126,516, 000, MRS. HARRINGTON IS WARY OF PEOPLE WHO MOAN & AT LAST, ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR MY WAY OF THINKING.

If I ever read the breeding column of the Racing Post it will be James Thomas's Diary which is usually in the Sunday edition. Thomas is a skilled writer; he makes what can be a boring occupation come across as exciting as a close finish to a Wolverhampton maiden on a cold Saturday night. Close finishes are always intriguing if not damned right exciting whether they are at Wolverhampton, Wetherby or Cork.. He may have relied on hyperbole during the week when the crazy and stupid spilled out into the real world at Tatersalls as the filthy rich displayed their wealth with finger-raising and eyebrow twitching in the battle to win the honour of signing dockets for millions+ amount of guineas. You had to have been there, I suspect, to determine whether ego topped pride in the struggle to the best bred unknowns on the open market. It would be interesting to discover if Thomas could transfer to writing about actual racing, rather than the banal, unhinged world of the breeding industry.

The slightly up-his-own-arse Kevin Blake, a breeder, himself, you must remember, was risen to vituperation when Ed Chamberlain echoed my feelings on the subject of prices paid in the auction ring giving the impression to government and outsiders that everything was chipper in the world of horse racing. No, it is a good thing, said Blake, people from around the world want to buy British and Irish bloodstock, forgetting in his state of low excitement that many of the seven-figure lots will travel no further than Newmarket or Ballydoyle. Again, I suggest, the 126, 516,000-guineas that was the total sales figure from the Book 1 sale might be more acceptable if a small amount of that huge number, say 1 or 2%, went in a levy to support prize-money. As well as that same 1 or 2% levied from all other purchase prices from public auctions. I intend to write to a few influential people, including the B.H.A., to see if I can get some traction for my proposal.

Apart from her move from primarily being a jumps trainer to the flat, though she continues to have runners over jumps, I have great admiration and approval for Jesse Harrington. She is a bright and shining light of possitivity, for not allowing adversity to dampen her spirit. As you may have noticed, I am not that sort of person. Mrs. Harrington is the subject of the feature interview in today's Racing Post and is quoted as saying that she is wary of people who moan and dislikes negativity and is irritated by people who criticise without being constructive. Obviously I try to be constructive, though I doubt if Mrs. Harrington would agree with many of my proposals. I do moan and find fault, I have to admit, and if you think I moan too much in this particular space, you should be in the same room when I am watching television as I find fault, contradiction and factual error by the bucket-load, and adverts drive me to distraction. The on-line bingo firm that gives a one-pound free play to anyone who sets a limit on how much they will spend! A £10-limit immediately becomes an £11-limit, for pities sake. And the male cow with udders! Don't know what the ad is for, rarely do, these days. So, I doubt if I were to be honoured with meeting Mrs Harrington that she would be as wholly approving of me, as I am of her..

Now, to the important news of the week. Another triumph for me, no less. If I were more organised, or even just organised, I could show you the number of letters I have published or have written for this site on the subject of the titles of  National Hunt races. I have often posed the question what is the name of a race, say, for example, the old Hennessey, when it is between sponsors. In the main, in this period of no funding, many races simply do not exist. Many, these days, have registered names but they rarely if ever appear in the name of the race in either race-cards or the Racing Post. Now, after around twenty-years of my 'campaigning' or plain old moaning, the B.H.A. have decided my opinion is about right and racecourses must add the registered name to the title of our important races. Now, all the B.H.A. must do to appease me fully is to have the name of the race before the name of the sponsor - Newbury Handicap Chase brought to you by Coral, your top High Street Bookmaker, for example. Or The Cheltenham Gold Cup sponsored by Cathedral Cheese, the tastiest cheese you can buy. I made that last bit up, as you must realise. At the moment, so many races are sponsored by companies that I cannot tell you what they make or what service they provide. I still do not know what product or service Turners, for example, are involved in and they sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival. If I had my way it would be something like the Gloucester Hurdle brought to you by Turners, pioneers of something or other or information that allows me to know the prime source of their finances. We should never have races titled, again for example, The Sky Bet Chase, when for generations it was known as The Great Yorkshire Chase. National Hunt prospered because of sponorship, with even now for people of my age there remains in the memory the Hennessey, the Whitbread, the Massey-Ferguson and the Mackeson Gold Cup. Those were the days!