Thursday May 5th 2022

I’m with Luke on this, It’s sensationalist journalism that has no place in the Manchester Guardian. I couldn‘t care less about the survival of the paper unless it sticks to it‘s principles of balanced investigative journalism. I am also damned suspicious that the author has been entertained again following her 2019 article and if you take a look at the link below it speaks volumes about her agenda.

https://www.endhorseracingshop.org/shop

@QuaiDB I think you are being to generous and loving towards the G. Is it purely coincidence that anti racing articles like the 3 by this American woman who the G states has spent nearly 2 decades involved in racing there in one article, 15 in another and her claim of 13 , is pulled in and published. Why would you need to publish it at all. Shes pulled in the worst of events from that huge country ,theres always bad things if you look hard enough.

Look how the G focuses and encourages the negatives on the Melbourne Cup , our National and festivals ,Greg loves it. Dont forget the endless Elliott articles he penned and the Frost ones.Most of it hysterical rubbish.

The G had a decent racing following, all they have done is try to reduce it ,Woodward told me in writing that the sport no longer enjoyed any priority and got very shirty and touchy when I said of course women's and minority sports did in his eyes. Why keep Greg and make things impossible for Chris to stay if there was a commitment to the sport. That really got him going and he chucked his toys out of the pram.

The fact is the very people upstairs that you say are not anti racing most definitely are.

I'm glad you are going to write ,I can guess the reply .

@Loose Buttons The point is that it is no longer The Manchester Guardian. It hasn't been that since I was a lad in 1959. I realise that posters here are horseracing followers and fans, etc, but there is a wider world. The media landscape of the UK is totally dominated by right wing, much of it ultra right wing, owners who don't live in the UK and whose interests are inimical to the well being of the vast majority of the UK population's needs. In this wider perspective, horseracing coverage seems very small potatoes indeed to me. The Guardian is one paper where views which are really quite politically Centrist can still be found.

If the sport of horseracing is strong and well managed, then it mystifies me when horseracing fans become hypersensitive. A few articles which put another point of view (this one in th USA) are simply irrelevant and will make no impact on the sport. As I said, if it sells more reads across the globe, I can see that it will go in. It is a relatively minor issue.

@el gran senor jonny murtagh good documentry. The ADS for Corals sponsoring it annoys i have not been in bookies for ages with 42 screens on 1 wall..

@Alan pleased to see your nap won. Less pleased to see id backed pride of priory.

Well done Leo - I came close with Count D'Orsay. I expected him to close from behind, but I wish he hadn't been last coming round the bend - I think he could have got there if not quite so far back! (and doubled with Hamish)