Ruby Walsh: Benvenuto Cellini non-runner decision shows the BHA have lost the love for their own punters
Benvenuto Cellini, who was at the centre of events last weekend. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
A quiet Saturday before all the pomp and palaver of Royal Ascot week. Like it or loathe it, there is something uniquely British about the daily procession down the Ascot home straight to announce the arrival of the king and queen and their guests to the racecourse.
The British love it and the crowds will flock to every available vantage point for a glimpse of the royals and this very old-fashioned mode of transport.
It runs like clockwork and is military in its timing, but there is no doubt that it is a huge part of the attraction to Royal Ascot and, for many, what happens in the next four hours won’t even make their photo reel for their Insta page as they dine in the luxurious Ascot restaurants or snooze in the sunshine on the Ascot lawns.
From morning suits and Jimmy Choo shoes to flip-flops and shorts, Ascot somehow manages to bring together people from every walk of life and has evolved far enough to make the poshest event of all accessible to everyone.
That takes some doing, but the power of the royal influence can also attract some of the best turf horses in the world and put on some of the best racing this sport can offer without having to resort to Middle Eastern prize money purses.
They only run eight Group 1s over the five days, and three of those will be watched on Tuesday by the smallest crowd, which will top 50,000, but the biggest wigs in this game come out to play in force at Royal Ascot. If horse racing tickles your fancy in any make, shape, or form, then this should be on your bucket list.
Sadly for all its love of the royal tradition, the British racing rule makers and enforcers have lost the love for their own punters. The Benvenuto Cellini non-runner decision in last weekend's Derby when pitted against Wrist Arm at Yarmouth on Thursday proves it.
Saturday had a global betting audience backed by the world pool, whereas Thursday only had the regulars. Benvenuto Cellini acted up before the stalls opened and was deemed a non-runner, but Wrist Arm did the same and wasn’t deemed a non-runner.
The BHA will tell me I am wrong and that there is no correlation between who is watching and betting and how they interpret discretionary rules.
I wonder how many other sports have such a thing, and one wonders how a nation that loves to queue and create rules could even create such a thing as a discretionary rule, yet the World Pool punters are the only difference between the two and the Derby call was made for punters on other shores, but wherever you are, a bet is a bet. When you bet, you should be aware that you will lose more often than you win. Still, maybe we have created a generation of punters who expect their money back when things go wrong, too, like finishing second to the favourite or falling when in the lead, but bookmakers' specials are very different to ruling body decisions.
You pay your money and take your chance, blame who you like when it loses or jump for joy when you collect, but the Epsom stewards’ somehow reckoned Benvenuto Cellini “was prevented from starting on equal terms” at Epsom last week and decided he should be a subsequent non-runner after finishing the race.
Refunds for many and deductions for all the winners, but he was not prevented from starting on equal terms; he put his leg on the safety rail in the stalls and prevented himself from starting on equal terms, just like Wrist Arm reared and put his leg on the front gate at Yarmouth.
A play on words, you might say, but a stall malfunction would prevent both from starting on equal terms; a horse's own actions are a horse's own responsibility, and while some punters and professionals in other jurisdictions would feel the Epsom stewards were right and the Yarmouth ones should have followed suit, those in this jurisdiction believe only the Yarmouth ones were right.
I also understand the drive for global rule harmonisation in horse racing to unite the sport for global punters. Still, harmonisation will be a negotiation, and it looks like the British have lost round one, although they will argue they are leading the way for others to follow and have been to the forefront on the rules re limits on the use of the whip.
That is great in one sense, but that rule has no impact on punters or the results of races for betting purposes. The British have fallen into line with the World Pool rulers in Hong Kong, and the British and Irish punters who backed the Derby winner lost out last Saturday to the tune of 25 cents or pence in every euro or pound they won.
The World Pool punters who backed Christmas Day lost nothing, and every one of them who backed the favourite got their money back to reinvest in the next race, which wasn't even at Epsom for them.
Some will argue this is the catalyst for Pool betting to take centre stage, but just as tradition will come to the fore all next week, British and Irish punters want to know what price they have before they place the bet and won't tolerate an SP of even-money about a horse they backed at 3-1 10 minutes before the off, which is how pool betting works.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do springs to mind, but perhaps the king could have a word this week and remind those officiating at his meeting where they are.
He will give the same wave to those in the Windsor Enclosure and Heath Enclosure down the track as those in the Queen Anne and Royal Enclosures get. The latter may have paid more to get closer, but no enclosure will be ignored as he passes by.
British and Irish punters want the same. They turn up every day to support the sport at the centre of the action next week and they don’t want to be ignored when the rest of the world tunes in.
The BHA needs to rule for those on their doorstep because it is the British Horseracing Authority, not the World Pool Authority.
