The New Year got off to a stuttering start due to the weather. Only two meetings took place from a scheduled six in the opening week.
Tramore managed to complete a second consecutive day's racing on New Year's day, but three finishers (one of which failed to survive the ordeal) from ten starters in a handicap chase gives a fair indication of the ground conditions.
Cork was the only other venue to stage racing as frost replaced rain as the cause of cancellations. Track manager Michael Lane was brimming with pride when he told the assembled press that his was the only racecourse in the country to get through their full allocation of fixtures in 2002.
Twenty years ago Cork was a marsh-Mallow. Regularly flooded by the nearby river, Cork had one of the worst records for abandoned meetings. And that was before 'Global-Warming' reared its ugly head. When the old Mallow metamorphosed into the new Cork the track was rebuilt and extensive drainage work carried out.
Perhaps we don't need an All-weather track in the country after all, just a decent surface that is well managed.
Paul Carberry and Barry Geraghty were both in double form at Cork. The pair has monopolised weekend racing over the last few months - a domination that has coincided with the absence of Ruby Walsh.
Many of the lesser jockeys on the jumps circuit must feel frustration that the top three have such a stranglehold on the winner's enclosure, but they deserve their successes. They are constantly pushing the bar higher in their pursuit of excellence and it is a joy to watch them do battle on a daily basis.
As an industry we sometimes place too much emphasis on the horses to the detriment of the riders. With a little luck these three jockeys will be at the top for another decade, not even a Limestone Lad could match that, but yet racing is marketed with the ever changing horses as the draw.
HRI has pulled the plug on free live pictures to Attheraces and the Racing Channel. The intention is to strike a deal with one or both of the broadcasters for the rights to use the pictures, but if only things were that simple. Both firms offered a percentage of their profits from betting on Irish racing, but no up-front cash. The governing body rejected this.
HRI is under pressure from individual racecourses that feel live pictures beamed into homes have affected attendances (Limerick withdrew its product prior to HRI's termination of pictures) and money is the only thing that will appease them.
'Media rights' are the buzzwords for the latest generation of racing bureaucrats and live pictures of the Irish product are considered a very valuable commodity. But to whom? Attheraces and the Racing Channel will obviously want profits from any deal and as the betting sides of their businesses are in their infancy it is difficult to see them fork out cash up-front.
There is a more radical solution that could secure a lucrative future for the industry. If HRI set up its own production company to televise racing for satellite and cable broadcasters, it could not only control the output, but earn revenue from advertising and at the same time promote the beleaguered Tote. It might appear that this would take huge capital investment from HRI, but shortly before Christmas Navan races produced a programme for the Racing Channel on a shoestring budget.
Finally, all at irish-racing.com would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. The site is due to be re-launched shortly and the '404 errors' which have plagued us will soon be a thing of the past.
