The sport of kings!
Having just watched the running of the greatest of all races, the Grand National, I am drawn to putting pen to paper to share with you the joys of horse racing, as well as a few insider secrets. It is a vast subject which will occupy a few articles, so I will deal with one aspect per article per week. Together we could have some fun, and hopefully I can impart some of the knowledge I have acquired over many years to you.
Picking the winner-The elusive quest that has enthralled mankind since time immemorial.
If you have never experienced the utter exhilaration one gets when your horse passes the finish line first, you really haven’t lived. Whether you’re an owner, an ardent punter or a casual visitor there is a primeval satisfaction one gets from winning.
I’m not promoting gambling, but having a few quid on an event adds spice to the proceeding. I have owned a few dozen race horses in my time and have been punting horses for longer than I can remember. I have made more friends in racing horses than all my other endeavours combined. Here I will try and demystify the secrecy that shrouds horse racing and dispel the myths that have taken route.
Myth 1-Horse racing is fixed!
If I had a pound for every time I have heard these utterances from the mouths of the uninitiated I’d be retired and rich. Horse racing is NOT fixed. This myth finds its origin, as do so many in the media. If you read horse novels or watch TV you may be excused for thinking this. Horses conditioned to a fear response with fire, sponges in the noses, buckets of water before the off all make for thrilling reading but are a figment of the overactive imagination of thrill writing authors.
Let’s be straight though. Wherever money is involved there will always be those conniving souls trying to gain unfair advantage, be it racing, roulette, lotto or whatever. That’s life! However the hard fact is that horse racing is probably more closely policed, monitored, scrutinised and analysed than any other activity on the planet. I will present my argument below:
• Horse racing is carefully governed and controlled by the Jockey Club. There is a formal constitution and rule book and a well established objection and appeal procedure.
• Horse racing has its own police force called stipendiary stewards or “stipes”. They are accountable to the Jockey Club, the ultimate governing body of racing. They review the running of every race, investigate each case of unexplained deviation from form deal with objections and convene boards of enquiry.
• Each horse has a passport, much like we do. This document clearly identifies the horse, its unique markings and identifying features. Each horse is checked against its passport at the beginning of a race before being allowed to participate. This prevents any possibility of substituting an imposer in its place.
• If either the owner, trainer or indeed jockey has any misgivings about the running of a race, feels the horse was unfairly treated, interfered with or otherwise disadvantaged, they can lodge a formal objection immediately the race is over. Their objection has to be specific as to the reasons, and the case is carefully considered by the stipes before the official result of the race is announced. In arriving at their decision the race footage shot by several cameras at different angles is carefully analysed, and witnesses may be called.
• After the race urine samples are taken from horses at random, and always from the winner. These are analysed for a myriad of drugs, steroids enhancers etc. Two samples of the same specimen are maintained. One is sent to an independent laboratory for analysis; and the second is available for re-testing if the results are positive.
• Every race is recorded from start to finish. Courses have state of the art camera equipment that can zoom into the jockeys eyeball if required. Race replays in ultra slow motion on large screen make it virtually impossible for any foul play to go unnoticed.
• If the st
The sport of kings!
Having just watched the running of the greatest of all races, the Grand National, I am drawn to putting pen to paper to share with you the joys of horse racing, as well as a few insider secrets. It is a vast subject which will occupy a few articles, so I will deal with one aspect per article per week. Together we could have some fun, and hopefully I can impart some of the knowledge I have acquired over many years to you.
Picking the winner-The elusive quest that has enthralled mankind since time immemorial.
If you have never experienced the utter exhilaration one gets when your horse passes the finish line first, you really haven’t lived. Whether you’re an owner, an ardent punter or a casual visitor there is a primeval satisfaction one gets from winning.
I’m not promoting gambling, but having a few quid on an event adds spice to the proceeding. I have owned a few dozen race horses in my time and have been punting horses for longer than I can remember. I have made more friends in racing horses than all my other endeavours combined. Here I will try and demystify the secrecy that shrouds horse racing and dispel the myths that have taken route.
Myth 1-Horse racing is fixed!
If I had a pound for every time I have heard these utterances from the mouths of the uninitiated I’d be retired and rich. Horse racing is NOT fixed. This myth finds its origin, as do so many in the media. If you read horse novels or watch TV you may be excused for thinking this. Horses conditioned to a fear response with fire, sponges in the noses, buckets of water before the off all make for thrilling reading but are a figment of the overactive imagination of thrill writing authors.
Let’s be straight though. Wherever money is involved there will always be those conniving souls trying to gain unfair advantage, be it racing, roulette, lotto or whatever. That’s life! However the hard fact is that horse racing is probably more closely policed, monitored, scrutinised and analysed than any other activity on the planet. I will present my argument below:
• Horse racing is carefully governed and controlled by the Jockey Club. There is a formal constitution and rule book and a well established objection and appeal procedure.
• Horse racing has its own police force called stipendiary stewards or “stipes”. They are accountable to the Jockey Club, the ultimate governing body of racing. They review the running of every race, investigate each case of unexplained deviation from form deal with objections and convene boards datos de carrera Americana of enquiry.
• Each horse has a passport, much like we do. This document clearly identifies the horse, its unique markings and identifying features. Each horse is checked against its passport at the beginning of a race before being allowed to participate. This prevents any possibility of substituting an imposer in its place.
• If either the owner, trainer or indeed jockey has any misgivings about the running of a race, feels the horse was unfairly treated, interfered with or otherwise disadvantaged, they can lodge a formal objection immediately the race is over. Their objection has to be specific as to the reasons, and the case is carefully considered by the stipes before the official result of the race is announced. In arriving at their decision the race footage shot by several cameras at different angles is carefully analysed, and witnesses may be called.
• After the race urine samples are taken from horses at random, and always from the winner. These are analysed for a myriad of drugs, steroids enhancers etc. Two samples of the same specimen are maintained. One is sent to an independent laboratory for analysis; and the second is available for re-testing if the results are positive.
• Every race is recorded from start to finish. Courses have state of the art camera equipment that can zoom into the jockeys eyeball if required. Race replays in ultra slow motion on large screen make it virtually impossible for any foul play to go unnoticed.
• If the stipes find in favour of the plaintiff they have a variety of options available to them. They often impose penalties on horses based on the nature of the interference. This is often expressed as a number of lengths. The winning horse, for example, may have a penalty of three lengths imposed upon it. If the horse had won by two lengths the second placed horse would be pronounced the winner.
• More serious offences are treated more severely. Jockeys can be banned from riding for a set period or number of meetings. This can have serious financial consequences on the jockey, trainer and owner. In exceptional cases the penalties are severe in the extreme. One particular instance comes to mind where a jockey was found guilty of pulling up a horse and preventing it from winning and was banned from riding for life-yes for LIFE. The appeal went to the High Court but failed. No jockey is going to place his/her entire career and livelihood at risk.
ipes find in favour of the plaintiff they have a variety of options available to them. They often impose penalties on horses based on the nature of the interference. This is often expressed as a number of lengths. The winning horse, for example, may have a penalty of three lengths imposed upon it. If the horse had won by two lengths the second placed horse would be pronounced the winner.
• More serious offences are treated more severely. Jockeys can be banned from riding for a set period or number of meetings. This can have serious financial consequences on the jockey, trainer and owner. In exceptional cases the penalties are severe in the extreme. One particular instance comes to mind where a jockey was found guilty of pulling up a horse and preventing it from winning and was banned from riding for life-yes for LIFE. The appeal went to the High Court but failed. No jockey is going to place his/her entire career and livelihood at risk.