A Guide to Race-Going E-Book

Martin Diggle

• Herausgeber: J A Allen
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Horseracing is the second-biggest spectator sport in Britain but, while it is widely viewed as 'a good day out', many people who enjoy the experience also admit to being rather baffled by much of what goes on. A Guide to Race-Going offers a wealth of guidance for newcomers to racing, but also contains much that will be of interest to regular race-goers. Topics covered include: how racing developed; the types of races; the people involved; picking and enjoying a suitable day out; understanding racecards; the basics of betting; how to get the best from watching a race.

Leseprobe

A GUIDE TORACE-GOING

Martin Diggle

J.A. ALLEN

First published in 2018 by

JA Allen

JA Allen is an imprint of

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2018

© Martin Diggle 2018

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of thistext may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 90880 974 2

Photographs by Colin Wilby and John Barlow, except where otherwise credited. All photographs are copyright of the owner.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Author’s Note

Preface

Introduction

CHAPTER 1Background – A Potted Guide to How Racing and Thoroughbreds Developed

The Development of Breeding Records and Practices;The Development of the Thoroughbred;Developments in Racing Administration;Developments in Racing;Developments in Race-riding Technique

CHAPTER 2Types of Racing

Flat Racing;National Hunt Races;Categories of Races;Other Types of Racing

CHAPTER 3The People Who Make Racing Happen

Racehorse Owners;Trainers and Their Staff;Jockeys;Bookmakers;Racecourse Staff and Officials

CHAPTER 4Going to the Races

Choosing Where to Go;Points to Consider

CHAPTER 5Racecards and Their Interpretation

A Sample Racecard;Significance of Racecard Features

CHAPTER 6Betting

The Principles of Bookmaking;Pool Betting;Each Way and Place Betting;Thoughts on Betting

CHAPTER 7Watching a Race

In the Paddock;Going to the Start;At the Start;Watching Horses Take a Jump;Watching the Race Unfold;The Aftermath

CHAPTER 8Racing Terminology

Index

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my thanks to the following people who assisted me in the writing and illustrating of this book.

I am grateful to Joe Rendall and Lyn Williams of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for their help in responding to my queries on various points of detail regarding current rules and regulations of racing, and to Willie McFarland, Genny Haynes and Debbie Burt who, on behalf of the Arabian Racing Organisation, provided me with some updated details of that branch of racing.

My long-time friends Carolyn Henderson and Colin Wilby kindly offered to read through my draft chapters. From their different perspectives both provided perceptive comments that were a great help in fine-tuning the text, and Colin provided many of the photos that appear in this book. London Racing Club member, John Barlow, also supplied a number of photos and I am most grateful for his generosity and support.

Thanks are also due to the following contributors of photos: the public relations staff at Cheltenham racecourse, for a photo of a race over their cross-country course; Les Hurley, who provided photos of all-weather racing at Wolverhampton and fixed-brush action at Worcester; Nigel Kirby, who provided a photo of a pony race on behalf of the Pony Racing Authority; and Ginni Beard, who provided two photos of point-to-point action and one of pony racing at a point-to-point meeting. The photo of Arabian racing is by GeptaYs/Shutterstock.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Since I am very fond of horses and understand that they are sentient creatures with their own personalities, I dislike them being referred to as ‘it’, and prefer to use personal pronouns. Since the vast majority of horses engaged in racing are male, this book uses the forms ‘he’ and ‘his’ as an expedient when referring to ‘the horse’ generally. However, where, from the context, the reference is clearly to a filly or mare, the appropriate feminine pronoun is used.

From a human perspective, until fairly recent times racing was very much a male-dominated sport, with areas of active prejudice against females. Fortunately there have been major changes through the last few decades and nowadays there is widespread female involvement in all areas of training, riding and management. This being so, my general use of male pronouns to refer to trainers, jockeys, etc. may invite comment but, again, it is done purely to avoid clumsy sentence construction and I hope that it will be excused on these grounds.

Preface

The late spring sunshine has brought a bumper crowd to what is, in any case, a popular race meeting and, in truth, the weather and the competitive racing are major factors in your own attendance. It’s early in the flat season, many of the horses are making their seasonal debut, and there are some tight handicaps, so you’re here to enjoy the spectacle, rather than seek your fortune – it’s a day simply to enjoy the experience.

They’re off, and a last-minute queue for a pasty has left you out of position for optimum viewing. You find a small gap by the rails and crane forward. Nothing to see as yet but, gradually, you become aware of a rhythmical drumming, which starts to get louder. Shortly, you are aware of other sounds: heightened breathing; the occasional slap of a whip, an odd hissing sound, which some jockeys use to encourage their mounts to further efforts and – yes, one jockey asking for room in less-than-polite terms. Then, almost in an instant, your field of view is flooded with a kaleidoscope of colour – reds, blues, greens, yellows, purples and many more in various combinations on the jockeys’ silks, and greys, chestnuts, bays and browns of the horses’ coats, now streaked with sweat and gobbets of saliva. It’s like a DVD switched to fast-forward – it’s hard to take in how fast these horses seem to go when you’re up close to them. The question crosses your mind: ‘If they’re all going that quick, how does one ever manage to overtake another?’ You make a mental note not to panic if, at a later date, you back a horse who needs to be settled off the pace.

* * * *

A different scenario: a dull, damp and misty day in late November. The cloud cover helped disperse the overnight frost rapidly, but it hasn’t raised the air temperature overmuch. You can’t remember quite how many layers you put on, but you’re damned glad of all of them – especially the waterproof jacket. Those clonking great hiking boots that usually lurk unnoticed in the front porch were a good spot, too.

The upcoming race is a 2 mile 6 furlong novice chase – not the greatest ever run, and not the safest to bet on, but the almost black ex-hurdler caught your eye in the paddock; he looked fit and keen for his first run over the bigger obstacles. Your knowledge of his hurdles form tells you that he could be a bit of a sketchy jumper back then, so there’s a question mark over how he’ll cope with fences, but he’s got a good trainer and jockey, and his hurdles form also suggests that he’ll cope with the ground and get the trip. He’s worth a small bet, for interest.

Of course, once the tapes go up, you find yourself considerably more nervous than his jockey, who risks much more than your fiver riding novice chasers most days of the week. As the race unfolds, you realize that you have everything crossed and, when your fancy meets the first open ditch on an in-between stride and climbs over it rather unconvincingly, you get an object lesson in what arrhythmia means. However, bar a length lost, all is well; the field continues on its way, with your horse still in touch.

Well into the final circuit and, as they turn into the straight with two to jump, your horse has moved into second place, and begins to press the leader. His jockey has settled into a deeper position in the saddle, and is beginning to push away, but so is the rider on the long-time leader. In fact – yes, yours seems to be going slightly better. Hell’s teeth – please let his jumping hold up now. Surely, it’s just the exaggerated holding of your own breath that gets him over the fence, and he’s now a length ahead, but his jockey has started to ride in earnest and the former leader is hanging on gamely under extreme pressure. Please, please don’t ‘miss’ the last. He’s a bit far off it on the final stride – not ideal for a tiring ex-hurdler having his first run in a chase, but he bravely takes off out of the jockey’s hands, gets sufficient height and lands running. The run-in is just 200 yards, but uphill on dead ground it seems to take an age. Another runner, staying on from further back, is closing, but has too much to do. Yours crosses the line two lengths ahead, and you feel a sudden need to sit down. Bad for the heart – but good for the soul. Where’s that hip flask?

Introduction

Today, more and more people are going to the races. There may be many reasons that trigger a first visit – a day out with friends, to accompany a partner, the attraction of a post-race concert by a favourite band, simple curiosity, or a long-time intention finally coming to fruition – to name just a few. For most people, initial visits will be full of surprises – the sheer speed at which horses gallop, the proximity at which they race, the noise when a race is in full flow, the flashing colours and the excitement of the crowd may all exceed expectations, as may the clear joy on the face of the lad or lass leading up the winner – a fellow being with whom they have established a deep relationship over many early, frosty mornings before first light.

So, there’s a lot of excitement to engage with – and if a lucky first punt has paid for the entry fee, so much the better. But, for those new to racing, many questions will arise. Horse racing is a sport with a complex history that has given rise to many idiosyncratic traditions, and it has developed a language all of its own, spoken automatically by everyone engaged in it.* Furthermore, it is a sport whose key performers are not human, but highly tuned animals, with their individual characteristics, quirks, strengths and vulnerabilities. It is a sport in which split-second binary decisions can spell either triumph or disaster. To fully appreciate racing, to gain an insight into what really is going on, it is necessary to penetrate beneath the surface and begin to engage with the sport as a whole. The aim of this book is to assist enthusiastic newcomers to do this.

* For this reason, the final chapter, Racing Terminology, is essentially an expanded glossary. In most books that have them, a glossary is simply a list of brief definitions of terms used within the main text. In this book, I have turned the glossary into a final chapter and used it not just to give basic definitions, but to provide further explanations about what may lie behind these definitions. Terms that are explained in this final chapter are set in bold the first time they are used in the main text. There are also a number of terms in the chapter that don’t appear in the main text, but are included to offer explanations of terms that you may hear or read elsewhere.

CHAPTER 1

Background – a Potted Guide to How Racing and Thoroughbreds Developed

Horse racing, in various forms, probably originated soon after people began to ride and drive horses, but the modern, highly organized sport of racing Thoroughbred horses is relatively recent in historical terms. To a very significant extent, the breed and the sport developed hand in hand, and what follows is a basic explanation of how this came about.

In bygone times, wealthy and enthusiastic owners of horses they considered fast ran them in races – sometimes two-horse ‘matches’ against like-minded rivals, often for large sums of money, on a simple ‘bet my horse can beat yours’ basis. There were also more-or-less impromptu races at the popular country fairs, often organized by horse dealers, and all these early races seemed to have attracted crowds of spectators. While those who liked to race their horses did make rudimentary attempts to produce faster stock, sometimes by the use of stallions from places such as Spain, Italy and Arabia (a catch-all name for a region now consisting of many separate states), there was little real science behind these efforts and there was, for centuries, no such thing as a definable ‘racehorse breed’.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF BREEDING RECORDS AND PRACTICES

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, things began to change. In the reign of Henry VIII two royal studs were established, overseen by an Italian horsemaster named Prospero d’Osma. Although these studs had the aim of producing better-quality horses, and the stock produced were grouped into three ‘types’, there were no early records of the actual pedigree of the individuals, and no clear evidence that they were bred specifically for racing – though it is highly probable that some of them had an influence on the sport.

In the period following Henry’s reign, the royal studs were supported by the Stuart kings, James I and his son Charles, and this era saw further introductions of foreign stock, although there is still little evidence of an advance in a cohesive breeding strategy at this time.

James I was the first monarch to establish Newmarket as a sporting centre and – although it was initially used mainly for hunting and falconry – racing began to flourish there. However, following the reign of his son, Charles I, and in the aftermath of the Civil War, racing throughout England stalled for a while because the government of the day banned it. This was ironic because the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, who was basically a country squire, enjoyed racing – the ban was not a puritanical move on his part (although it was perhaps considered as such by some members of his Protectorate), but was motivated by the thought that, in uncertain times, he wished to discourage large gatherings – which may be further evidence of racing’s long-standing attraction as a spectator sport.

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 saw an upturn in the fortunes of both Newmarket and racing generally. The new king, Charles II was, in modern parlance, ‘mad for it’, to the extent that he moved his court to Newmarket for months on end and endeavoured to govern the country from there – with mixed results. He, himself, rode in a number of ‘matches’ with some success and, not surprisingly, his enthusiasm for the sport ignited a similar enthusiasm amongst many members of the gentry.

One of Charles II’s early equestrian measures was to re-establish the concept of a royal stud (which had been dissolved during the Protectorate years) under a royalist named James D’Arcy. D’Arcy had already gained a reputation as a breeder of good horses at his Yorkshire estate and, finding the old royal stud in ruins, he suggested an arrangement that was seemingly mutually beneficial to himself and the king. This entailed D’Arcy supplying the king annually with twelve ‘extraordinary good’ foals from his own estate, for a pre-arranged sum, which meant that he could, in effect, ‘work from home’, whilst saving the king the costs of resurrecting and running a costly premises of his own.

For various reasons, which seem uncertain, but suggest a muddying of the waters on both sides, this arrangement unravelled in time and, following D’Arcy’s death, Charles moved the royal stud to a new base at Hampton Court. Following this, the late D’Arcy’s son (also James), spent many years petitioning the monarchy (on Charles’ death, James II, then William III and Mary) for some kind of monetary compensation he believed his family was owed, to no effect. However, documents produced to support his petition suggest that more thought was being given to breeding practices, and confirm a growing emphasis on importing horses variously described as Barbs, Turks, Persians and Arabians – in short, horses from the eastern and southern Mediterranean regions.

Although D’Arcy’s documents shed some light on how horse breeding was developing, it was still the case that records, generally, remained both scarce and uninformative for some decades to come. For one thing, there was no centralized repository; more importantly, such records as did exist were largely imprecise, at best. Hard-and-fast records of the pedigree of any individuals were rare, and the very identity of many horses was uncertain. This was because horses often weren’t given names, as we would understand them, but were referred to in such terms as ‘Lord X’s Barb’ – which, upon sale or loss as a gambling debt might, overnight, become ‘Mr Y’s bay’! Even if a horse was given a name, this could be changed at random, with no notification. It is no surprise, then, that many aspects of the genesis of the Thoroughbred are uncertain, and remain subject to speculation and debate among even the keenest students of the subject.

The man whose work was most influential in laying the foundations of better breeding (and other) records was John Cheny. Initially, Cheny had been approached by a group of wealthy owners and asked to travel the country with the chief intention of recording race results, and some of these owners had asked that the pedigrees of the horses also be recorded. Cheny did try to comply with the latter request, but travelling constraints and the impromptu nature of many race meetings meant that he had his hands full trying to ensure that he got the bare results right and, given the virtually random nature of horse-naming in that era, and the idiosyncratic nature of pedigree records (where they existed), he did well to record the odd snippet relating to the parentage of a featured runner. His first publication, Historical List of Horse-Matches Run (1727) was far from being a comprehensive record of breeding, but it was the first step down an important road.

For some years, Cheny struggled to improve his work on an annual basis. Initially, he faced the same problems as previously but, during this era, an increased interest in the business of breeding led to an increased demand for information about it, and to the promotion of the services of various stallions. By 1743, Cheny was able to produce an annual far more detailed than his early efforts – although, even then, he felt it necessary to include comments and cautionary notes in relation to many of the details he recorded, saying, in effect, that the accuracy of some might be uncertain.

By the time Cheny died in 1750, the importance of his work was widely appreciated, and his title was taken over by Reginald Heber. In 1756 Heber’s Historical List contained a significant page, headed ‘A Pattern for a Stud Book’. While he may have got the idea for this from prominent breeders of his acquaintance, he certainly understood the value of complete, accurate records, and the publication of this page seems to have been influential in encouraging breeders to be more conscientious in their record-keeping.

Heber’s final volume of the Historical List was published in 1768 and, following his death, there was a struggle as to who should be the key provider of racing and breeding information. A man named Benjamin Walker tried to keep the Historical List going, but he was unable to compete with another journal, The Sporting Calendar, produced by William Tuting and Thomas Fawconer, both of whom were officers of the Jockey Club. (Interestingly, although the Jockey Club was to be the guiding force in the organization and development of racing, its precise origins are rather obscure. It evolved from a group of sporting aristocrats who met at the Star and Garter in London’s Pall Mall, and seems to have been founded officially in 1750. Soon after this, the club leased a coffee house in Newmarket as a base for their racing interests.)