Taking a back seat

The 471st edition of the Wayward Lad blog.

I'm going to take a back seat from making horseracing selections for the next few days as (probably due to the upset in my personal life over the past couple of weeks) I am just not making the right decisions when it comes to selecting horses for wagering purposes – and that is expensive. Yesterday, after a couple of ill-prepared trades on the exchanges, I managed more by luck than judgement to still be in a break-even position on the day, and then I made a catastrophic wager. It was stupid of me, but I was trying to find an easy route to a profit from which I could build-on today. What was even more daft of me was that there were a couple of horses running yesterday that I've written positive words about – and they won (ie Imperial Circus and Sea Saffron).

We have some interesting horseracing over the next few days, especially on the Flat. The Craven Meeting at Newmarket isn't one of my favourites from a wagering point of view, but it is very worthwhile to watch and make notes for the future. Similarly, the Newbury meeting at the weekend is a meeting to have the notebook handy.

There is a great column written by Simon Holt in today's Weekender and it repeats much of what I wrote on my blog yesterday (are you a reader Simon?). I was not aware of it, but Simon writes that at Lingfield on Saturday there were ex-racehorses available for inspection by the public, and there were horseracing "ambassadors" answering the public's questions and helping those who want to know, learn more about the intricacies of the sport. Simon Holt is not wrong in saying this sort of positive response is what horseracing needs more of. Do not underestimate the power of public opinion when nearly 11 million people watched the Grand National on the BBC last Saturday (which is 2 million more people than the audience for the FA Cup Final last May). Compare that with the number of complaints about the race registered by the BBC - which will probably total under 500.

I am aware that the RSPCA are expecting an immediate reaction from horseracing with regards to the Grand National, and there are some who think that horseracing should be running-scared from a body like the RSPCA. I'm not one of that group as I'd like to see the RSPCA challenged as to where their priorities lie.  For instance, do they support Animal Aid and other extremist groups? What are the aims of the RSPCA in these modern times as it appears (to me) that it has moved away from its original premise. It should be taken into account by everyone that there is no place for a working horse in the modern world – horses exist solely for the entertainment of people and so, if horseracing is cruel then so is every other form of owning and keeping horses today. Does the RSPCA only want to see horses kept in a zoo (there are no truly wild horses in Europe today)?

Let's work together to promote all that is good about horseracing.

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