I weighed myself yesterday morning, and only two days into my diet I was down 7lb at 18st3. The gastroenteritis diet really works! Sadly this morning, my stomach having recovered, I was back up to 18st6 – still 4lb down but not the miracle I was looking for.
On the subject of weight it was interesting to read the “Insight” piece in the Racing Post today about weighing horses at race meetings. I’m for the idea – I raised it with the inside information panel at the Jockey Club a while ago and I went as far as to suggest that Betfair might be persuaded to sponsor it if recognised in some way. There was fairly strong resistance to the idea which makes me think it’s unlikely to happen, but I think some of the concerns are short sighted or unfounded.
In money terms it would pay back – in addition to sponsorship rights there is data. If America is where sports coverage is going then data and stats are where it’s at. In future Racing will have to work harder than ever before to compete with other sports for the punter’s pound – a data rich stat rich environment wins over the analyst/anorak and is grist to the mill of the race writers, commentators and general opinion formers who drive the interest of the wider market.
A concern that I know exists is that the racing public who are unskilled in interpreting weight data will judge trainers unfairly on the basis of it and create bad feeling. I don’t believe this – the public have been judging forever (it’s what betting is all about) and I think the opposite is true as more data fosters greater understanding. Then there are questions around “owner’s privileges” – the view that owners should be allowed private access to some information about their horses wellbeing so that they can make more betting on them, and some owners, if they see their rights eroded, may walk away from racing. I certainly wouldn’t buy this as an argument.
I nearly coughed up my breakfast when I read David Hood’s quote – “we are in favour of as much transparency as possible”. I guess it’s a welcome departure from the Man Mood days, although I suspect that that is not what Hood is saying.
All my three runners should stand their ground tomorrow, and I’m still hopeful. Ours looks solid in the 3:00 at Chepstow with the talented Sam Thomas on board – he has been improving. Mon Michel was declared twice at Sandown, and goes for the 3:10 handicap rather than the Tolworth. Gary thinks the ground will be fine and he should have a great chance. Ollie Fliptrik goes in the 1:05 at Lingfield – I haven’t had an opinion yet.