Indefensible?

 Of all the pejoratives used to describe the Gordon Elliot affair, indefensible is probably the one that features most. Is it though? Not if you accept the, admittedly implausible, excuse that was offered in his first statement.  That statement has been ridiculed by the racing, and general, media. That doesn't mean it was a mistake. Suspecting a falsehood is one thing. Proving it false quite another. The credibility stretching excuse didn't do Dominic Cummings or Oisin Murphy any harm. If, on Friday, the IHRB accept that Elliot was distracted by a phone call, and punishment is mitigated as a result then the statement was justified. It will hopefully give owners in the yard the plausible deniability they require to leave their horses where they are. 

Here's my pet theory on what may have happened that fateful day. Gordon Elliot has worked his way from nothing to the summit of his profession. He hasn't done so alone. Nobody can. His team at Cullentra is made up of many people who were with him from the start, peers and long term employees. He has fostered an egalitarian atmosphere. This management philosophy has reaped a rich harvest on the racecourse. The snag with that style is that the traditional lines between boss and staff can be blurred. He's just another member of the team. If there's banter about, he can fully engage. Indeed, I'll wager he can be the butt of it at times. Say on that day the talk had been the social media outrage regarding the picture of a trophy hunter sitting on a dead lion. Some of the staff can't see what all the fuss is about. They enjoy country pursuits. They understand the savagery of nature. They are much more in tune with life and death than us urban dwellers. Gallows humour would seem an inevitable side effect.  Then a horse drops dead. While making arrangements to move the carcass, maybe someone says 'wouldn't it be gas' to simulate the photo they were talking about earlier. Elliot makes a split second decision. Somewhere in the synapses there is a sense that this is inappropriate but it's overruled by another thought that he doesn't want to be seen as a po faced gov'nor. Someone takes a photo. Of course they do. There's no city/urban divide when it comes to the pervasive influence of phones. Is that indefensible? For 15 years being seen as one of the lads has been a factor in an extraordinarily succesful career.

Now that split second decision, forever captured on camera, is being used as a stick to lay waste to what he, and his team, have built. You don't need to be a sports fan to realise that can't be fair. 

This feels like a watershed moment for NH racing to me. How are we to respond to this assault. When I say we, I mean fans of the game. I'll tell you how. We stop apologising. We stop ceding ground, and listening to PR professionals. We say that as keepers of a centuries old flame, we make no apologies for who we are. Our pulses are quickened by the sight of horses floating over obstacles. Our souls are stirred by man and beast in such exquisite harmony. We accept that this test isn't always passed. If horses die, we hold our heads up and say that's sad but it happens. We don't go down the road of the Church Of England and try to be all things to all men. They are finding out that being all things to all men is the same as being nothing to any man. We go the way of the Catholics. Sticking to our core principles, and appealing to a dwindling but still significant percentage of the population. We say that using animals for entertainment may be unpalatable to you but you could be wrong. Let the silent majority decide whether to take away this social contract I keep hearing about. I'll be surprised if they have the appetite or will for the job. The BHA won't do this of course. They won't draw a line in the sand until it's too late. The IHRB can though. They can send a message on Friday. They can say that we won't allow our people to be cancelled by a witch hunt. That we stand for something, while the mob moves on to the next thing. I heard Kevin Blake on the radio yesterday. He said he would welcome more welfare checks, as not only does horseracing have nothing to hide, they would take pride in showing off how well cared for the horses are. That's the way to do it. Time to stop playing defence.