OpinionRichard Forristal
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More poor attendances, a leadership vacuum and crocodile tears - Racing Inc really is a slow-motion car crash right now

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Ireland editor
ALPHONSE LE GRANDE ridden by Hollie Doyle wins the NORTHUMBERLAND VASE at NEWCASTLE 29/6/24
Tony Martin: all he had to do was keep his head down for three months but he couldn't resist rubbing the authorities' noses in it at Newcastle on SaturdayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Silly season is on the horizon so maybe that will bring a bit of respite from the slow-motion car crash that is enveloping the world of horseracing right now. It might be our best hope, a bit of frivolity lightening the mood. Seriously. 

I know there are readers out there who will implore me to focus on the positives, stick fingers in my ears and merrily celebrate, for example, a reported five per cent hike in attendance to 11,418 at the Curragh on Irish Derby day. It's what a good cheerleader would do.

Pom-poms have never been my bag, though, and only the wilfully deluded can hail that as a success because it ignores the context of how even just a decade ago more than twice as many people flocked to the Curragh to see Irish racing's premier Classic.

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Published on inRichard Forristal

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