A GLOBAL JOCKEYS LEAGUE, PERHAPS. BUT IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT TO BE SERVED UP?

A few decades ago, my good friend and now former jockey John Didham and I came up with the idea for The Tongue Scraper- a half toothbrush and half teaspoon to help give one minty fresh breath. 

While Johnno tucked into his favourite dish of fried chicken and mounds of mashed potatoes with plenty of gravy, I, who had done extensive research on bad breath, had read that brushing one’s tongue with a toothbrush did nothing to get rid of the problem. 

It was the Playboy Advisor that mentioned how scraping one’s tongue with a teaspoon collected far more gunk, and so was born The Tongue Scraper. We even had an Executive from the HSBC who had eavesdropped on our conversation wanting to bankroll our idea to the tune of over $5m. 

Alas, on a trip to Malaysia soon afterwards, I discovered that for years, and in many other Asian cities, blades attached to strings were used to very successfully clean tongues except for the occasional wounding and blood letting. 

The point is that ideas are a dime a dozen. Reality and making ideas happen, well, this can be rather difficult and it takes strategic planning, common sense and the relevant parties coming to the party.

I was reminded of this when listening to champion Hong Kong Jockey Zac Purton being interviewed on the dead people’s radio station about how this purported new Global Jockeys League might work. 

He did the best he could, but seemed to waffle his way through what is still a half baked idea that appears to have suffered from premature excitement. 

2015 Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne chimed in with something perplexing the next day about these kings of turf that didn’t take anything anywhere except perhaps into the bunker.

Something that is the “brainchild” of British Horse Racing Authority board member and former Godolphin Chief Executive John Ferguson, and Lachlan Fitt, below, once with the betting company Entain, this concept will apparently feature twelve of the best riders from around the world competing against each other next year in different major racing jurisdictions. 

Having heard this same idea when in Dubai around fifteen years ago from a few dodgy Eastern Europeans whose priority was to create a Planet Horse Racing-meets-an exclusive upmarket escort club not unlike the brilliant Club BBoss in Tsimshatsui in Kowloon, I saw more holes in it than a pound of Swiss cheese.

Times, however, change, the world is going through a massive paradigm shift, politicians have become even more blabbering blobs than before, we have entered The New Abnormal, money is too tight to mention, and so, I listened intently to Zac try and explain the basics of this global league as well as he could- how participating jockeys are shareholders, how they have equity in the business, the usual mantra about bringing the pastime to those “younger people” yada yada yada.

There were those moments when thoughts about this super league of jockeys brought back memories of the great Zero Mostel in the brilliant “The Producers” and the premise of that great Mel Brooke’s film plus Marvel Comics.

With everything seemingly still being kept on the down low, and funding needed, there is still not much meat on this boner. 

For instance, it appears that the Hong Kong Jockey Club doesn’t wish to play.

Jockeys aside- and there didn’t appear to be any female riders in this league- no Rachel King, no Hollie Doyle, no Jamie Melham, no Rachel King- the other question is where do the horses and their owners and trainers and major race day schedules fit into any or all of this? 

Horse racing executives have been speaking to me for almost a year about the Netflix series built around the excellent horse powered world of Formula One called “Drive To Success” and how horse racing can do something similar. 

Does horse racing have anyone even close to the the drawing power of F1 drivers like Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Andrea Antonelli, the still hugely popular Lewis Hamilton and their incredible cars and crews and those fly on the wall backstories needed to give Netflix the ratings needed?

Personally speaking, first and foremost, horse racing needs to know what its product personality is in 2025/26 and build relevance and aspirational values around it.

This is not yet being done and if the medium is the message, this is abundantly unclear.

There’s also the need to face some home truths as to where it’s going, especially when it’s still travelling with a warning sign attached to its marketing. 

This is not a good look for anyone, especially those “younger people” who are well aware of, and seeing if this is a worthwhile investment.

Next is recognising who “they” are, and which my many years in marketing and music marketing and running two major music companies have taught me- the influence of the career-minded and independent thinking 28-45 year old female consumer and what they might want out of their investments for their portfolios.

Until then, horse racing is flying by the seat of its pants with too many living off its glorious past, but unable to paint its future.

Having said this, there could be a very interesting and entertaining announcement coming from the Hong Kong Jockey Club later this week, and which will certainly have my backing.

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