Wednesday 22nd November 2017

Interesting news overnight. The BHA have decided from January next year, all horses that have undergone a wind op and are running for the first time, this info / news must be declared by the trainer.

I dare say, the BHA are opening a huge can of worms and it will likely end in tears.

To start with, French & Irish racing won’t be doing it so we stand alone. This could stop top class horses from these countries racing in the UK, especially flat horses that might have a career at stud. It could influence stud value.

This would-be loss to English racing and the watching public

For punters, if you think, backing a horse that’s had a wind op running for the first time will improve them 10lb, your hugely mistaken. I guarantee, if you backed every horse first time after a wind op, you’ll be in the poor house very quickly. It can take two or three runs for horses to realise they can now get all the air required.

Wind ops tend to work about 50% of the time. In some instances it can improve the horse plenty. In most it doesn’t have any real affect bar letting the horses see their races out better. It doesn’t make horses run faster and can make them worse than before.

Mares in foal can certainly improve a good deal, should this be made public?

Sometimes more knowledge is a hindrance.

The last time I looked at our vet bills, I don’t realise the general public pay money towards them. Some will say, why should this info be made public when it’s the owners that pay the bills? Without owners there would be no horse racing. Owners must come first not the man in the street hoping to win a few quid.

It also can’t be governed. If the info isn’t declared by the trainer, how will the BHA know and what can they do? A slap on the wrist at the most if found guilty. Each horse that wins daily, can’t be scoped post-race.

The entire thing is a nonsense.

It was good to see Faugheen win on his comeback run at the weekend. It’s fingers crossed he stays sound until March.