How long can racing behind closed doors be maintained? And how will the sport recover when it finally does stop?
The Grand National has been cancelled, all British racing is now behind closed doors and the question facing an industry that supports the employment of tens of thousands of people, many of them in rural areas where alternatives are increasingly scarce, is how long that can possibly be maintained.
Racing continued, albeit in a very truncated form, through two world wars, as this newsreel footage of a wartime Derby at Newmarket, with an immense crowd in attendance, reminds us. But as the voiceover implies, the decision to continue was not without controversy. “We agree with the government that war workers should have occasional relaxation,” it says, “but we find it difficult to believe that these tens of thousands are war workers who can be spared in midweek.”
Written by Greg Wood
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2020/mar/17/talking-horses-grand-national-the-latest-racing-domino-to-topple under the title “Talking Horses: Grand National the latest racing domino to topple”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
