Taking over the asylum

I was very disappointed this year that the Racing Post didn't have an April Fool gag in its 1st April edition. (Or that I failed to spot the gag which that day's paper contained). However, all is forgiven now, I hope, because I'd like to think that they printed the story today (19th May) instead. You might have seen it because it ran along the top of pages two and three. The story concerns Racing For Change's latest wheeze, the creation of a collection of multi-coloured silks for use in a race at Ascot, a race whose conditions will carry the stipulation that the jockeys bear these harlequins' outfits rather than the liveries of the horses' owners. Anyway, the designs in the collection (which contains 12 sets) are "all based on the fruit machine theme" because "betting on horseracing and playing fruit machines go together". I don't think that I really need to make too many comments on these remarks and this farcical idea, other than possibly to add the observation that we our racecourse used to be adorned by a much greater variety of colours and designs than we see nowadays, but that these have been phased out in recent years because they are deemed to be too complicated, leaving owners to chose from a limited selection of basic colours and patterns. Anyway, instead of uttering any expletives, I'll just say that I sincerely hope that this article was an April Fool.

On the subject of working towards increasing racing's public appeal, I'll reproduce an excerpt from a recent Richard Callendar Winning Post column. Compare and contrast with what goes on here. "I welcomed the news that Australian Turf Club CEO Darren Pearce is looking outside his office to find out what punters and patrons at his club's meetings want out of a raceday. Pearce has given well-known ex-bookie David Emanual, who has always been a punter and racetrack regular, a blank sheet and told him to find out what the club needs to do to make racing more appealing, keep those regulars happy and maybe entice a new audience to head to the track. Marketing degrees are important when you're meeting with the corporate world but they mean very little to our customers at the track, in the public area or the members, and even less to the punters in lounge rooms, TABs, pubs and clubs around the country. Growing up as a regular Aussie and having a beer at the local is a better grounding to know what punters want than standing in room full of university students learning about graphs, demographic trends and which suit to wear to impress the marketing world. Emanual had his hands full at Canterbury last week when he approached some hardened regulars and asked them what they thought was missing from a racetrack experience. He was lucky there were only seven races because he was given all three barrels over what the ATC isn't doing but should be. I look forward to Emanual's report and I look forward even more to seeing what the ATC does with it.". Food for thought?

We'll have our own latest "racetrack experience" tomorrow when both Hotfoot (3.20) and Batgirl (4.20) run at Yarmouth. I'd imagine that Batgirl will go off close to favourite after her win over course and distance on Easter Monday, while Hotfoot seems to have a less obvious chance on her first run since last August, and only the fifth of her life. Frankie Dettori rides Batgirl again, while another very good jockey, Richard Mullen, will be on Hotfoot. Both horses are pictured here walking down the side of Warren Hill at the end of March (Batgirl and Hannah being closer to the camera, with Hotfoot and Hugh on the far side). Fingers crossed that both horses run creditably and safely. However well or badly they run, though, I'd say that my greatest training achievement of the week has already taken place. As you might have picked up, our cats have been rather stand-offish since the arrival of our (my) Dalmatian puppy Gus. Natagora in particular has been giving Gus a very wide berth, completely overlooking the fact that we had similarly to get used to her when she arrived. Gus is growing at an alarming rate, which is all the more alarming as Natagora seems to be shrinking (which can't really be true as she's not yet three years old, so it must be an optical illusion). Anyway, my aim had been to get them to the stage where they'd put on the 'upstairs downstairs' show - and I'm pleased to say that we got that this afternoon, as this extremely poor photograph shows. The ice has now truly been broken.