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Phil Bull, the founder of Timeform, more or less developed and honed his betting methods immediately prior to and during the war. His ‘Temple Racetime Analysis’ was first published – weekly I believe – in 1938, followed by his book ‘The Mathematics of Betting’ in 1942, and his ‘Best Horses of…’ annuals from 1942-1947
Quite why he was allowed to tread the turf during hostilities rather than be called-up I don’t know. Flat feet perhaps
when NH racing was stopped during the war the big owners, e.g. Dorothy Paget, moved their horses to Ireland.
Shouldn’t we change the name of this thread to “All horse racing cancelled until end of August”???
It’s just more realistic, imo.
BREAKING NEWS: Irish Racing will continue operating behind closed doors for the moment after the HRI board met today.
Dundalk goes ahead as planned on Friday. 🇮🇪
I cannot see this going on much longer. Are they seriously going to have Punchestown behind closed doors?
I suppose RTV is very glad it bought the Irish rights now. At least the Irish trainers will not be complaining about lack of coverage, split screens and no commentary for a while!
Well done HRI in my book.
Yes it’s very temporary and subject the speedy change, but judging by yesterday’s meetings there’s no reason to stop the meetings taking place. There will come a point in time when it might be necessary, but at least by doing this, they are delaying an industry crash.
BHA probably jumped the gun in my book.
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!BHA probably jumped the gun in my book.
Not sure if the BHA had an option due to the Emergency Services situation (as introduced by the British Government earlier in the week). Not sure what the Irish Govt have said about their Emergency Services and the availability at Events.
Information from the Telegraph Chronicle of Racing, a book of extracts from their racing pages, regarding racing during WW2.
Here’s a bit more detail on racing in WWII gleaned from ‘The Story Of Your (Sporting) Life’ by James Lambie.
The outbreak of war on Friday 1 September 1939 resulted in hiatus for all horse racing of a little over 6 weeks. On Sunday 3 September the government issued a statement which began:
“Sports gatherings and all gatherings for the purposes of entertainment and amusement whether outdoors or indoors which involve large numbers congregating together are prohibited until further notice.”
This period began the eight-month phase known as the phoney war (i.e. not much happened in GB). Racing began again on 18 October with 169 horses contesting 7 races on Newmarket’s July course.
The German army marched into Holland & Belgium in May 1940 “to protect their neutrality” but, even with danger getting closer to home, this didn’t prevent the running of the 1940 substitute Derby at on 12 June at Newmarket (won by Pont L’Eveque, owned & trained by Fred Darling). Lambie claims a crowd of 10,000 whereas Wikipedia indicates an attendance of 50,000.
On 19 June racing was once more suspended until further notice, the stoppage lasting for 3 months before resuming on 14 September.
The start of the 1941 flat season saw approximately 2,200 horses in training according to government sources.
In February 1941 8 bombs fell on Newmarket killing 27 people. Following this event, the owner of Nearco had an air-raid shelter specially built for the stallion.
March 1941 saw the Luftwaffe targeting Liverpool, so Cheltenham was asked to host that year’s Grand National, a request refused by the council despite the course holding what is now known as the Festival meeting later that month.
In 1942 the Jockey Club brought in regional racing via a north-south divide. In the north, Pontefract and Stockton shared 23 days racing while Newmarket (30 days) and Salisbury & Windsor shared 27 days for the south. Ascot joined the south contingent in 1943, a year in which the sport was reduced to 67 fixtures.
NH racing was scrapped for the 1942/43 season and didn’t resume until January 1945.
That’s pretty much all there is. The information is a touch sporadic but that’s not my fault!
Not sure if the BHA had an option due to the Emergency Services situation (as introduced by the British Government earlier in the week). Not sure what the Irish Govt have said about their Emergency Services and the availability at Events.
This could be correct, i probably jumped the gun a tad without knowing the full facts. However, i know the ambulances at Irish tracks are supplied by the Order of Malta. Not exactly sure what they are tbh, but if there comes a time where they were needed by the public, i’m sure it would be stopped.
If the next week and a half goes ahead (odds on it won’t surely) there will be a lot of racing in Ire judging by the fixtures!
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!
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Thank God for the Irish – only 2 more sleeps
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So there is a lot of positive rumour about the UK flat season continuing in May behind closed doors, encouraging to read about. The issues is the emergency services part, but if a solution can be found there, retired staff/skeleton staff has been mentioned we could still be set for a flat season. My issue is that we should postpone the season by a month however and therefore run all the trials and get horses ready for the Guineas.You can’t just suddenly start the season last minute with a Guineas. Again I would expect an announcement from the BHA in the next week or 2/3 on this. It’s the right thing to do in my opinion. People will die for this virus it’s an awful fact but many more peoples lives will be ruined by all this if we are not careful and find a good balance. Not even just in horse racing but generally in life we have to keep it going somehow
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Thurles on ITV4 Saturday
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Tis indeed
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