Aintree People Race loses its innocence. Within the rebranding research being conducted for British racing, one intriguing question is whether the sport can be popularised by the rampant appetite for participant reality television. The answer, given the modern paranoias about health and safety and animal welfare, is almost certainly not. Yet the reaction to Anthony Knott’s surreal winner at Wincanton last week shows what can be achieved.

Knott, for those still unfamiliar with the tale, is a gap-toothed Dorset dairy farmer who had endured 28 barren years as an amateur jockey before registering his first win – and celebrating it by waving wildly to his agricultural mates in the crowd before riding the final furlong like a bareback cowhand.

It was fairytale viewing – especially when Knott, 44, revealed that his routine day starts at 3.30am with the milking of 260 cows and includes two sessions on a mechanical horse, 50 lengths of a local swimming pool and an evening ballroom dancing with his wife.

Perhaps he slipped that in to attract an audition for Strictly Come Dancing. But it added to this homely Corinthian victory. Four days after the event, BBC television devoted the final item of its early-evening news to Knott. Preciously rare, good-news publicity for racing.

The closest approximation of the you can do that opportunity that racing seeks has been the John Smith’s People’s Race, which for the past two years has enabled complete novices to train for the chance to ride Aintree on Grand National day. Diary understands, however, that the innocence has been regretfully eliminated from a contest as high on risk as romance.

A guitar instructor broke his arm in the first race and, last April, a woman fitness instructor was concussed by a fall in front of the stands. Trainers and administrators are understandably edgy about the dangers, which has led to a redrawing of eligibility – from now on, only those who have ridden a winner under Rules are prohibited.

There will still be many novices among the 2,000-plus entrants. But the final 30, due to be chosen on December 17, is likely to be dominated by stable staff and point-to-point riders. A shame, certainly, but an accurate gauge of the difficulties in making the public feel they can participate in racing.

Still, some bright folk in racing are exploiting television fashion. Lingfield is aware that its long-standing National Hunt audience is diminished by difficulties identifying the jumps fixtures dotted among a dense volume of Polytrack racing. Hence, it is introducing a jumps-only membership fee of 60 for 2009 and entitled the offer Strictly Come Jumping.

Anticipation is growing in Wales over the prospect of keeping the Coral Welsh National in the country for the first time in more than 40 years. Six Welsh-trained horses feature among 78 entries for the Chepstow marathon on December 27 and the likeliest of them is High Chimes, trained by Evan Williams and first set to run in the Hennessy on Saturday. He would be a highly appropriate horse to break the Welsh famine in their own race. The last home winner was Norther in 1965. Norther had graduated from the Welsh point-to-pointing scene and was ridden to his maiden win, at Pontyrch in 1963, by Williams’s father, Rhys.

British pointing resumes this weekend, with the sport thriving despite exaggerated hand-wringing over the hunting ban. Also in bullish health is the bible of the amateur game, the Hunter Chasers and Point-to-Pointers Annual, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The latest edition is as entertainingly uninhibited as ever. Take the comments on Was I Right: ..the owner-rider will have plenty of time to ask himself was I right?’ during his spell at Her Majesty’s pleasure for having one too many and then driving several miles north on the southbound carriageway of the A1.

Almost unnoticed, the rules regarding forfeit stages for big races were scrapped last week. Henceforth, trainers can, and should, scratch a definite non-runner as soon as a decision has been taken. So, no further opportunities for Jim Bolger to claim it was a mistake to leave a Derby favourite in the race after insisting he would not run.

Posted on November 27th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Horse Racing news