Horse Racing Ireland. The list of runners and riders continues to be vague. The private enterprise focus of such appointments though means the spirit of Joe Keeling's backhanded praise for the organisation is likely to live on - "For a semi-state body, they're brilliant."