Ayr is before Aintree, and Fairyhouse is on top of Punchestown because of one of the great mysteries in the world. The 365-day year! Who invented that? I know it has to do with the sun and moon or something along those lines, going by what happens at Newgrange for the winter and summer solstices.
Our Lord was born on Christmas Day, and crucified on Good Friday, whose date is determined by the first full moon after the vernal equinox, whatever date that may be. Tradition, history, and facts are all a bit confusing because dates are dates, even when it comes to pre-calendar events involving Christianity.
For the racing calendar, we could do with someone sorting this out.
Plenty strive to live in a politically correct, even, and fair society, and many wish we could. Still, I want someone to sort out the calendar instead of trying to attain the unattainable perfect society. After all, the climate is changing, so why canât the calendar?
Three hundred and sixty-five days and a moving Easter do not work for horse racing, and I wonder if it suits anyone? My suggestion is a 364-day year, with Good Friday fixed for March 31. The Dublin Racing Festival could take a permanent home on the St Brigidâs bank holiday weekend, halfway between Christmas and Cheltenham; Valentineâs Day would have a permanent home on a Wednesday to break the middle of February before Ash Wednesday on the 21st; Cheltenham always begins on Tuesday the 13th of March, three weeks before Aintree, and let Ayr slot in on the 15th of April and Punchestown on the 24th.
St Patrickâs Day is a Saturday, but another bank holiday, Monday the 19th, would hardly cause uproar. That means Easter Monday would always be the first Monday in April, which should suit everyone, not just the Irish Grand National, and the Aintree Grand National meeting would be April 5-7.
The English Guineas would be May 5, six weeks into the Flat season, and the Epsom Derby on June 2, the day after secondary schools close. Royal Ascot could start on the 12th, and primary schools would close on Friday the 29th, the day before the Irish Derby.
Galway would straddle July and August, and the first Monday in September would be the 3rd for schools to reopen. And we could end this hybrid summer craic we have now of kids going back to school in late August instead of being at Killarney races for the old Rose of Tralee meeting.
Who knows when the harvest will be, and so Listowel could revert to its original slot of the last week in September, and that might suit anyway with the All-Ireland finals now before Galway, and how Kerry is faring is no longer a worry for them!
Halloween could precede Down Royal just after the Munster National, and the November Handicap could move back into November and close the Flat on Sunday the 4th. The winter meetings at Fairyhouse, Punchestown and Navan fit in well to close out late November and early December before the country gets the real bonus.
Christmas Day would always be a Tuesday! This would give holidays to everyone - or most people -on Friday December 21, but to keep the sun and moon lined up with the planet, the 25th of December will become a 48-hour day, 72 every fourth year. Who wonât like that? And it might even help Santa Claus by 2030 in his electric sleigh.
But December 31 needs to be dropped from the calendar for this to work. If you were born that day, you could have January 1. Itâs a better birthday for sport anyway, meaning New Yearsâ Day would always be a Monday.
New week, new year and no guessing, but if only someone could organise it because today is Ayr and next Saturday is Aintree, and it just isnât right. First-world problems and all that, but the same issues may still exist for the British as the Irish are invading Scotland this weekend before they descend on Liverpool next week.
Pat Fahy, John McConnell, and Ian Duncan are going to the Scottish National with Patâs pair, Stormy Judge and History of Fashion, the shortest of the four in the betting. The good ground will help McConnellâs Streets of Doyen too, and I wonât be surprised to see another big British race exported to the Irish.
Pat Fahy is a native of Galway but trains on the opposite side of Leighlinbridge, Carlow, to Willie Mullins. He is a wise small trainer who doesnât waste any of the talents at his disposal. Pat ran Mister Fogpatches in last yearâs renewal, and he only went down by four and a quarter-lengths when finishing third, giving him a guide to whatâs required to win the Scottish feature.
Stormy Judgeâs form in March 2021 shows him beating Enjoy DâAllen at Navan, and Ciaran Murphyâs charge is now the fourth favourite for next Saturdayâs higher standard Aintree Grand National.
Stormy Judge has only run twice since, once over hurdles at Naas in February and then in the Leinster National behind Diol Ker on the Sunday before Cheltenham, 20 days ago. He travelled up nicely to challenge at the second-last before appearing to tire, and that run should have him primed for what seems now his long-term target.
It will be a victory for graft if Danny Mullins bags himself another big British pot this season. He doesnât have a âbig jobâ but has won the King George for Willie Mullins aboard Tornado Flyer and the Stayers Hurdle on Flooring Porter for Gavin Cromwell.
Head down, mouth closed, and always working for the next opportunity is simple if you have the application and mental strength for setbacks. Danny has enough of it for half the weigh-room and is reaping the rewards. Long may it last for him, and a victory here aboard one of P A Fahyâs would mean every bit as much as the other two to him.
