A prime minister who likes racing and a bet can be only a good thing - just like Aidan O'Brien's transparency
One of the frustrations with betting on racing, or certainly my own betting on racing, is it is often only after the event that something becomes blindingly obvious.
The same can be true of judgements in a broader sense, which is why hindsight is such a useful resource, albeit not one that carries much weight with bookmakers. On other occasions, a statement seems so incontrovertibly true that opposition to it proves baffling. I had some experience of this over the weekend.
On Saturday Sir Keir Starmer and his family enjoyed a day at the races. The fact the prime minister went to Doncaster to watch the St Leger appeared from my perspective to be a manifestly positive development. Starmer was the first serving prime minister to attend the final Classic in 71 years, while not since John Major went to Aintree for the post-bomb scare Monday Grand National in 1997 had a prime minister made such a notable racecourse visit.
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Published on inLee Mottershead
Last updated
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- No-one has ever emerged from the womb wearing a trilby - racing's future survival hangs on pursuing a young audience
- Restrictions and the black market: surely the time has come for bookmakers to confront the link between them
- Plummeting betting turnover leaves British racing in a precarious state - whatever the sales numbers might suggest
- British racing's leaders past and present have spoken with one voice - there must be change
- Racing has a lifelong responsibility to racehorses - deciding who is responsible is a vital next step