Harry's Stable Whispers

RACING has suffered from the severe weather over the last week, but owners have suffered financially more than any other party, including jockeys, trainers, punters and officials.

Last Wednesday, the clerk of the course at Catterick held three inspections and still tried to race on ground that was unfit or unsafe for National Hunt racing.

This meeting should have been called off at 7.30am on the morning and would have saved owners hundreds of pounds in transport fees and groom's overtime.

But I have a proposal which I intend sending to the British Horseracing Board and Jockey Club.

I will suggest to them that if horses arrive at a course and the meeting is abandoned, then the prize money for that day's meeting should be used to meet owners' travel costs. I am sure that they would come to a much earlier decision if that were the case.

Les Eyre sent a horsebox from Hambleton to Wolverhampton yesterday, only to find the noon inspection after a minus-10 degrees overnight temperature had ended in no racing. The owner of Ring of Love has a bill for £180 travel costs for a wasted journey. What other sport would put up with that?

There's only one day's racing left this week and at Newcastle Mick Easterby's Banker Count will be hard to beat. His horses are in cracking form, King Measure should complete a double for us. Ribble Assembly is probably going to Wetherby on Boxing Day Monday, along with Dameon's Choice and Glory of Love.

We will make a few entries for each horse over the holiday period and that will give us choice of the best ground conditions.

A very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Millennium to you all.

TIPS FOR THE WEEK:

Wednesday: Newcastle - Banker Count (nap); King's Measure.

Monday: Wetherby - Dameon's Choice (nap); Ribble Assembly (EW).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.