“I can hope my ass is made of ice cream but

that don’t make me a hot fudge sundae”

Bender in Bender’s Game (Futurama)

IT takes some doing for the Irish racing and breeding industry to be among the very best in the world and a sector worth so much in real economic terms to the state, and yet be a pariah in on home turf.

Ireland is a country that celebrates even a modicum of success. We love a bandwagon, which is a great thing.

Think Katie Taylor, the Irish soccer team, the rugby in more recent times, the cricket when we reached a few World Cups, the women’s hockey team that shook up the world.

But racing is an outlier. We are indisputably a global giant but, at best, there is general disinterest, at worst, revulsion.

This is because of the inverse snobbery that comes from the pervasive Sport of Kings image, the inability to emphasise the rural base, the common man and woman at the core of the industry.

That is why there is such a kickback against the annual Government investment, despite the massive return to the Exchequer.

It is also why we cannot take for granted that the green light will be given for racing to go ahead in the early weeks of May, with Leo Varadkar and his advisers wary of a backlash.

Resign

This all comes at a time when British trainers Mark Johnston, Ralph Beckett and Hughie Morrison have led a call from an unspecified number of trainers, for BHA chief executive Nick Rust to resign immediately. They have accused him of self-interest as he sees out his notice until the end of the year, having announced his intention to move on.

There is an irony in charging Rust of looking after himself, while at the same time insisting that the BHA should be going about the business of getting racing going without the input of the government.

This is the type of entitlement that has dogged racing and tarnished its image among Joe and Josephine Public over the years, despite most of the industry comprising Joes and Josephines.

While there is sense in bringing proposals to the government, making plans without constant interaction with those that have their finger on the pulse as regards the constantly evolving landscape surrounding coronavirus (as HRI officials are) is like relieving yourself into the wind.

It comes across as disrespectful of the 21,000 people dead in Britain at the time of writing – double that according to the Financial Times – and those frontline workers risking their lives every day.

And that is very relevant in Ireland. The link between the two countries is a long, complicated one, obviously. The two racing jurisdictions enjoy a symbiotic relationship and we need a healthy scene across the water for to prosper, not just as an outlet for racing itself but as the primary market for the Irish-bred, albeit that the horizons are expanding all the time.

Unfortunately, that tweed, upper class stereotype prevails because of that British link and the heavy influence of British media on these shores.

We have long learned not to use Twitter as an indicator of broad public opinion but Cheltenham trended four times on separate occasions at least since the conclusion of the Festival. And it hasn’t been to marvel at the brilliance of Envoi Allen.

Mainstream media is a business like any other. The explosion in rugby coverage is an example of how revenue driven it is, and the old traditional private school reputation did not prevent attendances going through the roof and fellas who were never at a game in their lives sitting down to watch Ireland, Munster and Leinster.

Meanwhile, racing coverage outside of industry media has shrunk to near invisibility, apart from the racecards. With more racing, there are in fact more column inches in the newspapers than ever due to those cards but they mean nothing.

I can’t remember the last time I looked at a card in a newspaper. A page of content, syndicated by HRI if needs be, with an online link to the cards, would be more beneficial.

Advertising

Unlike rugby, Ireland achieves at elite level every year in racing and has done for aeons. But mass media clearly cannot link this with the type of elite heavy-spending advertising that rugby especially has and so pay it scant regard, as it does most sport.

Efforts have been made to address this with a variety of positive campaigns on the racing front over the years but there has never been a sense that the resources for a proper public relations blitz of weekly content and message delivering have ever been provided.

To keep repeating outside the echo chamber how big an industry it is, how important it is to the State in terms of employment, sales, tax revenue and so on, as well as indirect employment via vets, farriers, horse dentists, bedding providers, feed providers, not to mention the hospitality sector.

Racing and breeding are the lifeblood of many local economies in Ireland.

Jim Bolger once remarked in that trademark wry fashion that a Government minister would knock people down to be photographed at the opening of a business employing 50 or 60 people in Dublin but he employs in the region of 200 via his training and breeding operation.

At the same time, you have the huge number of Irish prospering in the four corners of the planet as trainers, jockeys, agents, staff, managers, sales reps and breeders. And the markets for the Irish-bred racehorse are expanding all the time.

Elitist

There is nothing elitist about Gordon Elliott, the son of a panel beater whose mother still cooks his fry for him. And Aidan O’Brien wasn’t born the Master of Ballydoyle. Rachael Blackmore didn’t brush her hair in a castle on a hill dreaming of Cheltenham Grade 1s as a child.

Sea The Stars was once a foal. How interesting would it be to see the journey of well-cared for young stock as they go through the various stages towards hopefully making the track – and inevitably some not doing so – be they from the royal or rustic production lines? And in the process, showcase the humans involved along the way.

There are racehorse breeders in the 32 counties of Ireland and 92% of those have five mares or less. There is nothing aristocratic about that.

The ITM Irish Stallion Trail is an example of what is possible, opening the doors of small and big stallion houses alike to the general public, many of whom have had no previous experience of the industry. The feedback has been extremely positive.

The prize money for the Irish Derby went up a quarter of a million but if two million isn’t enough to attract the best horses in the world, is another €250,000? As a promotional tool, there are better ways to use that money.

Bender knew about self-delusion. It’s time to take the shackles off the marketing professionals within racing and breeding.

With the benefit of having run 10 meetings behind closed doors prior to the lockdown, racing will be the only live sport around, whenever it resumes and with a horse and pony in every second field, a market exists for tapping. Opportunity invariably lies in difficult times. Now is the hour.