A quiet revolution has been gathering pace in the upper reaches of Britain’s racing pyramid. In among the nuts and bolts many showcase occasions are virtually unrecognisable from their predecessors. This is much to the benefit of a sport that has been slow to evolve in tandem with the world around it.
The point is well made in respect of Newmarket’s July Festival this week. While changes to the racing programme are evident to those prepared to look under the covers, the myriad of non-racing activities are more eye-catching.
The festival opens today with not a horse in sight. Newmarket serves up a series of musical events that have helped to finance a doubling in prize-money over six years — not to mention the racecourse’s £10 million redevelopment. Finally, one of Flat racing’s most undersold occasions is coming to life.
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It does so by a combination of increased competition among racecourses and less reliance on the culture of subsidy created by Levy Board handouts. Ascot has driven this particular wagon. In particular, it raised prize-money for its sprint races and abetted the Australian challenge by helping with substantial travelling costs. Something exciting was duly born.
Newmarket’s response has been to make the July Cup the most valuable sprint in Europe. This is much in keeping with a race that has settled the accolade of champion sprinter 22 times in the past 30 renewals.
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The pity is that Australia’s finest are not out in force this year. Miss Andretti and Takeover Target have headed home, leaving Bentley Biscuit as the sole, unconvincing representative after his disappointing run at Royal Ascot. Only now are British sprinters ready to tackle Australia’s best, and the fact remains that there has never been an Australian-trained winner of the July Cup.
Equally, the sight of George Washington pelting down the straight six furlongs would have been something to savour. His closing third in Saturday’s Eclipse Stakes was noble enough, yet his headstrong antics compromised him. The July Cup afforded George Washington a rare opportunity to race at a tempo natural to him but totally beyond most others. He might easily have been a runaway winner.
Instead, Newmarket delivers a fresh international angle when Irridescence contests tomorrow’s Falmouth Stakes. The South African mare is up against four other group one winners, which vindicates the Falmouth’s upgrading to championship status four years ago. This, however, is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also demonstrates how recent changes to the fabric of British racing are not all for the better.
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Needless to say, all racecourses crave upgrades for their better races. Yet the ensuing scramble has brought a souk-like quality to a Pattern system that has determined the structure of high-class racing in Europe for 35 years.
Once more Ascot sets the pace, having achieved merited upgrades for the Queen Anne, Golden Jubilee and Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. But the executive has designs on championship status for the King’s Stand and Windsor Forest Stakes.
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To achieve this, Ascot obtained the British Horseracing Board’s consent to waive penalties usually carried by group one winners in group two races. Naturally, the opportunity has been gratefully seized upon. Last month’s King’s Stand and Windsor Forest were won by previous group one winners in Miss Andretti and Nannina respectively. Hence the self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the case of the Hardwicke Stakes, however, Ascot is plainly not yet bargaining for an upgrade. The consequence last month was that Scorpion, the only group one winner in the field and duly penalised 5lb, was narrowly denied by Maraahel in a race where the weight carried by both horses determined the outcome.
If the mechanics are complicated, the consequences are anything but. The Pattern system is the arbiter of bloodstock values. Since group one winners are worth up to five times more than group two winners, the Pattern’s integrity should be sacroscant.