Emperor's New Clothes

Mark Johnston recently made a point that's crucial to the issue of how relevant prizemoney actually is to owners. He said that given a choice of getting two grand for winning a race, or four grand for finishing second, most any owner will opt for the win. It's an Emperor's new clothes observation that's impossible to argue with.

It challenges the racing orthodoxy which is that prizemoney is paramount when it comes to attracting and retaining owners. However just because that gets repeated over and over again doesn't make it so.

Given that Johnston has won more races than anyone in the history of British racing his credentials on the subject are impeccable. Prizemoney is important to trainers, jockeys and others in the industry food chain. But on top of it are owners and as a rule of thumb it's safe to presume that if they're worried about prizemoney then they shouldn't own racehorses in the first place.

Any owner, whether at the billionaire, potentate end of the spectrum, or those clubbing together for a syndicate at base level, who goes in expecting prizemoney to cover their outlay is deluded. What's floating around will naturally be gratefully snapped up. But the idea of depending on it is a recipe for disaster.

Owning a racehorse, or part of one, is essentially a leisure pursuit you have to be able to afford no matter who you are. Clearly there are any number of livelihoods tied up in tempting that investment. But racehorses are as much a financial indulgence as any other luxury item. Presuming on prizemoney presumes too much.

Racing professionals parrot the line because they have a bottom line stake in it. So does the racing establishment. Horse Racing Ireland policy for instance constantly pushes better prizemoney as a pitch for growing ownership.

But how many owners really get into the game because a handicap hurdle is worth ten grand rather than eight? Or that the costs of entering a horse are fifty quid less? Does a couple of hundred for finishing sixth make any difference to a pub syndicate? What's a hundred grand here or there for a Sheikh chasing the prestige of a Group One victory?

Much more relevant for most is the race-day experience for those with the disposable income to indulge in ownership in the first place yet who find their goodwill and patronage presumed upon at too many tracks. In such circumstances a little fuss and a little acknowledgement of their pivotal role in the whole process goes a long way.

As for resources that might be freed up by not constantly plucking the prizemoney string, it's not like there aren't any alternative routes they could be put into. You can take your pick although encouraging prospective owners to believe they're operating in an environment where an aspiration towards fair play is more than just jargon might be a good place to start.

Of course fair play seems to be a fluid concept sometimes. Proof of just how fluid came with the failure of a French appeals panel to reverse the Prix du Moulin outcome between Circus Maximus and Romanised. It was a disgraceful decision made all the more outrageous by being completely predictable.

The Category One rules that French racing adopted last year to fall into step with everyone else bar the US regularly throws up these ridiculous scenarios. The difference this time was that Romanised was beaten by just a nose so it seemed there might be a chance of justice being applied. There wasn't a bit of it though.

Not only that but insult got added to injury by some of the official justification, such as how Circus Maximus supposedly finished faster of the two despite it being patently obvious that Romanised was closing at the line. In another couple of strides momentum would have made an enquiry irrelevant. The official line is there was insufficient evidence that Romanised would have won without interference. It only makes this particular racing law even more of an ass.

None of which might matter beyond natural justice were it not for how such a law encourages a regrettable race riding culture.

Say what you like about the Category Two rules that apply in America but at least jockeys know where they stand in relation to interference and the risks of having their number taken down. It might occasionally mean outcomes that seem just as strange to us as something like the Moulin outcome must seem to them but the upside is in rider behaviour.

The accidentally on purpose drifting that occurs on a daily basis here simply isn't tolerated. In this part of the world it's actively encouraged with references to race-riding and jockeyship that are basically little more than an official nod and a wink to the sort of behaviour that makes a risky job even more dangerous.

Racing returned to Dundalk on Friday night and a largely run-of-the-mill and uneventful programme was probably music to the ears of the track management considering the controversy that surrounded the Polytrack last Spring. Reaction from the jockeys riding the track was cautiously positive as outlined here - Jockeys give cautiously positive report on controversial Dundalk surface

After putting over fifty tonnes of fibre into the 12 year old circuit during the summer, the track was entitled to ride better on Friday, albeit it apparently felt a little dead and deep for some of the jockeys. The real test of how it can cope with regular racing will come when the winter weather kicks in and the surface begins to tighten up.

It is vitally important for the industry here that it remains fit for purpose during the 34 scheduled meetings between now and April. If it isn't, and there's a repeat of last Spring's disquiet which led to widespread reluctance to send horses there, with a consequent impact on fields sizes, then a large logistical cowpat gets dropped into Horse Racing Ireland's lap.

Finally, Siskin is a general 5-1 third favourite for Saturday's Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. The Morny winner Earthlight and the wide-margin York sales race winner Mums Tipple fight it out for ante-post favouritism. Value is all in the eye of the beholder. But Siskin is an unbeaten Group One winner whose run style indicates he hasn't yet dipped into the red on the petrol gauge.

If he does win there's £155,953 for the winner. That roughly corresponds to the €171,000 for first in last month's Phoenix Stakes. They're hardly figures to sniff at although it's safe to assume hardly enough to have Prince Khalid Abdullah fretting about his Juddmonte operation being able to cover the Middle Park's sponsorship costs. The win is always the thing.