Don't ditch classifieds - we need these types of races more than ever

I hold myself to be corrected, but if 0-50 races and classified contests were abolished, as AC Hopkins suggests should happen in his letter (August 6), would we not lose a whole load of owners? Also, wouldn’t we lose a good number of racecourses? 

As well as the sport suffering from too much racing, it is done no favours by there being too many quality races that stretch the pool of quality horses too thin for those events to be competitive on every occasion. 

It is ridiculous to suggest bottom-tier racing should be phased out at a time when we need all the horses and all the owners we can accumulate to sustain the number of race meetings in the calendar. 

To do so would be almost as ridiculous as staging two meetings on a Sunday within spitting distance of each other, as was the case with Haydock and Chester last week.
Keith Knight
Bideford, Devon

I’d have more of them

I could not disagree more with AC Hopkins regarding his suggestion of ditching classified races. In fact, I wish there were more of them, ­especially on turf.

My friend owns classified horses. He pays a lot of money similar to an owner of, say, a horse of Class 3 standard, so it is not cheaper as all other sundries need to be paid as well. Also, these races normally have double-figure fields.

It is these horses, in some cases trainers and certainly owners who help prop up this industry, so let’s have more of these contests. Variety is the spice of life.
Jimmy Gill
Gravesend, Kent

We can’t afford to go

I went racing for the first time in more than 20 years last weekend. Why is everything so expensive? It was as much as £7.50 for a pint of lager and £11 for a pie. 

This is why people do not go racing as much – it’s too expensive.
H Griffiths
Llandudno, North Wales

Pronounce names right

When a horse is named after a famous person – a very fashionable occurrence at the moment – surely they should be pronounced correctly.

A case in point is the prolific sire Lope De Vega. The poet after who he was named was Spanish and would surely turn in his grave to hear his first name pronounced as one syllable. 

The correct pronunciation of his first name is ‘Low-pay’. However, I have not yet heard one presenter, commentator or even auctioneer at Tattersalls pronounce this name right.
Jillian Bale
Poole, Dorset

Top stallion Lope De Vega, or 'Low-pay' De Vega as it should be pronounced

Not like they used to be

Having read James Milton in the Big Kick-Off (August 5), I fully agree with him about what a football transfer used to be like.

I have held a Millwall season ticket for many years and have read ­goalkeeper Bryan King’s book, The Lions’ King, about his career. 

King tells the story of how he was transferred from non-league Chelmsford City to Millwall. He was living with his parents and had recently qualified as an electrician. He was aware both Millwall and Spurs were interested in him and estimates Spurs were offering the equivalent of £100,000 in today’s money and Millwall £70,000.

The deal was sealed by the Millwall manager Benny Fenton visiting King’s home. Arriving in a Volkswagen (this was 1967), Fenton got out with a bouquet of flowers which he presented to King’s mother. He then offered King a contract of £30 a week, a £10 extra appearance fee, £4 for a win and £2 for a draw. 

King’s father looked at the contract and wanted a train ticket added to avoid Bryan having to drive every day. So Fenton added it in and the deal was sealed by a three-year season ticket from Chelmsford to New Cross Gate.

By the way, in the next chapter, King wonders whether his first two months at Millwall were a breach of the Geneva Convention!
Trevor Pitman
Beckenham, Kent

These letters are exclusive to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Read more Members' Club content here

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