- This topic has 128 replies, 33 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 1 month ago by
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It would be nice if
The Theves
voided all bets placed on their exchange in the last few hours up to the announcement. But they won’t because they are a despicable, corporate monster that ‘legally’ tax people who win too much and care only about their share price.
I certainly hope Nicky Henderson does not become Champion Trainer…what a terrible example he would give to the racing fans and non racing fans compared to Paul Nicholls
This is a shameful tale before the start of what is supposed to be racing in its purist form.
It would be nice if
The Theves
voided all bets placed on their exchange in the last few hours up to the announcement. But they won’t because they are a despicable, corporate monster that ‘legally’ tax people who win too much and care only about their share price.
Champion Hurdle antepost markets
Betfair Customer Services
Date Joined: 22 May 02 Add contact
13 Mar 11 15:29 Joined: Date Joined: 22 May 02 | Topic/replies: 1,763 | Blogger: Betfair Customer Services’s blogWe have taken the decision to void all bets matched on the above markets between 8am this morning and the point at which the markets were suspended for the confirmation of the final declarations (approx 10am this morning).
We have done this following consultation with the British Horseracing Authority, who have confirmed that Binocular effectively became a non-runner at 8am. We believe, in what are clearly highly unusual circumstances, that this is the fairest course of action for backers of Binocular and layers of other horses in the relevant markets during this period.
We recognise that many bets were struck by customers in good faith during this period and we are sorry for any inconvenience this will cause. The ‘day of race’ Champion Hurdle markets are now available, which may be of interest to any customers whose antepost bets were voided.
Well **** me sideways!
The Thieves
still operate the Premium Charge and owe me a four figure sum so I will go easy with my praise.
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I can remember the horses form and state of health leading up to last years race and how he suddenly came good at the last minute..so maybe they kept it quiet hoping the same comic book stuff would happen again this year and after all lightening can strike twice can’t it…maybe not! Maybe I am wrong but its beginning to feel like something just isn’t quite right about the whole episode and the parrot in the back of my head keeps saying the outcome of the Seoul Olympics 1988 100M final could have been so different if only the BHA had been its governing body.
Paul Struthers has tweeted that he got this one wrong.
"Given response I’m minded to think you’re right and we/I got this one wrong."
Agree with AP and Shabby , this has been handled badly at best
we should probably move on …hopefully someone somewhere will learn from it
Ricky
All well to come out with an apology now but their needs to be serious action taken on the issue.
Paul Struthers was well able to get on the phone and tv when Fallon/Lynch etc were all being put through the BHA system lets see does he think heads in the BHA should roll.
Henderson? Never did like the cut of the man’s jib! Far too florid of feature. If you can get a Queen’s horse disqualified and suffer a paltry ban for doing so, there is no end to the mischief you can get up to.
I’ve backed Menorah so not my pocket talking here."the unfortunate nag has been fed Pegasus pills, we’re buying a place in the Tuscany hills" Elbow, The Fix is In
I’m just in and have just read this news.
I simply cannot believe that the BHA, who have been making so much progress in terms of PR, have shot themselves so badly in the foot.
Absolutely the FIRST thing that should have happened as soon as there were any doubts over the horse’s participation was the issuing of a statement with the situation clearly explained.
Henderson probably felt he was between a rock and a hard place after last year’s shennanigans but once again has got it badly wrong.
Punters treated like shoddy second class citizens once again.
Below in italics is an extract from a post I made on Thursday in the Champion Hurdle thread in the Cheltenham section of the forum:
Last year all the vibes about Binocular suddenly turned very good. Henderson was telling everyone he had schooled brilliantly and was his old self again.
I may have missed it but I can’t find any comments from Henderson that are as bullish as last year. I’m not saying that between now and Tuesday he won’t do a final schooling session which has Henderson oozing confidence but I don’t see it so far.
I listened to the Timeform interview Henderson did and when the interviewer mentioned he was a difficult horse to get fit Henderson’s reply of "Well he’s certainly fit" left me feeling that although fitness wasn’t a concern something else might be. It was just a gut feeling but I’m not sure yet he thinks the horse is in the same form as he was last year. Betfair will probably answer that particular question over the next few days.
I didn’t have any inside track this year so I think it’s fair to say the vibes were there if you looked for them.
Vibes??…..i wouldn’t call that vibes. I would call that going through henderson statements and coming up with a conclusion using past historical performance of this horse. You were spot on but for the general public i would doubt very much we would have picked up these vibes
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Punters treated like shoddy second class citizens once again.
Hmm. I’m tempted to say that, on the basis of quite a few contributions to this thread, that’s exactly the way they deserve to be treated.
More generously, it’s clear that many people are allowing their disappointment at the dilution of the Champion Hurdle show-down to cloud their judgement.
Corm
, your comment about the rock and the hard place is quite right. As
Chiswickian
has tried (very rationally) to point out, BHA/Henderson were in a lose/lose situation over this, and the damage limitation policy has backfired.
Anyone with a grain of common sense would feel sorry for connections of a fit horse which, for technical reasons, is not in a position to try to retain his crown on Tuesday. Instead of that, we’ve been treated to another shameful display of baying at the moon.
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So people should just accept it as ‘one of those things’, Pinza, and focus on more pressing matters like the 32Red Hurdle?
Give me strength.
The BHA, the governing body of racing, has colluded with the trainer of the favourite for the biggest hurdle race of the year, to conceal a medical problem that presented a realistic threat to the defending champion’s participation. The trainer in question, recently disqualified for three months and subsequently said to have knowingly broken the rules prior to selling his vet down the river, wrote the same horse off for last year’s race before preparing him to hack up.
Are punters, non-betting fans of the sport and the general public supposed to laugh that off? Are we seriously expected to ignore ‘previous form’ and accept that, deliberately or otherwise, people have been dropped right in it? Is it enough to label Henderson and the BHA clumsy, and their actions ill-conceived, when all eyes are on Cheltenham?
The lengths some will go to to convince themselves that there’s ‘nothing to see here’ amazes me at times. Bad things happen and those responsible are right to be held to account.
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Do the BHA routinely test all the participating horses before the big race? as I thought it was the other way round. Forgive me if I am being dense here because if that is the case they should do it both before and after the race for obvious reasons?
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So people should just accept it as ‘one of those things’, Pinza, and focus on more pressing matters
That is what I intended to convey, yes.
Conspiracy theories, dark mutterings about "past form" and inaccurate summaries of an unlucky situation do nothing to advance Racing’s appeal – and in Cheltenham Week of all weeks. Can’t you understand that
AJ
?
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