More poor attendances, a leadership vacuum and crocodile tears - Racing Inc really is a slow-motion car crash right now
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
Last updated
Copy- The Curragh has struggled to win back racegoers - and inflicting a card like Irish Derby day on people won't help
- No preview nights, no endless build-up, no entries in some cases - and Royal Ascot is all the better for it
- This should be a great moment for Irish racing - but the haplessness of our governing bodies could hijack it
- High Court win a timely seal of approval for IHRB as Luke Comer appeal against steroid sanctions begins
- Aidan O'Brien has transformed his strategy in recent years - and it means we definitely can't write off his Classic crop yet
- The Curragh has struggled to win back racegoers - and inflicting a card like Irish Derby day on people won't help
- No preview nights, no endless build-up, no entries in some cases - and Royal Ascot is all the better for it
- This should be a great moment for Irish racing - but the haplessness of our governing bodies could hijack it
- High Court win a timely seal of approval for IHRB as Luke Comer appeal against steroid sanctions begins
- Aidan O'Brien has transformed his strategy in recent years - and it means we definitely can't write off his Classic crop yet