Does British racing need a Barry Hearn figure?

They could do worse - at least he can connect with the bloke drinking bitter or an alcopop, as opposed drinking Pimm's or Veuve Clicquot in the private boxes. Here's a response to my Racing for Change discussion from WhatTheBookiesSay.com

Dial 999 for Hearn

Horse racing is currently run by tweed wearing, yar yar spitting, self important members of the upper classes who offer a limp handshake to anyone that’s not called Henrietta or Tarquin and are totally out of touch when it comes to dealing with people called Janet of John, and from what I’ve seen I fear that whilst they may have the best interests of horse racing in mind, Racing for Change, may well fall into the Tarquin category and fail to connect with the likes of Johnny.

The racing hierarchy and those that like to be associated with it put too much emphasis on its history and that’s its main problem (along with the fact that they’re stuck in their ways and lack the creativity to bring the sport up to date). The sport of kings needs to be blown up and reinvented and only Hearn would have the cheek to do that – look at how darts is now flourishing, the Prizefighter series is a breath of fresh air, and of course snooker is about to have the Hearn wand waved at it.

Perhaps British racing will never break away from tradition - but there's no harm in giving it a go at some of the lesser tracks which seemingly only exist to provide turnover for bookies.

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Sport is made for betting

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