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As regards Wigmore Hall in the OP the Secretariat is a Grade 1 race restricted to 3yos over 10 furlongs on turf and is worth $400,000. Add to this that Arlington offer financial incentives if the horse is unplaced and free flights/hotels to connections.
As regards getting American horses over here it is not for the want of trying. Royal Ascot have done well in recent years to get Wesley Ward over – remember his two winners last year – and Kenny McPeek was placed with a couple of 2yos this year as well as bringing over the very useful Nobles Promise.
It is only a matter of time before other trainers follow suit and every recruitment model is used to attract them.
It comes down to a few issues:
a) Their prizemoney is great and due to the size of the country it is often possible to avoid taking on the best opposition until the end of season championship races notably the Breeders’ Cup.
b) Yes there is a medication situation but now most states have banned steroids this is decreasing. Only a few horses could not run without Lasix (although most would use it given the choice) and Bute is a red herring as many of our horses are given it in training as well.
c) Turf racing isn’t the big defining situation it once was as so many horses now race on synthetic tracks as well as turf. However the classic dirt horses of the East are not going to come over here.
d) Trainers have historically been nervous about bringing horses over to race on tracks which are so different to what they are used to ie right handed with undulations and particularly nervous about training at a centre (usually Newmarket) which is not where the horses will race. Wesley and Kenny have shown it can be done however.
e) I think the most critical factor is that they are nervous about taking on our best horses over here. They know if some of our cast off horses can do well over there that our top stables have plenty of firepower in the only races with enough money to entice them over.
I also think Jeremy Noseda is wrong about travel allowances and have told him this many times. So many tracks around the world now pay to encourage horses over that it would be foolish if British tracks didn’t follow suit.
The money comes out of racecourses PR budgets and would not find it’s way into purses anyway. It is important that international racing doesn’t just become the preserve of the ultra rich.
Well I’ll stand by my original comment that Noseda is 100% correct on travel allowances. The Breeders’ Cup have extortionate entry fees. They arguably have the best International meeting of all.
There are so many other reasons why Noseda is right.
Jose,
So Jeremy Noseda would say no thank you to incentives offered by Hong Kong, Japan, Dubai, Woodbine etc?
Breeders’ Cup is a fantastic meeting but tends to mostly get runners from very wealthy owners due to the cost of entry fees and shipping.
Owners on tighter budgets looking for big bucks and all expenses paid tend to consider options in the Far East instead.
You say that you didn’t want Starfish Bay at Goodwood. Why? The course didn’t pay a penny to get her over and surely it was interesting to see how she ran and to get a fix on collateral sprinting form with the States?
How does the fact that courses like Ascot, Newmarket and York actively encourage horses to come over affect racegoers except in a positive way?
There’s absolutely no reason why some American horses shouldn’t take a shot at the Arc. It’s worth $6m for goddsakes, more than the BC Classic. What argument could you make to stay home and run in the Turf Classic at Belmont the same weekend for 1/10th the money? You definitely can’t argue that the Turf Classic is more prestigious.
For that kind of money it’s worth a shot. Would most US turf horses be in over their head in the Arc? Sure, but that hasn’t stopped a good number of European horses giving the BC Classic on dirt the old college try.
But then, this is a racing culture where the best horse in the country, probably the world, spends her time running against tomato cans in restricted races in her home state, and that’s considered an acceptable/normal schedule. With that kind of mindset I think it’s unlikely well ever see many, if any, US horses shipping east across the pond.I will reply to this now….
Adrian, to be fair, I don’t think it matters if Jeremy Noseda would say yes or no to any of those potential offers. We’re not comparing like with like imo.
British owners are racing for a lot less money in the first place. Many of those countries 2nd placed prizes in major international races would exceed the 1st placed prize money in most Group 1 races here. In 2009 Britain had 11 Group 1 races worth £200k+ to the winner.
The owners of some of these International horses are making a lot of money before they come here – they can certainly afford to come here if they wish.
And lets not forget, owners in Singapore and Hong Kong have the pleasure of knowing there are certain major races in those countries that only they can win. Sometimes it doesn’t require the highest calibre of horse to do so. And Woodbine has a stack of Ontario and Canadian bred stakes races. It is not a free-for-all and that is the difference.
To my mind, by having certain foreign travel fees paid for is like arbing. Can I ask, does Aidan O’Brien get his travel fees paid for at Ascot? The French trainers when they come here?
As for Starfish Bay, whilst American horses continue to race on Lasix on race-day, I don’t think they should be permitted to race here. It is easy to say Lasix is an anti-bleeder medication, but if Starfish Bay had bled badly at Goodwood, there is surely an ethical issue?
Your last comment about affecting racegoers in a positive way is true. But if we listened to RFC no one has any idea about any of these International horses, which is why we most focus on making the Champion Stakes "our" own "championship" day at Ascot. So I sort of wonder what direction we are heading in….
Hi Jose,
You make your points well but just a few thoughts.
I believe it is up to Ascot, Newmarket and York if they want to pay towards the costs of horses from outside Europe racing here. They believe it is a good thing for their races, increasing the average rating of their races, attracting bigger crowds and wider media attention. They are therefore pleased to spend their PR budget on it as do the other courses I mentioned before.
Our trainers may not like the stiffer opposition they offer but that’s racing.Whilst Starfish Bay didn’t get anything from Goodwood I can assure you that most of the horses that come from Australia, America etc would not make the trip unless they were guaranteed some contribution towards their expenses.
No British tracks don’t pay Europeans to race here but their costs are significantly less. Not only do they not have to pay huge shipping costs but they usually return home in a few days whilst the horses from Australia, for example, have to house not only horses but staff for many weeks and often months when you take into consideration the length of quarantine. The grooms for Nicconi are still here looking after him in quarantine for example.
I don’t follow your Lasix arguement. Many horses train on it here and most of our horses race on it when they go to race in the States. All 5 of the British trained horses will run on Lasix at Arlington on August 21st for example. When American horses come here they have to sign a declaration about what medication they have been on in previous months. They are pre-race tested to make sure they are clean and then of course they race here without race day medication.
I’m not involved with RFC. My only remit is to encourage good horses from overseas to race here and to be hospitable to them. I think we’ve done pretty well in recent years.
I understand if you disagree with the Lasix argument. Surely if a horse in America needs to race on Lasix, and I realise many would say the vast majority of horses don’t need too, racing without the medication that offers the necessary therapeutic benefit for the first time creates a bigger risk of the horse bleeding severely? Either way it can prove one thing – Lasix is needed or not needed, of benefit or not of any benefit.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ … convention
But I’ll leave it for others to research a bit deeper.
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