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[i:1bct1n4z]”The agenda of Britain’s only racing/sports newspaper is now being dictated entirely by its main advertisers,” [Paul Hiagh] said.
“Almost all the racing media is now under the effective editorial control of the bookmakers either because bookmaker advertising is essential to their survival, or because other racing correspondents have been made aware of, er, the side on which their bread is buttered.”[/i:1bct1n4z]
<!– m –>http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/ma … esignation<!– m –>
Nail on the head from the great man methinks.
One of the few independent minded racing journalists left, good luck to Paul Haigh.
The garbage rag is sinking…..your well shut of it.
Well done Paul,good luck in the future.
If you go to back a certainty always buy a return ticket.
Full marks Zorro, some telling criticisms.
Good luck in the future, you’ll have no trouble finding gainful employment, I’m sure.
What planet is Bruce Millington on ?
Zorro – Good luck with your new venture.."International Thoroughbred" magazine. I got the first issue a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. A welcome addition following the end of Pacemaker for those people who follow racing for reasons other than gambling. If only Millington would wake-up to this.
Great stuff from Zorro as always.
It’s a shame the RP don’t have more like him instead of a bunch of "yes men".As for Millington we all know what he’s like anyway.
Good luck Paul, though you almost certainly won’t need it. The main reason why I don’t bother with the RP (or Weekender/the other weekly one) is that it is clogged up with page after page of tips, very often with no interesting write-up or illumination. And the trumpeting of the occasional winner by one or other of their numerous tipsters is meaningless with no reference to their overall P/L. There isn’t actually all that much to read in the RP now, aside from the one Alastair Down article in five that he has bothered to put some effort into.
Bring back the Sprotsnam, I say.
all the best for the future zorro i shall miss your columns. the racing post is so dumbed down these days,the saturday front page often resembles a comic(not to mention its childish bankers front page last week)
the race previews just consist of a load of trainer quotes cobbled together and often they say they have no space for 5 day entries but still fit in a sports betting pullout.Zorro,
Good to have you on.
The Trilateral Commission is a group that meets in top secret in the middle of the Kempton grandstand during the races there. It’s made up of representatives from Barking, Harrow and Leeds and gives direct orders to the media and racing’s rulers.
Everything is decided at those meetings – what races are carded, what the going will be, what the SPs be, any R4 shennigans, what is allowed to be reported.
I hear today’s frontpage headline, where Thursday’s chalk moves in the Guineas market are reported, was decided on in one of their meetings there on Wednesday night.
Bring back the Sprotsnam, I say.
I like you.
Interestingly enough, this coming Sunday, March 22nd, represents the third anniversary of the first ever edition. Seems a lifetime ago…
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Excellent stuff all round.
On the one hand, a brave soul at the end of his tether. The working man resisting the corporate machine, standing up for his morals and prepared to face the consequences.
On the other, a tired old hack, bereft of ideas and unable to pick a winner to save his life, launching a jaundiced attack on the organ which buttered his bread and paid his expenses for far too many years.
Hard not to agree with a good deal of Haigh’s splenetic lament against the inappropriate relationship between the Racing Post and the bookmakers. But hard also not to be thankful for being spared the same man’s pointless ramblings on Malaysian Group 3 races.
Seconded- I for one preferred reading about his one man battle against Country Boy bookmakers, Cambridge…
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