Sport is made for betting

I like to rant about racing issues, so it's about time I had a crack at British racing's Racing For Change. Here are the points listed as part of the Racing for Change initiatives with my comments inserted: -Trial of decimal odds at several race meetings over one weekend in spring 2010. I think this is more to do with the failing education system than racing's problem, but I see their point. But going to 1.5/1 instead of 6/4 is a waste of time. If you're going to change, do it properly and go to proper decimals - the Betfair/Australian bookies way (2.5). One state of Australia went to decimalised fractions (18/10 etc) on its own and it had zero effect. They all ended up going to proper decimal odds in the late 90s. BUT Australia had a key reason to switch - the totes had taken over and the younger generation were more accustomed to seeing tote odds broadcast on the TV or in the paper. The Tote is almost a non-entity in the UK. I doubt it will make a difference at all - ...

No great surprise there, but racing really needs to do something about keeping its superstars in the game for longer. One season is not enough to class him as a true champion - you have to come back and defend your crowns to earn that. As a 2yo, he showed potential, at 3 he was the best by far and at 4 and beyond he'll be shagging his life away making his shareholders very rich, and hopefully throwing some talented progeny. So what can flat racing do to prolong the racing careers of its stars? Jumping tops the popularity stakes in Britain mostly because Kauto Star, Denman, Hardy Eustace, Istabraq and other stars come back year after year. The public feel a connection with these horses built up over more than a few months. Here's an idea - create a jackpot pool so that any horse who wins a feature, open age Group I race two years in a row gets a bonus on top of the winner's cheques. So if Sea The Stars collected £1m for winning the Arc, next year he would be racing for an ex...

I've watched a lot of top quality racing in the 25 years or so I've been keen on the sport, and even seen a fair bit of historical footage.. but I can't think of any horse who can match what Sea The Stars has done this season. Six Group 1s spread over six months, beating his age group and open class, in three countries, and facing all the team tactics that the likes of Aidan O'Brien and co can serve up... and still braining them. He wasn't even at his best yesterday, and still cruised home in what the experts have called the strongest Arc field in years. I'd embed the YouTube clip but unfortunately it's all in widescreen and won't fit on the blog page - Sea The Stars wins the 2009 Arc de Triomphe It will be great to see his progeny gracing the turf in a few years' time, but it will be just as sad that he will almost certainly be packed off to stud and won't return to defend some of his crowns next season. Great call from Jim McGrath, his quote of...