COST of living crisis? What cost of living crisis?
The money has been flying and the champagne has been flowing at the yearling sales in Newmarket this week.
Sheikh Mohammed spent a fortune on horses at the sales this week
An incredible £110 million was spent on racing’s next generation of blue-bloods, with three horses breaking the £2 million barrier on their own.
Money talks in the world of Flat racing, where people are judged by the size of their bank account, not the human rights record in their homeland.
There has been an obscene amount of cash spent on horse flesh over the last few days and it all feels a little grotesque at a time when a lot of people are struggling to pay their bills.
Mind you, I don’t suppose Sheikh Mohammed or MV Magnier have to think twice about popping the heating on. You carry on, lads.
Of course it has been this way for decades and it will always be this way – the bloodstock industry is worth billions.
It’s like a parallel universe when you walk through the doors at the Tattersalls sales complex – a proper toff’s paradise.
The horse sales are the playground of the super rich and for us peasants it can be difficult to get your head around some of the sums being exchanged.
But not everyone in racing is driven by cold, hard cash – there are some warm-hearted souls out there.
Let’s start with trainer Mick Easterby, who is one of the most colourful characters this sport has ever seen.
Mick, 91, is as mad as a box of frogs and made a video on social media after his final tooth fell out over the weekend.
A typical Yorkshireman, all-gums Mick never misses a chance to make a few quid, so he decided to put the “unique piece of racing history” up for sale.
Any cash raised – through a silent auction on the Easterby Facebook page – will go to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The Easterby family have already raised over £140,000 on their behalf.
Easterby said: “We’ve used the air ambulance quite a lot. When you’re in the middle of nowhere and need someone quickly, they’re always the ticket.
“And if you keep the tooth for a good few years it might become very valuable!”
It might be Suella Braverman’s dream to pack poor asylum seekers off on a plane to Rwanda, but it is Easterby’s dream to keep life-saving choppers in the air. Good on him.
I was also made aware of the sad case of Paul Williams this week, a big punter from Nottingham who passed away recently after a battle with cancer.
Before he died he commissioned an artist to build a horse sculpture out of losing betting slips that he and his pals had collected over the years.
The losing slips are said to amount to over a million quid and Williams’ family are looking for the sculpture to find a good home.
It’s a proper work of art and would look great in the head office of one of the big bookies.
The betting slip sculpture will raise cash for Macmillan
Come on guys, get your wallets out. Any money made from the sale will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, so it will be well worth it.
Even Ascot are showing their charitable side.
The Royal racecourse understands that times are tough and a day at the races doesn’t come cheap.
Once you’ve paid for your ticket, had a pie, a pint and a punt, you’ve spent a small fortune. It’s the main reason that attendances have slumped so badly this year.
So fair play to Ascot, who are putting on a free race day on November 18.
There is a £1 booking fee when you buy online, but all of that cash will go to a local charity.
While the fat cats get fatter, never forget that there are still plenty of decent human beings in this sport of ours.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/horse-racing/death-threats-and-falls-to-finding-love-and-winners-saffie-osborne-takes-on-boyfriend-jockey-with-200000-on-the-line/
