A WEEK is a long time in politics they say, but then again we still don’t officially know the result of a US Presidential election held well over a month ago, and that has led to some squealing from shrewd punters who have tied up all their funds backing Joe Biden when he appeared past the post.

It’s free money, many of us reasoned, but that free money begins to look expensive when you either have to wait until the middle of December to collect or face the embarrassment of cashing in at the same price (or worse – Trump is a million to be called the winner of this election, but the market has become something more akin to a Bureau de Change than an assessment of chance, and he’s still trading at 18/1 purely due to market inertia).

Punters hate late settlement of winners, particularly where trading out is not an option, and the sense of discomfort is palpable, with one particularly vocal expert in danger of derangement based on his constant demands for settlement.

Value is the punter’s watchword, but it’s of limited benefit when it comes with strings attached, and in racing terms punters can unearth excellent value only to see their homework tossed away when their selection doesn’t run or the formbook proves false.

In the first instance it would be remiss not to hash through the Altior no-show in last week’s Tingle Creek, for all the embers have stopped glowing on that particular story.

I don’t want to get stuck in the dangerous ‘right-or-wrong’ rhetoric of this particular instance, but it’s a little surprising that while much has been said about racegoers being short changed by the absence of the main equine draw, much less has been mentioned of those who backed Altior ante-post when he was confirmed as being a runner with no caveats early in the week.

Racing is utterly dependent on betting turnover for its future prosperity – not solely dependent by any means, and I am at pains to point out that the money ploughed in by owners is much greater than the net gains from betting revenue; punters and owners are not at war over their contributions to the sport, and loss of income from either group is a disaster in waiting. Whataboutery is a dangerous game here, and playing punters who have been led to believe they had been given an unequivocal green light off against the owners in this or any instance is a false narrative.

Running plans

We’ve come a long way since “none of your business” was the standard reply when enquiring about running plans, but trainer blogs and their equivalent have become more about marketing and PR in a corporate sense than about useful information. It’s crucial that the information presented to followers of racing is accurate first and entertaining second, if at all.

Managed news is second-hand information and as such is open to different interpretations, and I’m not sure the outlets which produce such information always realise the inherent dangers in that, and that is shown in the recent statements via his trainer that Altior “definitely” runs in the Desert Orchid Chase at Christmas. Don’t bet on it!