Seven years on from Frankel's debut, racing is in a far healthier place

The Friday, August 13, 2010 edition of the Racing Post is notable for two quite different reasons: one which might make it collectable to the right sort of person, the other that makes it interesting to anyone seeking to understand how the sport has changed, mostly for the better, in the past decade.

On that day seven years ago the paper carried a special report into the achievements of the nascent Racing For Change organisation, the precursor to today's Great British Racing which had been launched the previous year with a brief to boost racing's popularity. Even in retrospect, the report makes for grim reading, laying bare the problems bedevilling the sport.

There were concerns over racing's finances – the levy fell by more than £20 million the previous year – and what could be spared for marketing the sport. There was scepticism and uncertainty surrounding the Flat's proposed grand finale, which we had recently learned was to be named British Champions Day. There was deep frustration about the fractured leadership of racing and the impotence that engendered. Most of all, it was clear there was little consensus over the sport's direction of travel or confidence in its capacity to achieve its goals.