Seconds Out: Oli Bell's Monthly Blog

Well, first and foremost a very Happy New Year RaceSharers. I hope your Christmas and New Year celebrations were fun and you got the presents you were after (hopefully more RaceShare horses!). The racing during the Christmas period was extraordinary and as I mentioned with Ross when we recorded the Monthly Show a few days ago, it was as good a Christmas for racing in terms of outstanding performances across the board as I can remember.

Constitution Hill, Sir Gino, Galopin Des Champs, The New Lion, Brighterdaysahead all served up victories that got the hairs on the back of the neck standing up. What added massive significance and merit to the wins was the fact that in every one of those races there was genuine top class opposition that they had to beat. Constitution v Lossiemouth, Sir Gino v Ballyburn, Galopin v Fact to File, The New Lion v Regents Stroll, Brighterdaysahead v State Man. Those were proper Christmas crackers for racing fans and for so long we have been asking for these clashes outside of the Cheltenham Festival and my word we got that in spades. I don't think the beaten horses lost an awful lot in defeat and if anything connections have got the answers they need moving into 2025, more of it please. Lossiemouth might not be quite good enough for a Champion Hurdle and didn't fire, Ballyburn needs a trip, Fact to File might be best off dropping back in trip, Regents Stroll needs to settle better and State Man might not be the dominant force he was last season in Constitution Hill's absence. On the back of all that we saw at Kempton, Newbury and in Ireland these last few days it has really whetted the appetite for what's to come for the remainder of the season.

The New Year means resolutions and in my case January marks the month I break my resolutions - but this year I am keeping mine! I promise you all. I discussed it on the show with Ross but I have given RaceShare owners full permission to call me an idiot at the races if they see me smoking. I think Sir Steve Redgrave famously said someone could shoot him if they saw him in a rowing boat after his 4th gold medal - he went on to win a 5th rowing gold the following Olympics. I thought shooting was a tad extreme but permission granted to call me an idiot. It's a ghastly habit and I need to stop, so now this is public knowledge amongst our wonderful RaceShare community I will hold myself accountable. My other resolution is to read a minimum of 10 pages of a book each day. It really is something that I'm ashamed to admit I never really have done - not a big reader, but there is something incredibly wholesome about a good book and in the day and age of smart phones I regrettably have headed in the wrong direction there. So getting off my phone and reading more is a priority in 2025! Good luck if any of you have set resolutions for 2025, they're not easy to keep but I hope that this time next year we are celebrating keeping them for a whole year!

The idea of personal resolutions got me thinking about some for the sport of racing to improve it. Here are my 3 racing resolutions that I feel would help....

1) Unity amongst industry leaders

All too often we are faced in racing with key issues that require a unified approach and all too often it can't be found. There are a vast number of different groups, each and every one with their own personal interests. What might be good for trainers, isn't good for racecourses; what might be good for Owners, isn't good for jockeys and so on and so on..... Now it's very hard to find an easy resolution to this but I would seriously urge industry leaders to look at the bigger picture for the sport rather than short term internal targets or individual benefit. This may be an odd analogy but in the fickle world of football there is a short time frame for a manager to get results, if not, the sack is looming. Only a few clubs have employed long term managers - City with Pep, Liverpool with Klopp laying the foundations for Slot, Arsenal with Arteta, and formerly Sir Alex with Man Utd.....they have had tremendous success. My hope is that racing employs the right person with a long term vision and understanding to benefit the sport. That person can, with a bit of give and take from the other bodies, unify the various different factions. Discussions can then be productive and beneficial for the long term health of the sport. It may be fanciful but I fear that the road we are driving down now will see serious issues arise in the future if we don't act quickly.

2) Let more owners in the paddock!

I speak with my RaceShare hat on here but I would love racecourses to let more owners in the paddock. Obviously I appreciate we can't have everyone in there (because there's a lot of us!) but I really do think that for syndicates such as ours it makes a huge difference to give as many of us the full experience of ownership on a raceday as possible. Some courses are excellent and I know I sound like a broken record but York have been amazing to RaceShare - William Derby and his team really get it. It's not just York, I know Newbury were good on Challow Hurdle day to syndicates but the point is that syndicates are a huge part of the sport and we need to treat them accordingly. Not everyone can afford to spend thousands of pounds on a horse but who knows, someone may have a small share in a horse who goes on to win the lottery and then invest millions into racing. Again, the sport needs to think big picture here and by making it as accessible, open and inviting to as many people as possible will only benefit us long term.

3) The Mares’ Hurdle!

I know Cheltenham made a number of changes to the Festival - which I am sure will be beneficial to the 4 days, but one change they didn't make was to the Mares Hurdle. It means there is the possibility that Brighterdaysahead doesn't clash with Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle which would be a real shame. Now im sure that connections will decide to have a crack at the main event given how good she was in Ireland the other day but by keeping the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham it gives connections an out and a far easier option, depriving racing fans of what im sure will be incredible races. I would have the Mares’ Hurdle finale at somewhere like Sandown at the end of the season. If connections want to swerve Cheltenham and save their mare for that then so be it but taking the mares off the table means the decision as to which race a great mare should go for is taken out of connections hands. It would make for a far more attractive day one in my opinion if we were all heading to Cheltenham knowing Brighterdaysahead v Constitution Hill was happening as opposed to Brighterdaysahead v Lossiemouth!

Have a great new year everyone, thanks to you all for your support in 2024, here's to many more fun stable tours, racedays, race shows and days out with RaceShare.

Oli