SD's Racing Ramble: Time to ditch the farcical Racing League

Having amassed a loyal following on our Races Now YouTube channel thanks to a combination of outstanding tipping and forthright opinions, the inimitable 'SD' also brings his strong views to OddsNow.com via his regular column – the Racing Ramble!

This week's edition focuses on the controversial Racing League, of which it is fair to suggest SD is not a huge fan...

Time to bin the Racing League

The Racing League starts again today in the first of a sextet of tedium of race meetings.

We must not crab the prize money – but the ludicrous concept of teams is one which is frankly an abomination on the tenets of our great game.

Horse racing is a sport where individuals win. Be it the horse or jockey, it is a solo enterprise.

It differentiates our great sport against team sports such as football and rugby. And so, the Racing League's overreaching concept is fundamentally flawed.

Rather like a fake boob job, Botox and plastic surgery, it is massaged to look good.

Free tickets, available on via attheraces website, bump up the crowd to make it look like a popular initiative. ITV and their carnival turn up and tell us how we should love this innovative team endeavour.

ITV Racing are at arms to tell us how good the Racing League is (Alamy)

Get behind the team?

Speaking of teams, puerile would sum it up succinctly.

The team captains are three ITV hosts, two current trainers, one racing tv broadcaster and one ex-trainer.

The latter, one Mick Quinn, was banned from training in 2001 after he was charged with a breach of rule 51 in that the overall condition of Winsome George, Arab Gold and Zola 'fell below that expected of a licensed trainer, indicative of a lack of care and skill on Quinn's part towards both the owners and the horses'.

The Jockey Club spokesman said at the time, "The committee were of the view that the serious nature of the case merited this punishment".

Quite away from questionable team selection focus, the colours are indistinguishable.

The Racing League concept has countless flaws (Alamy)

Punters are used to identifying established horses by their colours. You subconsciously learn them. Instead, the Racing League sees runners adorned in similar colours to their teammates. Excellent innovative thinking.

And for those who argue from the cheap seats that it offers “competitive racing”, ask yourself this. Does it correlate that Saturday’s International Handicap has not filled to its maximum?

Thirteen go for the £50,000 added handicap tonight. A dilution of competitiveness at a time of falling horse population is reminiscent to having Dracula in charge of a blood bank.

Five of the seven races have not attracted a maximum field and even the bookmakers have given up on it, with no “partner” announced this year. On that note, the balance sheet makes interesting reading too.

The signs are going one way for this monstrous imposition. It really should be binned immediately.

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