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It looks as though a BHA press release has per-empted the ARC press conference as it has confirmed a £1m fixture at Lingfield on Good Friday.
It will be interesting to see the structure of this race day and despite any concerns one may have about artificial surface racing such an investment can only be applauded.
I know I am no great fan of AS racing and I do jokingly say it should be abolished, I do accept it has its place in the sport, although I would still want to see it restricted to a clearly defined season during the winter months where it is a potential backup where there is inclement weather.
Whilst welcoming the cash injection I would like to see the Good Friday finalé as exactly that with AS racing then restarting in November, giving a defined season.
Lest I am accused of too much bias against AS racing I would also like to see a mid-summer break in National Hunt racing of between 8-12 weeks and I would like to see the turf flat season finish with British Champions Day.
Each of the three codes should have clearly defines seasons and should not be year round – just my opinion of course.
I see your points above with regard to definitive seasons as it does give some sense of structure however I still struggle to see why AS racing can’t be included in the "main" flat season. It is IMO just another ground condition and for those of us who quite enjoy the AS/AW it would be nice to occasionally have the opportunity to watch it in a short sleeve shirt rather than seven layers of clothing. Also whilst Southwell, Kempton and Lingfield have a couple of alternatives, get rid of Wolverhampton in the summer and if you live in the Birmingham area you’ve only got Warwick close by.
As you have said above the cash injection is indeed welcome however it does make you wonder whether it would be better spent on increasing say 200 other races by £5K a pop( or you could add another 200 races at £5K a pop
). I don’t suppose it would get quite the same exposure. Championships is what it’s all about y’allAs you have said above the cash injection is indeed welcome however it does make you wonder whether it would be better spent on increasing say 200 other races by £5K a pop( or you could add another 200 races at £5K a pop
). I don’t suppose it would get quite the same exposure. Championships is what it’s all about y’allIf my reading is correct all the AS races in the season are effectively qualifiers – now does that mean they hope some better horses will enter the low grade contests in order to qualify for champions day? If so is there not a danger it will frighten off some of the lower grade horses when the better horses run, resulting in small field sizes. Not sure – I’m just thinking out loud.
I can also see a large number of horses qualifying for the finals – I am presuming the higher rated qualifiers (plus the winners of the golden ticket races) will be those who contest Champions Day.
I wish I had a pound for every complaint I hear about prize money. What owners say and what they do are entirely different, and actions always tell you the real truth.
The reality is that a very small number of owners pick up any decent prize money. Not because it isn’t there, but because their horses are not good enough to win. But they keep buying ’em and keep racing ’em!
Here’s a blog piece I wrote a while back:
Many in racing believe owners deserve a reasonable chance of recouping a worthwhile percentage of costs. Some contend that fair recompense is vital in keeping owners in the sport.
But if we are to judge from the behaviour of owners, then prize money means little to them as an incentive.
Owners with a structured plan for making racing pay, the Godolphins and Coolmores, realise that prize money is the jam; the bread and butter is stud fees. Other high rollers like JP and Andy Stewart are in it for the love of the sport. But such ‘wealthy individuals’ make up only a tiny percentage of owners in the UK. The ones who really need ‘fair’ prize money to keep them in the game are those who cannot play at the highest levels, right?
Maybe not . . .
In the UK, in the 56 months from January 1st 2007 until August 31st 2011, 47,175 horses raced for total win prize money of just under £294m.
58.75% of horses failed to win a single race.
3% of horses won 34% of total win prize money (Group/Listed race winners) sharing £101m, a slice of which would have gone overseas.
Those who probably needed it least as an incentive shared more than a third of win prize money. Of the remaining cash, 59% of horses won nothing of it for their owners.
So, if prize money is not the incentive for the owners of 61% of horses, is it likely that the remaining 39% view it differently? (Only 13% of horses in that 56 month period won three races or more).
However much The Horsemen might bluster, campaign and boycott, the stats say that most owners do not expect prize money to compensate them for indulging their hobby.
I see your points above with regard to definitive seasons as it does give some sense of structure however I still struggle to see why AS racing can’t be included in the "main" flat season. It is IMO just another ground condition and for those of us who quite enjoy the AS/AW it would be nice to occasionally have the opportunity to watch it in a short sleeve shirt rather than seven layers of clothing. Also whilst Southwell, Kempton and Lingfield have a couple of alternatives, get rid of Wolverhampton in the summer and if you live in the Birmingham area you’ve only got Warwick close by.
I see your point but I feel having a break, in all three codes, makes the main season all the more exciting. When a particular code is "off season" you have the anticipation of the new season to look forward to.
If it is available all the rear round it can become stale and taken for granted.
I think it applies to most things in life though – having a break makes it better. I changed jobs once and I had to wait three months for my new home to be completed. My employer put me up in a lovely four star hotel, full board, but after three weeks of fine dining I was yearning for ham, egg and chips and simple food (luckily I got to know the manager and chef and they obliged) but the point is you can have too much of a good thing if its there all the time.
If my reading is correct all the AS races in the season are effectively qualifiers – now does that mean they hope some better horses will enter the low grade contests in order to qualify for champions day? If so is there not a danger it will frighten off some of the lower grade horses when the better horses run, resulting in small field sizes. Not sure – I’m just thinking out loud.
That’s a good point, but to get a better class of horse to run does it not follow that they will have to have better class qualifiers? And if the prerequisite is to run at least three times during the qualifying period (assuming you don’t win and you’re in) then surely they will have to put on quite a few of these better class qualifiers. I wonder how many trainers will be enticed by the decent money on offer and run some of their better animals three times over the winter months. I can see potentially some of the Irish trainers sending horses over and who knows maybe a French horse or two will give it a go.
If it is available all the rear round it can become stale and taken for granted.
Nudge nudge know what you mean, know what you mean
I think it applies to most things in life though – having a break makes it better.
You are absolutely right. I didn’t have a beer for a whole day last week and it was like nectar the day after
Arguably isn’t this the prize money they should race for every day anyway instead of the peanuts currently on offer?
An additional £2.2M of prize money is to be welcomed. Of that there is no doubt.
£1M of this is allocated to the Good Friday finals day. Is the other £1.2M to be spread across the other All Weather meetings from Oct 13 to Apr 14? Or will the likes of Newcastle see an increase in prize money for the jumps season?
It’s a joke that bumpers are run for 2 grand for example. I’d much rather see the additional £2.2m of prize money spread across all lower class races.
Joe is right to some extent, owners must be mad racing for the sums on offer at lower grades. To enable new owners to remain in the sport longer term there should be better distribution of prize money.
Let’s take the mega rich out of the equation and how many small owners buy into a second horse and how many walk away after they’ve done their money on the first buy and realise its not sustainable.
I see that the ‘Win and you’re in’ races are conditions or graded races. I imagine with the prize money on offer for getting to Finals day they will be competitive affairs with the top yards represented. Not sure if the other qualifiers will be handicaps or not and what class of horse the races will be framed at.
Totally agree with Paul AW needs a defined winter season I’ve been banging on about this for years we really don’t want AW form still clogging turf cards deep into the summer nor do we need Kempton staging so called classic trials on a surface that the classics do not use. Most of all Lingfield would then be stopped from staging their God awful mixed meetings during the summer and ruining lovely grass races at this beautiful I(and now my nearest) track.
Racing on a synthetic surface should move away from the ‘all weather’ tag. Time has moved on from its initial inception and it has evolved to be a racing category of its own that does not need to be defined by months it is staged.
Many horses are preferably suited to running on a synthetic surface and owners should have the choice to run those horses alongside turf.
Really, in terms of horses ‘clogging’ up the form with synthetic racing you get horses coming from summer jumping to turf races, no one seems too bothered by that. I know which I would prefer.
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-ra … t7DaysNews
So does this mean that ARC’s Good Friday fixture could be reallocated if they don’t join the prize money scheme?
So does this mean that ARC’s Good Friday fixture could be reallocated if they don’t join the prize money scheme?
No because they have guaranteed the money for it – although only for one year
). I don’t suppose it would get quite the same exposure. Championships is what it’s all about y’all
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