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There are even plans for a £30m Prestbury Park makeover, which would be funded by, wait for it, a fifth day. Honest!
I have my notes from the Festival Launch press conference in front of me.
What Edward Gillespie said was "after this years festival concludes we shall begin a cost evaluation looking at upgrading the older facilities. We will know the full scope and cost later in the year. The work, if approved, will be carried out over the next two to three years."
He went on to say "the work will be funded by Jockey Club racecourses.
"Cheltenham and Aintree contribute 70% of the income for JC racecourses ……. that is where the funding will come from."
He went on to say "only when the refurbishment is complete will we look at the possibility of
moving
to racing on a Saturday."
The key word being moving – he made no mention of an extra day.
There was no mention of any figures so the £30m quoted in the above article has clearly been plucked from thin air, I would be very surprised if the work has been costed in the last week.
The only mention of a fifth day came when John McCririck asked, very much tongue in cheek, "when will we have a five day Festival?"
I didn’t note Gillespie’s exact reply but he did laugh it off and said something along the lines of four days being enough.
Four days is more than enough as this caters for all types of jumps races at the top level.
If you want to look at a Five day meeting which could be shortened down then look no further than Glorious Goodwood which after the four feature races for Television each day is quite low quality and could easily become a four day meeting where as Royal Ascot does do in Five days what Cheltenham does in Four.
There are so many examples of why its wrong and the Quevega example is another good one. Would have added an extra dimension to the Stayers Hurdle, or even the Champion Hurdle, to have the classy mare in there.
Instead she has a penalty kick and we can all punch the air – well not me.
No, I didn’t either – she won it once, nothing to gain winning it again and nothing to lose trying it in proper G1 competition. I don’t think she’s really in the spirit of the race either.
I just think moving the GC to a Saturday is idiotic. On Friday the GC has all the stage to itself and a full house is still guaranteed. On Saturday it will just get lost in the noise created by the national media’s obsession with football.
I cannot understand any of the reasons for this proposed change.
I just think moving the GC to a Saturday is idiotic. On Friday the GC has all the stage to itself and a full house is still guaranteed. On Saturday it will just get lost in the noise created by the national media’s obsession with football.
I cannot understand any of the reasons for this proposed change.
Totally agree
I absolutely agree that the Gold Cup would get swamped by football if they moved it to Saturday.
For example there’s a minor handicap at some gaff in Liverpool in a couple of weeks, I think if they moved it to Friday it could become something pretty special. Especially considering how easy it is to get out of work in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
I think it’s called the Grand something or other but I can’t quite remember.
I absolutely agree that the Gold Cup would get swamped by football if they moved it to Saturday.
For example there’s a minor handicap at some gaff in Liverpool in a couple of weeks, I think if they moved it to Friday it could become something pretty special. Especially considering how easy it is to get out of work in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
I think it’s called the Grand something or other but I can’t quite remember.
If you think that the Gold Cup has an equivalent place in the public consciousness to the Grand National you’re a bigger fool than I am.
These days the Derby passes in a wave of indifference, and that’s not even during the football season.
If you think that the Gold Cup has an equivalent place in the public consciousness to the Grand National you’re a bigger fool than I am.
And why is that do you think? Could it perhaps very possibly & highly likely be because the National has ALWAYS been run on a Saturday & the Gold Cup has ALWAYS been run on a weekday?
Don’t agree with that? Well how about this: the King George. Takes place on Boxing Day. When there is a full programme of football fixtures & yet the meeting sells out every time.
If racing can’t compete with other Saturday diversions, why is it the day Channel 4 show their racing coverage? Why not show Sunday meetings? How come the Scoop6 is on a Saturday? If Friday is the day that racing can have to itself, why not have it then?
I’ve got no time for anyone who uses the ‘competition with football’ argument. I don’t actually care whether the Gold Cup is on a Saturday, a Friday, the twelfth day of Christmas or whenever. But racing deserves better than to have its supporters & administrators hiding in a corner screaming ‘no football, please don’t hurt us.’
And why is that do you think? Could it perhaps very possibly & highly likely be because the National has ALWAYS been run on a Saturday & the Gold Cup has ALWAYS been run on a weekday?
No, it’s because the National is a unique spectacle that has caught the nation’s imagination. Unfortunately, much as I personally love the Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle and indeed the Forbra Gold Cup and Boyne Cup at Ludlow, none of these have the same place in the public consciousness as the National.
I basically agree with you – racing should be able to sell itself on its own merits, but I think that a midweek Cheltenham, which after all pretty much sells out anyway, achieves this better than moving to a Saturday, when we’d be told the Gold Cup would have to be run at 2.00 after the midday game and to avoid interference with the build up to 3pm.
Today driving home and listening to the sports bulletin on 5-live, we were treated to a comprehensive report on the injury to a Wolves player – if racing had even a tenth of the hype and coverage that the Premier League has I’m sure we’d all be very happy.
And why is that do you think? Could it perhaps very possibly & highly likely be because the National has ALWAYS been run on a Saturday & the Gold Cup has ALWAYS been run on a weekday?
No, it’s because the National is a unique spectacle that has caught the nation’s imagination. Unfortunately, much as I personally love the Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle and indeed the Forbra Gold Cup and Boyne Cup at Ludlow, none of these have the same place in the public consciousness as the National.
I basically agree with you – racing should be able to sell itself on its own merits, but I think that a midweek Cheltenham, which after all pretty much sells out anyway, achieves this better than moving to a Saturday, when we’d be told the Gold Cup would have to be run at 2.00 after the midday game and to avoid interference with the build up to 3pm.
Today driving home and listening to the sports bulletin on 5-live, we were treated to a comprehensive report on the injury to a Wolves player – if racing had even a tenth of the hype and coverage that the Premier League has I’m sure we’d all be very happy
.
There was a time when I was younger when i was a big football fan – however since the Sky takeover of the game – I’ve lost interest. And the media coverage of the game has become a joke – virtually every other sport is used as ‘filler’ for when there’s no football on.
Keep the Festival as it is – i still think it has been watered down – but no to a Saturday. It would clash with 6 Nations, Premier League, etc
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