Curragh in danger of going down same path as football Irish racing has been warned it risks following football's path of prioritising broadcast content over live attendance, with the Irish Derby weekend card serving as a stark example of this commercial reality. On this week’s irishracing.com YouTube show The Irish Angle, Johnny Ward drew parallels with this summer’s football Club World Cup, which he says is a “major, major problem” for the sport. “I've had a major, major problem with the way football is destroying itself. Every game is on TV now, and it's just relentless and this ridiculous Club World Cup.” The Growing Influence Of Media Rights Johnny Ward made his observation after this week’s controversial Irish Derby card, which was altered to feature six handicap races to ensure the meeting could be included in the Tote World Pool. "This was the card that showed who our overlords are in Irish racing and it is not the people who are paying in," Ward stated, referencing the influence of media rights money and international betting pools over local racegoers. The warning comes as Derby Day featured nine races with six handicaps and only one Group 1 race, designed to maximise betting turnover for international markets rather than provide quality racing for those attending. Ward added: “Brian Kavanagh [Curragh Chief Executive] would say it was literally a commercial decision where the money is just too much to turn down. I can absolutely see that, let's not forget here the Curragh is under serious financial pressure since the redevelopment. “It's not a great look, but ultimately this is where we're at.” Watch This Week's Irish Angle on YouTube:
