The annual Nicky Henderson day out to Kempton racecourse took place this week, where many of his leading Cheltenham hopes would take to the course in an away day, galloping against others from the yard.
Leading the way are the likes of Constitution Hill, who, if you remember, performed terribly in this 12 months ago and was ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival on the back of that. Others, such as Lulamba, Triumph Favourite, and Lucky Place, Stayers Hurdle hopeful, were all in attendance as part of a star-studded lineup of Cheltenham hopefuls.
Grabbing the eye was Constitution Hill, who looked wonderful in his work on the course, far from the horse we saw last year. The 2023 Champion Hurdle winner will now head to the festival in two weeks to try and show once again that he’s the best in the two-mile division.
Racecourse Gallops – A Positive or Negative?
While it’s great to see the Henderson runners out for people to watch, there has to be the question asked (again, I might add), are these a positive or negative for racing? Going a step further, should they be banned, especially in the build-up to a major meeting?
The crisis around runners in British racing is not as big as it was 12 months ago, things are a little better, but only slightly, there’s still a big problem.
If Henderson’s runners, or the runners from any other trainer in the country, need to go out to a racecourse, then should we be making them race in order to help increase numbers on the course?
The way in which some trainers look after their runners and keep runs to a minimum is not helping the problems we have right now.
And yes, I accept the argument, they are owned by owners, trained by someone who is paid to be in charge and decide what’s best. If they want to have a racecourse gallop, they should be able to.
But I’m thinking bigger picture here. The appetite for racing is on the decline, like it or not. We need to look at the bigger picture, and not focus on our own gain, and that’s everyone in the sport, media, trainers, owners, jockeys, we all need to be on the same page.
Ticket sales for the Cheltenham Festival are reportedly down a considerable amount. I’ve effectively been offered a free ticket via the Rewards4Racing group. I know many others have, too. It must be bad if the racecourse is that desperate.
Factors such as the small Gold Cup field will undoubtedly play their part, but I think the overall picture of racing is the main cause of this and what needs to be addressed.
In an ideal world, of course, racecourse gallops would be allowed because we would see horses regularly enough, the fields would be good, and there would be no reason to stop them. But are we in an ideal world right now? I don’t think we are.
It’s not through choice but more so necessity, racing may need to look after itself a lot over the next few years, and if that’s the case, let’s do all we can to get horses to courses for races, not just for a day out.
