There are a few people in Harness Racing (so-called supporters) that I wish would choose to follow any sport other than ours, like the mindless idiots who thought it amusing to throw glasses onto the race track last

Saturday evening with the Breeders Crown Finals the following day. What have we done to deserve people like that. We have CTC cameras, the footage will be examined and those responsible will be refused future admission as will those who gained admission

concealed in the back of horse boxes and trailers to avoid paying.

 

On a much lighter note, thankfully, we also have some wonderful people in our sport. On Sunday 1st July at York (televised 3 Year Old Championships) we endured monsoon like weather conditions, we had to delay the start of the meeting by something like two hours and it was beginning to look like our efforts were going to be in vain, were we going to have a race meeting? Well we stuck at it and beat the elements. I am so proud of and grateful to all those people who worked tirelessly throughout the day to make it possible to race; the

stewards, other officials, helpers, the trainers and drivers for their cooperation and the spectators for being patient and later showing their appreciation. My thanks go to everybody concerned, but in particular to Trevor Brown for providing the necessary plant and equipment and his two hard working sons (Scott and Glen) for operating them so efficiently. I am sure you will all join me in thanking them for their extreme efforts, without them, we could not have raced.

 

Our guest visitor on the day was John Baker (President of Harold Park Raceway, Australia). He said “I have never seen such enthusiasm and determination to race”. He congratulated us all for a most enjoyable day.

 

I received a telephone call on Monday morning from Geraint Lewis (Head of Production for S4C Television) with his message of gratitude that he wished to me to convey to everybody concerned for providing them with wonderful material and a different, but thoroughly

enjoyable programme. My personal thanks goes to

everybody.

 

I am disappointed to hear that there are Promoters out there looking for ways to manipulate around the new handicapping rule (000-010 up to £2k per race). Why do they feel it necessary not to comply? The racing I have seen at various tracks where they have complied has been excellent, proof enough that the changes have been working. I do wish that these people would accept that decisions made by the BHRC Committee are taken

democratically for the benefit of all within the sport and a decision reached by a majority vote means that it

applies to everyone that operates under BHRC rules, that’s how democracy works.

Back to something less serious and at the risk of being accused of indulging in self interest, as Max Bygraves used to say “I’d like to tell you a story”. I recently had sent to me a clipping from a local newspaper  relating to times past. The picture shows a trotting horse called His Majesty, bred and trained in or near Bradford. It raced at an old/trotting greyhound track called Greenfield

Stadium. Now my family have connections with this stadium in that many years ago, before I was born, my grandfather and his brother raced greyhounds there, also at City Track in Bradford, much to the disgust and

displeasure of my grandmother. My grandfather loved to bet, however, my grandmother, being a wary old bird, would check his pockets to make sure there was a

limited amount of cash he could lose. Usually if he won he came home with more greyhounds than he took and wasn’t always sober. She would tell us how she would be up early Sunday morning to find strange greyhounds tied to furniture in her kitchen. They would be quickly ejected!

 

After reading the press clipping I thought how ironic that I am involve din trotting, the two tracks in Bradford that have been mentioned no longer exist, and it was me and my family business that got rid of them. The City Track we topped and levelled approximately 30 years ago, it is now an industrial complex. Greenfield Stadium we demolished shortly afterwards and recently we

excavated and levelled part of it to create a car park for a Morrisons Supermarket warehouse. What would my grandfather have thought? I am sure I can hear my grandmother cheering!

 

I believe our Chairman’s father can tell some interesting stories of trotting tracks that were in the Bradford area.

 

Enjoy your racing!

 

 

Barry Delaney