Men build their heavens as they build their circles

Of friends. God is in the bits and pieces of everyday -

A kiss here and a laugh again, and sometimes tears,

THAT verse from Kavanagh’s The Great Hunger comes to my mind often as a pretty accurate description of the trials and tribulations of life.

If your attention was fixed on racing last Saturday, you could easily feel a little bit of the Gods smiling on us in the afternoon as Cheltenham hosted a ‘normal’ Trials meeting before the Festival.

Paisley Park is one of the most popular horses in training, partly because of his slightly quirky ways and plenty of kisses and smiles greeted his winning return at Cheltenham.

But a huge part of the joy of the afternoon was lost when the action switched to Doncaster and we witnessed a horrible injury that led to the death to the popular Sue Smith-trained chaser Midnight Shadow. For a yard that he raced from since his first win in a bumper at Newcastle in December 2016 and where he was the flagship ‘Festivals’ horse, all around him must have felt it keenly for many days.

But – as Ruby Walsh once remarked – horses are outside your kitchen door. And we had reason to remember that around our own office this week.

That said, there was something sickening in seeing the fatal injury to the popular chaser and an unhappy feeling that it was unnecessary.

In his 25 runs over obstacles he had only fallen once. This injury occurred at a water jump. He misjudged the spread and his backend landed on the lip as many have before him.

Go back to Azertyuiop who lost the 2005 Champion Chase when he left his hind legs in the water. There was a casualty at the water at the November Cheltenham meeting when a horse called Equus Secretus also erred at the water. There are many others over the years.

I generally hate the current push that seems prevalent in racing, that we have to change things to please a public perception, when the change will make little difference. It is just a concession that can only lead to another and before long the essence of it all is lost and jump racing is the next to come under threat.

There will be a new report on the use of the whip in British racing to be published in the autumn. No one really believes that horses are hurt by the current whip. But fences do cause horses to fall. And water jumps offer a different ‘trap’.

It’s kind of strange that something might be banned for visual perception when it causes no harm, but something which is likely to do harm is kept because it might be visual appealing to see horses streaming over a water jump.

Yes, a water jump in front of the stands, like at Newbury, is a great sight with horses flying over and produces good photos. But when it is more likely to cause an injury and is situated out in the back section of a track like the one at Doncaster and Cheltenham – what purpose does it serve? Are Irish chases any less a spectacle with no water? They are simply a trap. I can see little need for their inclusion in a race and replacing with an ordinary plain fence might just save a few more lives.