THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIEND, BREEDERS CUP, WEST GOES NORTH & NON-TRIER, NO WAY.

Amongst the entries for the Coral (old Hennessey) Gold Cup are Grey Dawning, Haiti Couleurs and Caldwall Potter. If these three face the starter at Newbury, which I doubt, the Coral Gold Cup will finally look like the race when it was sponsored by the French brandy-makers. This 3-mile 2-furlong handicap is a race of legend and though not as diminished as the old Whitbread, since Hennessey withdraw their sponsorship, the race has become quite ordinary in comparison to the days of Arkle and Mill House, which is perhaps not surprising given the former went on to become the greatest racehorse of all-time and the latter, at the time, was expected to take the throne as the best since Golden Miller. I suspect I view the old Hennessey through rose-coloured spectacles, remembering the days when Spanish Steps and Burrough Hill Boy won the race and leaving to rest in the torn-up shreds of my memory all the bottom of the handicap winners that did not go on to record even greater victories later in their careers. I wish it were not so; that all three mentioned were likely to head for the Betfair at Haydock, the race that has put the dagger into the soul of the old Hennessey, giving easier options for trainers who otherwise would have their hands forced to take the route to Newbury. No, I am no fan of the Betfair. I wish it did not exist.

Though I have as little love for the Breeders Cup as I do the Betfair, I do not wish it out of existence. It is, for me, someone born, perhaps, on the wrong side of the tracks, nothing more than a billionaires bun-fight, a pageant for the obscenely rich, races worth millions to the winners but with no more excitement or heritage than any other Group 1 in any other part of the racing world. Yes, it makes for good headlines in The Racing Post when a British-trained horse wins and, yes, I must be a miserable sod not to appreciate some of the most valuable racehorses competing against one another. So here are a few of my problems with the Breeders Cup and U.S. racing in general. 1) Lasix, perhaps not as widespread as once was but still a drug for improving performance and hiding habitual bleeding. 2) Lasix, when used by British and Irish trainers because 'if they can use it, it is daft if we do not'. All about leveling the playing field. 3) When jockeys, trainers, owners and commentators describe the Breeders Cup as the World Cup for horse racing. No it is not. 4) American trainers rarely take part in European Group 1's, at least outside of Royal Ascot, so why do 'we' go there, especially to race on their awful dirt surfaces?

Hells bells! This is a good day foe a good old moan about the state of our insular world. The West Country Weekend meetings at Exeter and Wincanton - two more instances of racecourse not looking after their racing surfaces until the grass has required the equivalent of C.P.R. - is to be transferred to the North of England. Aintree, which had already swiped the Elite Hurdle from Wincanton, now, hopefully for one year only, will stage all the major races from both meetings, including the Badger Beer. I know The Jockey Club own both Exeter and Wincanton and as a business it made sense for them to transfer the meetings to another of their racecourses, yet where is the common-sense in transferring West Country Weekend to the North of England, when Newton Abbot could have provided safe/soft ground and kept the West Country Festival in the West Country. I notice The Jockey Club made no request to transfer the Old Roan Chase to a West Country racecourse as a kind of quid pro quo.

Next, a criticism, not a moan. Jack Garrity received a ten-day ban from the Leicester stewards on Monday under the non-trier rule. Having now watched a replay of the race, I contest that the stewards used the wrong rule to haul Garrity over the coals. He certainly did not give his mount a great ride and might have received a ban for an injudicious ride. But if he was on a non-trier, why did he chose to finish third when he could have ridden less vigorously and finished sixth or seventh? To me, if he was told by connections 'not today, son', he made a right bollocks of it. With a non-trier, you would expect a jockey to hide his light under a bushel, not to finish the race like a winner in waiting. Also, why would Garrity make the decision not to try? He is a jockey in need of winners, not bans. If he was riding not to gain the best possible placing, he must have been told by the owner or trainer 'not to win', yet neither owner nor trainer were sanctioned. Red Derek, Garrity's mount, was slow leaving the stalls and, perhaps due to the soft ground, Garrity sat quietly at the back of the field before asking his horse for an effort in the final few furlongs. That he finish strongly to finish third almost justified his chosen tactics. Also, was wasn't Red Derek disqualified, if cheating was involved?

If you go to YouTube to watch a replay of the race, in the comments you find a whole host of keyboard warriors using Garrity's ban for 'not trying' as proof of a general corruption in the sport. The Leicester stewards were responsible for these sensationalist headlines, not Garrity.