SD's Racing Ramble: Whipping up a needless storm and three midweek pokes

Having amassed a loyal following on our Races Now YouTube channel thanks to a combination of outstanding tipping and forthright opinions, the unimitable 'SD' has now signed up for a weekly column right here on OddsNow.com! 

Today's latest edition features some strong thoughts on whip use alongside selections from Catterick, Carlisle and Redcar.

Racing is great at calculating its own misfortune.

Take the Cesarewitch on Saturday. I’ve watched the race back on multiple occasions and there is nothing over-excessive about the winning ride, nor anything that compromises welfare. 

There seems to be a focus on the largely unsatisfactory outcome. It is salient to point out the finite margins involved require appropriate scrutiny, probably at a later date. This appeases the rightful concerns of bookmakers on the impact of a disqualification and the pandemonium this causes.

There has yet to a solution offered which proffers an accurate solution in a timely manner. Amongst the utter slurry sent around social media was the suggestion from some has-been that “attempted strikes” should count to the quota.

This is. of course, a farcical response.

Racing needs to go back to basics. Horse welfare remains at the forefront of most stakeholders thoughts. This does not mean the whip, in the most-part, is anything other than a stimulus to encourage performance with minimum pain.

In putting a precise integer on the number of times of contact, the BHA has created ingredients for those who have no other agenda to ban racing to make them into a toxic potion. The entire farce was avoidable.

A precise number was brought into appease these fruit loops, despite the lack of correlation in animal welfare and the number of hits. It is high time the authorities stop listening to those with an agenda to stop racing, as every move seen as a compromise is another to the death knell of our sport.

Speaking of preventable farces, the arson of the fixture list over a decade ago is still raw.

We have “Champions Day” run in a swamp at Ascot, when it was so much better at Newmarket. The moving of races like the QE2, the lack of a Dewhurst on what used to be the best day of the year and the Champion Stakes being anything but mean it’s a damp squib.

It’s 28 years since Halling vs Bosra Sham and quagmire like conditions are not likely to see a repeat of such an epic tussle.

To add insult to injury, Catterick, whose most valuable day is on Saturday, has been sidelined to a 11am kickoff. This is a needless attack of preventable vandalism at a racecourse which — although small — is always a pleasure to attend.

I’ll get up at the crack of shit to go, but many others won’t.

In happier news, it’s great to see Rebecca Menzies do so well. Edgewell completed a wonderful coup d'état on Friday, when winning the Rebecca Menzies Racing 40 Winners And Counting For John Wade Handicap Chase at, of all places, Downpatrick.

As well as Rebecca doing so well, John Wade has been a constant in northern jumps racing as long as I can remember. Long may it continue.

This week, there’s a decent card at Market Rasen on Tuesday and The Midwife can deliver the goods in the 3:35pm.

She may have needed her reappearance at Warwick — which in any case was not devoid of promise — and appeals as well-treated from a mark of 86.

There were various points last season where Fia Fundh looked like capitalising on a mark 10lbs higher than that of last Thursday.

Maybe better ground will help as a mark of 100 looks a gimme in Carlisle’s 4:17pm, named after the much-missed John Budden. Carlisle should be commended for naming a race after such a thoroughly nice man.

Finally, Fast Fred has hinted at ability on his last two starts and it’s still early days for him. His ability to handle soft ground may count for plenty come Friday at Redcar, and there is surely more to come, assuming Pippa Brown gives enough assistance from the saddle.

Each-way looks the way to go with enhanced place terms.