Who in racing, be it trainer, owner or jockey, will be brave enough to put their head above the parapet and say it as it is - the B.H.A. in its present form is unfit for purpose? It should be obvious to everyone who either earns their living from the sport or who is a hobbiest or enthusiast that the sport is being failed by a format that gives stakeholders more power than the organisation empowered to govern the sport. In today's Racing Post, Mr. Frewen suggests that a board of independent members, as desired by the late chair, Lord Allen, would never have worked in the sport's favour; if so, why did so many people support the proposal? To suggest, as Mr. Frewen believes, the present system better used is the way forward, seems to smack against sense when the present system has led to the mess we are now in.
The great and the good of our sport, from both codes, should stand-up and speak their minds, and if their minds coincide with my views, they might do the sport a great service by setting-up and signing a petition to let it be known that the B.H.A. should appoint a commander-in-chief, a supremo, someone with hands-on experience of the thoroughbred and the people who work at the coal-face of the sport, and he should be charged in the first instance with forming a board heavy on people with a background similar to the supremo but with advisors from business and marketing. Horse racing was not a democracy when it was led by The Jockey Club and remains a fiefdom of sorts with its present form of governance. It is not their sport, the stakeholders, it is our sport and we, especially those who work in the industry, should have a say on who runs the sport and how it should operate.
Jonbon will only run at Cheltenham next week if J.P. McManus decides to supplement Fact To File for the Gold Cup. And he will certainly not run in the Champion Chase, according to Nicky Henderson, with a possible step up to 3-miles at Aintree the trainer's favoured option. I hope Nicky gets his way as I think 3-miles is exactly what Jonbon needs at this stage of his career.
Tutti Quanti has been supplemented for the Champion Hurdle and could easily cause a suprise. He ran away with the race at Newbury and it would take little improvement for him to take a hand in the finish on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if Harry Cobden decides to force the pace and whether that will put a strain on The New Lion's jumping? I remain with Golden Ace, though.
There is a lovely photograph in today's Racing Post (above Richard Forristal's column) of three horses, minus their jockeys, jumping the final flight of hurdles at Naas yesterday. Not all horses when running loose will elect to carry on jumping and I always think it is a good sign for connections when their horse chooses to carrying on jumping rather than going around an obstacle. It also proves, I believe, to a disbelieving viewer, that a horse does not need to be forced to jump, that, in the main, horses enjoy what we ask them to do.
The comparative weakness of the Champion 2-Mile Chase field, now that Marine Nationale has been ruled-out, along with the question mark over Majsborough's ability to jump a clear round, has led to the connections of Irish Panther, a 9-year-old, to be tempted to re-route their star novice from the Arkle to Wednesday's feature. I hope they take the brave decision as his neat and tidy jumping might give him the edge over his rivals. There remains the possibility that Thistle Ask will run in the Champion Chase and he is likely to set a strong gallop which will test Majsborough's jumping and the fitness of Quilixios. To me, it is a no brainer. But then I am not the piper but a member of the audience.