If It's Not Broken

Horseracing is the strongest of all sports.

It hasn't fundamentally changed in hundreds of years. The wealthy still sponsor, own and pay and the hoi polloi (myself included) still show up to bet and drink. The courage required to lead the National field towards Becher's Brook is the same as it was in 1839. Gambling coups are plotted, planned and executed, from Elis in the St Leger two centuries ago, to Looks Like Trouble in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2000. Punters search for winning systems, just as they always have.

A race is just what it always was, an uncomplicated contest to see who comes first.

While tennis, cricket and athletics have modified, legislated and re-designed, racing has retained all its old habits including, uniquely, the amicable co-existence between amateur and professional.

Racing hasn't felt the need to endlessly change its format in search of popularity. There is no 20:20 version. No-one has introduced the equivalent of a penalty shoot out. Racing doesn't have tie-breaks.

It is a sign-post not a weathercock. From Aga Khan to stable lad, everyone wants the same thing.

This is why, whatever the challenges ahead, it will never face the insoluble issues and the bitter conflicting interests of football, exemplified by the recent melodrama around the European Super League.