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A more humdrum Saturday than this?
I appreciate that the flat season has barely got going and the National Hunt season is in that lull between Cheltenham and Aintree, but the highest rated jumper in action is on an optimistic-looking official rating of 140 and the best flat horse on 107. The racing, while reasonably competitive-looking, sorely lacks quality.
As Jeff Albertson would say:
Worst. Saturday. Ever!
Agree. I checked the race cards last night and was distinctly underwhelmed. Nothing appealed for a bet. It is a rare Saturday afternoon when I do not watch racing but this might be one of them.
Yes Glad I was struggling to work out some decent horses for the Racing Comps section last night.
It seems like the shutters have come down on racing this weekend.Wonder what The Opening Show have up their sleeves to help restore our ethusiasm today.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Which is why I delayed my comp for Easter Monday. Although Fairy house today could have offered a race just as exciting.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.If the “Queen’s Cup” at Musselburgh is a notable early-season Flat race, it’s gone under my radar these past 40 years!
It ain’t the Lincoln, it ain’t the Rosebery, it ain’t the Queen’s Prize and I cannot recall it ever featuring in Old Moore’s Almanac!
Easter Saturday rant over!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Ian,
The ‘Queens Cup’ was a humble 0-85, although offering excellent prize money, not so long ago. I sent Salute to Scotland from Lambourn to run in it, a race Cormack will remember, as he represented me at the course.
That was in 2008 and it was called the Musselburgh Gold Cup then, so I’m not sure if it’s gone up or down in the world since.
We used to have The Easter,Masaka Stakes and Queens Prize on a proper course at Kempton and The Welsh Champion Hurdle at Chepstow on Monday to look forward to.
That’s before the wooden tops that run racing thought betting fodder was the way to go.There used to be a good Flat card at Haydock on Easter Saturday. I can remember seeing Deploy win his maiden there.
I watched a Welsh Champion featuring Birds Nest and Sea pigeon on Youtube recently. How the race has fallen.
I think it’s difficult to have top notch racing every Saturday. And a race featuring 130 rated horses can be just as exciting as a grade 1.
One man’s ‘humdrum’ is another man’s ‘let me at it’. Decent competitive handicaps across the board and suits me just fine. If we were allowed on course I would be looking forward to visiting an excellent meeting at Musselburgh.
I hope my memory serves me correctly that the Queen’s Cup marks the official opening of the Queen’s Stand by H.M. some years back. The likes of the ‘Musselburgh Gold Cup’ and the ‘Scottish Sprint Cup’, and for that matter the later season Archerfield Cup, have been movable feasts over recent years. More re-jigging this year with Covid restrictions causing some re-arrangements.
the highest rated jumper in action is on an optimistic-looking official rating of 140 and the best flat horse on 107
Elimay is rated 155 and gives weight to Cheltenham winner Mount Ida. Make a Challenge is rated 110 as is G1 winner and Arc hopeful Princess Zoe. There’s a €50k novice handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse with some decent looking horses in it that might make into good staying chasers and the €80k Grade A Rybo hurdle is pretty competitive too. It’s not Cheltenham but there’s fun to be had, the sun is shining and even Haydock has good in the going description, spring is here!!
Musselburgh Ian? Shame on you, Edinburgh surely?
As for the Queen’s Cup, one can only conclude that the course executive or whoever chose the name are not members of the SNP or Alba
Culloden Cup would have been even better, with ‘punters pal’ Alex Salmond presenting the trophy
3.30 I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Novice Handicap Hurdle Series Final (Grade B) of €50,000.00 5-y-o plus 3m. 23 Declared
Fairyhouse.
After being hammered 9 lengths by a Mullins hotpot last time, Velvet Elvis and Ragnar Lodbrok reoppose over further. Lots of horses in this with a chance.Some great recollections here – many thanks to APRacing for giving me the historical background to the Queen’s Cup and to Drone for rightly scolding me for uncharacteristically embracing Musselburgh instead of clinging steadfastly to Edinburgh the way I do to “Devon &!” Exeter.
For sure, things ain’t what they used to be.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"@greenasgrass- I was looking at the British cards and haven’t included the Irish ones, seeing that those fixtures are organised by a separate body.
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