Retire whip to clean up racing's image

Patrick Smith | July 05, 2008 DESOLATE is probably too tough a word. But it does not miss the mark by much. The car parks are all but empty, there is no-one on the gates, you can drive and park where you please. Plonk your car with the owners, the members, the trainers and jockeys. With the plebs if you feel like slumming it. You can get into the course for nothing because nobody mans the turnstiles. You can walk into the members, too, if you don't break stride and look straight ahead. Keep confident and you are in the mounting yard. Lean over the rail and look as though you own the favourite. Say something about a horse's coat. At this country meeting last year there were more horses than people. Hardly any bookmakers, barely any punters, a handful of owners and only the necessary trainers. The facilities were shabby, the... [read full story]