Once more I quote from 'Men and HorsesI Have Known', a book, you might be pleased to know, I finished reading yesterday morning.
'Racing for a short time was stopped by the War. The reason for this was simple; a certain amount of sentimentalists, a few politicians in high places, who were supremely ignorant on racing matters, combined with the Anti-Gambling League and those few people who are against sport, got up a cry against the continuation of racing.'
George Lambton was writing about the 1st World War, 112-years-ago, yet still politicians are 'supremely ignorant' about horse racing and the industry that it encompasses, and still there is an anti-gambling league with influence amongst the Labour Party. Lambton continued.
'The stewards of the Jockey Club were in a very unpleasant position, as any strong move on their part savoured of unpatriotism and although they remonstrated with the Government there was nothing for them to do but accept the verdict and close down. Fortunately, there were many of us who knew that so far from doing good to the country this action was really doing great harm. It threw more people into unemployment, it deprived the public of a recreation that for the moment took their minds off the horrors of war, and it would destroy the one industry in which Great Britain was supreme. The trouble lay in the fact that many of the politicians looked upon racing only as a sport, and they could not and would not, understand that it was a great industry by which thousands of people were employed, and in which thousands had invested their money in the same way as in stocks and shares, or Government securities. It was difficult to get anyone to stand up and take the odium that would be thrown at them as being a man so lost to all sense of decency that he could give his mind to horse racing while his country was in the throes of such a desperate struggle.'
Lambton's words speak as strongly today in our struggle to have government see sense, to get them to understand that they will be shooting themselves in the foot if they continue to wage war on the betting public, as they did when his book was published. Back in 1914 a compromised was reached whereby horse racing was allowed to continue under restrictions, as happened during 2nd World War.
In 112-years our sport, despite all the revenue successive governments have taken in betting duty and so on, we remain under the restriction of the 'social licence', an industry that is seen through a peep-hole by people with one-eye closed in want of seeking scandal and headlines that supported their opinion. The B.H.A. must help change the view the ignorant public have of us. We must strike change ourselves; not have the weight of change imposed upon us. There are aspects of our sport we cannot alter, even though we dearly wish we could. But there are aspects of our sport we can alter. We can open-up our racecourses so that one ticket allow our customers to go where they please, as long as there remain off the racing surface, for instance.
In 1914 all the major studs were owned by the aristocracy, people of influence in the halls of Westminster. That is not the case these days and that fact alone makes the job of persuasion so much harder to achieve. But we have our King as an owner and a Queen who is a staunch supporter of our sport. Perhaps Simon Cox should seek an audience with the King and Queen to seek their support in our struggle to have the government see sense? For all his fine oratory and common-sense, John Gosden has no sway with the Treasury or the Prime Minister; these people are the King's ministers and only he, if he moved himself to do so, can bend their ears to the effect they see our sport in the right light.
As someone who has 'championed' Aamilah Aswat in her short time as a jockey, it saddens me to see her hit with a justified 20-day ban for excessive use of the whip at Chepstow last week. She went five-over the limit and the horse has been disqualified. I will not argue she has been hard done by as the rules leave no wriggle-room. What she must do is learn from her mistake, use her ban as a time for reflection, to improve her strength in the gym and to take all the advice that comes her way. My advice to any jockey who breaks the whip rules is to impose their own limit, perhaps giving themselves two less hits than the official limit, as a second ban for excessive use will be for a longer period and would inevitably impact on their career. Aamilah is a talented rider and though it might seem a racist thing to say, her face is great advertisment for the diversity of our sport. I am happy to say here that I believe Aamilah could be the Saffie Osborne of National Hunt. I hope Kim Bailey and Matt Nicholls steer her in the right direction and the owner of Reallyntruthfully forgive her for her lapse of professionalism.