This column spent a few days away from the racing scene last week and it seemed there was a glut of racing topics in the news. And, unfortunately, none of it was good.

Alphonse Le Grande won the Cesarewitch. Then he was disqualified three days later. The ‘new’ winner missed out the racecourse presentations and punters on Manxman lost out.

The reason for the Tuesday DQ was given by BHA’s Brant Dunshea: It would be sensible for the dust to settle and for the race to be reviewed in the cold light of day. What constitutes a use of the whip can be subjective, so you have to be absolutely sure with the decisions so it makes more sense to do it after the event.

But this review didn’t get it right either! On appeal, that ‘subjective’, the omission of one strike, made Alphonse Le Grande the winner again! Mad stuff.

The David Power Jockeys Cup was a new creation to gain public interest, but it didn’t meet with full approval either.

While owners make or break the sport, they are generally not the reason the public get interested. Too many of those who own the horses in Grade 1 races, away from the few main Festivals, do not even attend the racedays.

Yes, only a few are likely to benefit from this, but riders are generally the faces of the industry. .

Whip calls

The next port of call, coming from this whip mess up was the call by some Racing TV presenters/pundits to do away with the whip altogether.

But the modern ProCush whip is not a problem, would it make for any better races or even avoid rule breaking?

Horses are competitive, but not as competitive that they would run to their limits like a Mo Farah, Chris Hoy, Katie Taylor, et cetera. There is no issue in asking them to give a bit more. The modern whip does that in a finish, and is well-regulated only used a limit of seven times.

It’s not abuse, it’s not welfare, it doesn’t hurt, it’s not ugly to watch. If punters see one horse obviously not putting in full effort, and a rider having to sit there, it is not going to be any more appealing to race fans. Would we never see the thrill of horses battling back, pulling out that bit extra in a finish?

And then there is the safety element. Just use it for safety purposes was the call. But the obvious reply to this is, if we can’t decide when it is nine or 10 strikes, how the hell do we define a use for safety?

And when horses are tired... “Sorry, sir, my horse was beginning to hang and take the other’s ground, it could have cut him off and been dangerous, I had to use the whip for safety reasons.”

And, we know the modern whip doesn’t mark or injure horses, so as it encourages them to keep moving, is it any different to a rider using his heels to drive one?

The instructions by Paul Nicholls to Freddie Gingell on Il Ridoto last week were: “If you are in touch turning in, give him a kick.” Now, if we stop pandering to the ‘visuals’, does this not seem out of touch with how we are supposed to treat animals?

If that wasn’t enough, just as the season proper began with three days at Cheltenham, racing made the main evening news. Great? Oh no, it was because three horses died on the track last Sunday.

It was a tough break. One winner collapsing during the post-race interview. Two heart attacks in one race can be nothing but pure bad luck, but the media are ready to pounce. And there does seem to be a lot of fatal injuries this season.

Even all the quotes of ‘heartbroken’ connections won’t appease many. It’s very difficult to ‘move on’ when social media aggravates the debates.

Engage and educate is the only way. Scottish trainer Nick Alexander made sense with this website comment.

“We have very sadly lost three horses on the racecourse over the last three seasons – That’s A Given, Chanting Hill and Kellerman – each one of those accidents sits in my memory as if it was yesterday… However, we also have accidents at home, two sit in my mind – Benny’s Secret kicked in the field in 2021 and only last week we lost Duyfken, a promising young horse who since May had bravely battled a serious injury incurred in the field. Very occasionally we lose horses to colic and we lost Little Glenshee to pneumonia last winter after another long battle. Horses will die, my conscience rests on how we look after them while they are alive, how we treat them in adversity and in the knowledge that if we didn’t do what we do, they wouldn’t exist.

I’M not sure who watches night time TV these days – probably not too many of a younger age group – but it was amusing to recently catch in passing an episode of the once big hit UK ITV2 show Big Brother, broadcast from 9pm to 11pm on VirginTwo.

While its viewership maybe falling, you are still talking of near a million viewers and many younger contestants in the show, 12 of about 15 were under 30. Five million people were reported to have voted during the final show.

Now, not many of those would be found watching racing channels on winter afternoons, we can be assured. But it was amusing to see it sponsored by BoyleSports Roulette, with four or so commercial breaks.

After the Gambling Bill, racing fans can’t watch afternoon racing with betting adverts to protect young people from being lured to gambling, but it’s fine to sit down late at your leisure and endure them. It will also be interesting if more later night viewing becomes more cluttered with such adverts.

FOR those who follow racing but from non-racing backgrounds, the ways and means behind the scenes of trainers is an extra fascinating study.

When preparing horses for a new season or to comeback from a spell off, it’s an acquired skill to read between the lines of what you are told on fitness.

The “he’s as fit as I can get him at home” is often the pre-race comments - Paul Nicholls on Ginny’s Destiny last Saturday. Where does that leave us? Ginny’s Destiny was pulled up before fitness became an issue.

The likes of Venetia Williams can get one ready to win easily off a year’s break. Down Memory Lane was off 325 days. We’ll see how forward the top Mullins horses are this weekend.

A gallop is a gallop, whether it is at home or in public, so isn’t it strange that Constitution Hill - who was so good when last seen - finds it tough to match a decent stable companion less than two weeks away from a Grade 1 reappearance? Constitution Hill’s laboured gallop with Sir Gino gave rise to a lot of comment, ranging from suggestions he would be retired, to connections professing it was ‘all systems go’ for Newcastle. Perhaps the lameness revealed yesterday was the reason but the horse faces an uphill battle.

WHAT connects the six-furlong Royal Ascot Group 1 Commonwealth Cup with a Grade 1 Juvenile on Breeders’ Cup night at Del Mar, and a two-mile November hurdle at Fakenham in November?

Quiet Reflection is the answer. Winner at the Royal meeting and dam of Lake Victoria and Bluegrass. The best of plans can lead to the remotest of places!