Having Your Cake & Eating It

There seem to be a lot of racing fans who aren't any kind of Christmas Grinch and yet are already dreading their St Stephens Day telly viewing. It says a lot about the ire that Racing TV's coverage of Punchestown in particular on Sunday has provoked with predictions of chaos when it comes to the prospect of the busiest day of the year later this month.

Circumstances meant RTV's weekend schedule produced a number of split-screen scenarios, culminating in coverage of the Grade One Durkan and Huntingdon's Grade Two Peterborough Chase having to be split with commentary on the Punchestown race restricted to the closing stages.

The Durkan start was delayed after a chain of events that began with Davy Russell taking ill before the previous race which in turn contributed to the feature race's late start and an unfortunate clash with Huntingdon.

This is always a provocative topic, especially in relation to any perception of Irish meetings getting the rough end of the stick. Whether such a perception is actually correct always gets hotly debated although the bottom line reality is that expecting an operation owned by British racecourses to favour Irish tracks in such circumstances has always seemed fanciful.

Irish racing made its choice when it opted for the RMG money-hose. It did so with warnings ringing in its ears of a diminution of both profile and coverage in comparison to the Sky Sports model. The idea that it could both get the money and maintain levels of coverage smacked of an unlikely scenario where the industry here might have its cake and eat it.

So expressions of disappointment about the situation that unfolded on Sunday ring hollow. When it comes to problems in relation to delays in racing it is always advisable to adopt a 'what is possible is inevitable' position. It's the nature of the beast, which is something to bear in mind when it comes to the Christmas schedule.

No less than the chairman of William Hill says that politicians in Britain, and indeed that amorphous blob known as 'the media,' believe gambling to be a public health issue. So he has urged racing to help the gambling conglomerates "set the record straight." It's ironic then that, to the extent such a perception of the betting industry does exist, much of it is a consequence of the actions of the betting industry itself.

Roger Devlin naturally put it in a context of the importance of individual liberty, which no one can argue about, and indeed the social benefits of gambling which might be shakier ground but is nevertheless valid enough for the majority of us who are able to enjoy a bet for its own sake. Like the drinks industry, no one pretends its good for your health. But it's a poor world that can't allow for a little buzz sometimes.

What the public has become more aware of in recent years though is the ruthless way that inclination is serviced by firms worth billions and whose profitability is in proportion to their ubiquity. Stories of the exploitation of troubled and vulnerable gamblers, allied to incessant hard-sell advertising, provide abundant evidence of how unrelenting pursuit of the bottom line is the day to day reality behind flowery expressions of consumer freedom.

The gambling industry did that. It has produced a situation where the profile of betting companies, and public access to them, has never been greater yet unease about the impact of that state of affairs runs parallel. Public health concerns about other recreational businesses doesn't mean they're outlawed but neither are they fashionable and that has long-term commercial consequences.

By now no one can reasonably claim not to know the calculation behind the cosy advertising. That's the context in which the interminable wait for new gambling control legislation in Ireland continues and with the potential to radically alter the business landscape when, or if, it is ever eventually introduced.

How quickly the landscape can change has been underlined by reports that tracks here face a ten per cent reduction in media rights revenue due to factors such as Brexit induced currency instability and betting shop closures.

It illustrates how sensitive racing's revenue streams can be but perhaps also the validity of Lenin's old line about everything being connected to everything else. Irish racing got its way with a two per cent betting tax which has made life even more difficult for betting shops here with closures counter-productively reducing demand for pictures.

On the racing front there appeared to be plenty of encouragement in Presenting Percy's return to action in the John Durkan Chase won by Min for a second time at Punchestown on Sunday. This was the horse that started favourite for last season's Cheltenham Gold Cup only to come back with a serious leg injury. Now he's 14-1 for the 'Blue Riband.'

More ridiculous ante-post bets will be made between now and March.

Immediately after that Gold Cup disappointment there was real concern for the horse's future but fears of a fracture were unfounded. Nevertheless bad bone bruising meant a long recuperation and there seemed to be a genuine sense of discovery about his Durkan outing, something perhaps reflected in a 10-1 SP. As it transpired connections discovered they still have a top-flight operator.

It was hardly ideal that his regular cried off unwell on the eve of the race and JJ Slevin came in for the mount. A dawdling early pace cut out by Min was hardly ideal either for a proven stayer like Presenting Percy over an inadequate trip. But he generally jumped smoothly and travelled fluently.

It was hardly surprising he got caught flat-footed when the tempo quickened but what really reassured about Presenting Percy's future big-race credentials was the enthusiasm with which he stayed on. Next up is set to be the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. There should be significant progress for a first run in nine months. The Percy Express could be back on track.

It was Min that wound up winning the Durkan back to back although typically enough in the career of this top class operator he wound up overshadowed by a stable companion.

It's been Min's lot to lose out in comparisons to more high-profile Willie Mullins runners over the years such as Douvan and Un De Sceaux. This time it was the young up and coming two-mile star Cilaos Emery. He's now three from three over fences after an ultra-impressive display for a comparatively inexperienced horse in Cork's Hilly Way Chase.

It can be misleading to take too literal a reading of handicap marks but if, on just his third start over fences, Cilaos Emery can run all over a 169-rated performer like Ballyoisin then he really does look to have a hugely bright future. And if Chacun Pour Soi is as good as his reputation suggests then Willie Mullins must fancy the chances of finally filling in that rare gap in his big race CV, the Champion Chase.