‘What a waste of money,’ they cried - now racing couldn’t do without this vital lifeline

It’s often said that people are naturally frightened of change. The bigger the change, the more extreme the reaction.

The fury that greeted the prospect of the William Hill Claiming Stakes (Div I) on October 30, 1989, is therefore indicative of the scale of the revolution that took place at Lingfield that day.

Sir Cecil ‘Monkey’ Blacker, who had done more than anyone to make the race a reality during his time as deputy senior steward of the Jockey Club from 1984 to 1986, recalled in his memoirs: "Never has the instinctive conservatism of the British racehorse trainer been more in evidence – and, it often seemed, the younger and more promising the trainer, the more reactionary he or she was. A leading lady trainer complained crossly to the press that the whole idea was a waste of racing's money."