- This topic has 30 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 10 months ago by
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- Total Posts 17716
Breeze up races, that’s a novel idea
Probably not a meeting to have a bet in every race at but a great opportunity to get the note books out.
I think it’s a fantastic idea and hope it becomes popular with trainers.
The one draw back would be to have these meeting during the day when say Ascot and Ffos Las were on. If they want people to attend, look in, bet, whatever they should be looking at evening meetings when there are no other distractions.
People should give the a/w more of a chance. Like me for example, if you had asked me 2 months ago or even 1 month ago I would be in the same frame of mind as TAPK.
Call it racing snobbery or whatever but I turned my nose up at it and didn’t want to know. As it turns out, due to a little betting experiment, I decided to include some all weather races and at first, because I knew very little about it, results for me were pretty average to poor. However 6 weeks down the line and getting to know a few of the horses that run at these meetings not only do I really enjoy watching the a/w I’m making a very good profit doing so.
People say it’s bent but of what I’ve seen so far most of the fancied horses are giving it everything they have. I’ve seen more non triers in one novice hurdle than I’ve seen in a week on the a/w.
Anyway back to the Bumper meeting. Gets my vote great idea!
Great idea but the fields may be smaller than folk think as there’s likely to be plenty problems getting horses to and from the meeting.
I’d like to see Nina Carberry come over, there’s nobody to touch her in a bumper
- Total Posts 17716
Don’t know about that I heard Frankie can be a bit naughty
I don’t suppose it will happen in our PC age but I see no reason why they couldn’t give AW hurdling another trial at Kempton and Lingfield. The surface is far safer now than when those fatalities occurred. Dundalk would also be an obvious place to try it.
With it’s long sweeping bends and extended straight, Great Leighs would have been an ideal track to have trialled it.
Great idea, I would like to go, unfortunately it’s on a weekday so I can’t because I work. Shame that spark of initiative that came up with the idea couldn’t extend to having it at a weekend when the novelty value might boost attendances.
Strange that I tend to not bother much with watching bumpers [probably because we tend to leave before the last race when we do go racing] but the thought of an all bumper card is incredibly appealing!
Moehat
I’ve found Irish Bumpers very profitable if one is selective in the placing of bets and massively informative for future novice hurdlers & chasers.
Ditto Irish point to point, although not a betting medium, it provides an invaluable guide to future winners "under rules"With it’s long sweeping bends and extended straight, Great Leighs would have been an ideal track to have trialled it.
Seconded! An ideal circuit, whatever the shortcomings of the rest of the racecourse site.
Interesting to overhear on ATR this morning that Southwell has already offered any trainers with horses intended to run at the bumper meeting the chance to work their animals on the course. Should hopefully lessen a few fitness / rustiness issues for some.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I tip my hat to all concerned here.
Its nice to see someone taking a bit of initiative and thinking outside the box.
I don’t think I’d approve of all weather jumps. For me, jumping on the turf takes place all year round wheras it doesn’t on the flat so I don’t really see the need to also have jumps on an artifical surface.
Unless of course, these sort of winters are going to become the norm.
PS: I wouldn’t approve but I also wouldn’t be that put out either.
This sort of weather is the reason why the American chasing season is March-November, with a brief break in July. The last meeting of the fall are in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
The closest you can get to an all-weather chase in Europe nowadays is one example of the kind at the race meeting in Honzrath, Germany, though it’s not always an especially well-patronised contest, as AngloGerman on here can probably confirm.
gc
The Grosser Hindernispreis des Saarlandes (the Great Saarland Steeplechase) is held on the first Sunday in October so is generally lost against the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but a crowd of 6,000 turned up to watch last years race, which for German attendance figures is pretty staggering. The race itself, run over 2 miles 1 furlong has seen quite small fields in recent years (just 5 horses last year), but the prize money of 6,000 Euros is actually pretty decent by German chase standards, and Christian won last years race with Our First Chesnut, one of just several runners he’s had in the race in the last few years. Glueckstag won the race in 2006 and 2007, and he won last years Swedish Grand National, beating the Lucinda Russell trained Ormello in the process, so there’s a bit of a British formline there.
I’m not aware of any video footage existing, but there is a photo album of the 2007 raceday online:
http://www.beckingen.de/content/becking … :int=0&-C=
The first page covers the flat races, however on pages 3 and 4, you can see the steeplechase.
Apart from Honzrath, several French courses have their practice fence on an all weather surface – I know Pau and Cagnes have, and I’ve got a feeling Auteuil might have as well (maybe Irish Stamp or another French racing expert can confirm this). To be honest, I would love to see all weather jumps racing back in the UK as long as it’s deemed safe – certainly in weather like this, it could well be the saving grace of National Hunt racing in the UK.
Well I’ll beseech it to cancel all the hunter chases scheduled for the rest of the season and replace them with worthwhile and interesting races
I won’t dignify that with any further comment.
gc
Tell you what Jeremy, why don’t we club together and give the hunterchase and pointing naysayers a day out at a favourite track. Some where nice like Dingley or Horseheath, or Charing or Detling for the Kent National or Dalston and Friars Haugh. They do not know the fun they are missing.
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