Equinties - St Leger day 1

Gm Equinauts

The St Leger meeting… simply another beautiful flat Festival from the best racing calendar in the world.

We love flat racing.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP 

RACING’S DAY IN WESTMINSTER

As you all know (hopefully), there was no racing in the UK yesterday. It was the first time racing had been voluntarily cancelled in our country in order for the top of the sport to head to Parliament and create a voice against the protest against the proposed betting tax that will most definitely radically change horse racing’s future for the worse.

To mark this historic day of standing up against the tax loving Labour government, jockeys and trainers made their way to Westminster, vehicles circled around Parliament Square with digital slogans, and the Racing Post had a blacked-out front page.

You still couldn’t reduce the price of the paper, though, could you lads? £5.20!

We, as a racing community, frequently fall into the trap of sitting on our hands while things burn around us. Think about the issues we have had in our sport over the last few years that took an age to see any sort of change.

Prize money (which is still terrible), a greedy racing calendar (which is still too bloated), and the declining Cheltenham Festival (which could still do with some alterations) are just three examples off the top of our heads.

So, when we heard that racing was going to be ceased for a day, we wondered if the powers that be would do anything more than just shut the gates of Wolverhampton for one day.

When the BHA started to reschedule the abandoned meetings, our fears grew, but to our surprise, there was a lot that went on yesterday. We’ve mentioned a few of them above, but John Gosden also made a speech in Westminster at the QEII Centre, and Sky Sports really got their teeth stuck into the day’s action with interviews left, right, and centre.

But, will it be enough? Ultimately, no one give a conclusive answer on this, but yesterday was a good effort from all involved to get the message out there. We’ve had our fair share of issues in the eyes of the general public over the last few years. Animal Rising was one, and we have managed to evade them thus far with projects like HorsePWR, but this proposed betting tax on the sport is another huge hurdle we have to face. Days like yesterday are a good start, but we need to continue this fight, or we’ll stand no chance.

Oh, and finally, it’s very horse racing to schedule a non-racing day on the same day as the tube strikes, which is getting serious traction in the media. Lovely work, everyone. Doh!

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