2015 Fixture List

What a depressing read that is, full of management jargon and marketing speak. Any press release that includes the words ‘stakeholder’ and ‘multi-layered’ should be immediately consigned to the ‘specifically designated appropriate container’.

But just this paragraph tells you the people that wrote some of the guff for Racing For Change featured on here a few years back are still alive and well and producing fluent b******s:

This wider approach also encompasses the industry’s Strategy for Growth project, on which work is underway. It involves pillars focusing on increasing the horse population, ownership and breeding in future years, and on investment from targeted UK and foreign high net worth individuals.

Thanks Cav ,.. email sent ,

Much obliged ….hope a load of forumites add their view as well

cheers

Please don’t give Ffos Las evening jumps fixtures when the sun is shining for starters

And bin the AW during the Flat turf season, while they’re at it.

And bin the AW during the Flat turf season, while they’re at it.

No, don’t do that – there’s no compelling reason to, unless one counts a narrow interpretation of what constitutes a racing season as compelling (I don’t).

For information, here are the figures for runners per race across the 20 fixtures between May 1st and June 11th which contained at least one race on an artificial surface:

KEM 11/06/14 – 73 runners (7 races) = 10.43 runners per race average
LIN 10/06/14 – 23 (3) = 7.68
LIN 07/06/14 – 20 (2) = 10.00
KEM 05/06/14 – 73 (7) = 10.43
LIN 05/06/14 – 30 (3) = 10.00
STH 05/06/14 – 54 (7) = 7.71
KEM 04/06/14 – 79 (7) = 11.29
STH 04/06/14 – 52 (7) = 7.43

KEM 28/05/14 – 79 (8) = 9.88
LIN 27/05/14 – 73 (8) = 9.13
KEM 21/05/14 – 67 (7) = 9.57
LIN 21/05/14 – 29 (3) = 9.67
STH 19/05/14 – 59 (7) = 8.43
LIN 12/05/14 – 56 (7) = 8.00
LIN 09/05/14 – 23 (2) = 11.50
STH 08/05/14 – 53 (7) = 7.57
KEM 07/05/14 – 63 (7) = 9.00
KEM 06/05/14 – 61 (7) = 8.71
LIN 02/05/14 – 64 (7) = 9.14
LIN 01/05/14 – 57 (7) = 8.14

GRAND TOTALS – 1088 (120) = 9.07

In other words, even when the supply of turf Flat fixtures can hardly be a lot higher than it is, the races on synthetics still drew average field sizes that a lot of their turf contemporaries would give their eye teeth for. No-one’s compelling anyone to run a horse on Fibresand or Polytrack in mid-summer, and yet still they do.

gc

Hasn’t APRacing put up compelling reasons (in a previous post that I can’t find a link to) re turf husbandry, that makes AW racing during the summer a necessity.

I must have missed that during one of my hiatuses from TRF, but yes, there’s assuredly that argument as well. I’d certainly like to see/find that post.

gc

Here it is, extracted from a lengthy thread about AW track attendances:

01 Feb 2014, 10:14
Gladiateur,

You question the need for AW meetings during the summer, but the reason they exist is quite simple.

Racing has a deal with the bookies via the Levy to provide a certain number of meetings every day of the week, both afternoon and evening.

If all the necessary flat meetings had to be staged on the available turf courses between March and November, the racing surface at most turf tracks would be ruined. They’d be dustbowls in mid summer and mudheaps in the autumn, with little or no grass in evidence.

In addition, the process by which courses bid for fixtures gives the turf tracks the opportunity to avoid staging meetings at times when they know that crowds will be small and sponsorship difficult to obtain. Hence the much reduced number of turf fixtures in April, as the turf tracks prefer to bid for evening meetings later in the summer.

Whether or not having AW racing during the summer is desirable is another question, but as things stand it’s inevitable.

I admit that I live in Cloud Cuckoo Land) so that there are fewer meetings but higher average race values would help the sport immeasurably. Sadly, those who run racing don’t care about the sport but only their paymasters the bookmake

I like this , it reasonates well with my thinking …way to go Sir

Ok lets face it AP is probably spot on as per ….but it sticks in the craw nonetheless

I firmly believe , Bittar and buddies ..will expand the ratio that AW has now from currently about 33 per cent of fixtures , to 40 per cent as soon as he can possibly get away with it , and then to 50 …are you getting the drift folks . what the bookies want , Bittar and friends give them , regardless of any long term consequences

Chelmsford and Newcastle , are a shoo in for as many dross meetings as they want , its the way things are heading ….as Graham Taylor once said in his English managers role " DO I not like that "

its a load of bollocks , but its happening for sure

imo