ED CHAMBERLAIN: Let’s marvel at the equine Cantona and joy that horses bring as we celebrate the start of National Racehorse week
- The fear of the Grand National being stained by chaotic protestors is ingrained
- Today marks the start of such a important week, National Racehorse Week
- Shaquille shows what a perfect TV racehorse can be, a maverick like Cantona
The time and date are ingrained in my mind, as are the words that came into my ears. It was 4.54pm on Saturday, April 15 this year, when Paul McNamara, my brilliant director at ITV, confirmed a storm had arrived.
‘Ed,’ he said. ‘This is no longer about sport — this is news.’
He was right. The Randox Grand National was being delayed by protesters from Animal Rising. The situation was chaotic but in that moment I thought about my hero, Des Lynam, and knew the responsibility I had to stay calm, with horseracing under attack.
I feared this would become a year in which orange paint or orange dust ended up staining the sport that provides livelihoods and enjoyment for millions.
After Aintree, there were incidents at Ayr, for the Scottish Grand National, and Epsom on Derby Day. There will always be risk in horse racing but it is critical to keep correcting misconceptions and misinformation: 99.8 per cent of horses return home safely after they have raced, they are afforded love and devotion from all connected to them that can’t adequately be explained in words.
Shaquille races at Ascot, he does so much wrong but his brilliance sees him keep on winning
The protestors who tried to stop this year’s Grand National as horse racing came under attack
That’s why the next seven days have such importance: today marks the start of National Racehorse Week — an annual celebration of the thoroughbred and the opportunity to see how transformative these majestic animals can be.
I say ‘transformative’ for a reason: jockey Martin Dwyer, who called time on his career earlier this year, tells a story about an incident at the yard of his father-in-law, William Muir, in spring when a lady used the Lambourn Open Day as a chance to protest about animal rights.
Rather than shoo her away, William invited her in. She was bowled over by the care the horses received and their living conditions. During her visit, she became attached to a filly called Shagpyle.
Having been dead against racing, this lady went to Ascot in May to see Shagpyle make her debut. Initially, she was denied entry as she was on a watch list but William intervened and she was allowed in: her attitude had gone full circle. That’s the power of the thoroughbred.
Today I will be at Haydock, where we will see the perfect ITV racehorse in Shaquille in the Sprint Cup. We love him because he does so much wrong but his brilliance enables him to keep winning.
If he was a footballer, he’d be Eric Cantona, a maverick who could make you gasp but then take your breath away. He’s a joy for trainer Julie Camacho and her partner, Steve Brown.
Julie and Steve will open the doors to their yard tomorrow as part of National Racehorse Week — you must apply for tickets to attend and Great British Racing have been inundated with requests — and that attitude must be commended.
It is not easy for stables and I understand the difficulties when routine is changed, but it was still disappointing to learn only 24 of Newmarket’s 62 trainers have agreed to let visitors in during the Sir Henry Cecil Open Weekend later this month.
The protesters and the threat they carry will always remain. It’s critical, then, for racing to stay on the front foot.
Shaquille is a maverick in the same way as the great Eric Cantona was on a football pitch
Ed Chamberlin is an ambassador for Sky Bet
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