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Sadly folks the dilution of quality will continue , if Chelters and the powers that currently drive racing …including RFC ..give its blessing , it will probably happen as soon as 2014
get used to it folks …its called (greed )progress
Ricky
The earliest any change would happen – and I mean moving to a weekend as opposed to a five day meeting – would be 2016, after any refurbishment work has been completed.
Edward Gillespie has said as much already.
Personally I don’t think there is any appetite from Cheltenham for a five day Festival.
I noticed there were hundreds of horses still declared in the Martin Pipe conditional and I would imagine an awful lot never declared because they thought they had no chance of a run.
You could have races for those below the threshold but the prize money wouldn’t be great and the temptation to someone like our Barney to empty a few bookies satchels would be hard to resist.
It’s tough enough as it is to find handicap winners without adding races that belong at Hexam on a bad day.
I’m beginning to wonder about a sport that revolves around just 4 days at one track, when there are race meetings at other tracks at other times of the year with hardly any runners. Doesn’t seem healthy to me. I know we have Kempton at Christmas and Aintree after Cheltenham, but it isn’t like the flat season where there seems to be something to look forward to throughout the season. I know I should go and wash my mouth out with soap immediately and I deserve to because I can’t believe what I’ve just said but there, I’ve said it.
Paul , fair enough 2016 looks about right , however in my book its a 1/16 shot to happen , for good or bad , most racing , ie quality stuff is headed for the weekend , its the way RFC works , unless they can be stopped , will be interesting to see Bittar’s viewpoint , but safe to assume Chelters will be treated in the same way
Its dross from Sunday to Wed , then some quality on Thurs and Fri , followed by a huge racing fest each saturday …..bookies must be loving each minute , but then again racing is run for their benefit , and a few crumbs is paid back ….sad but true
as for the Betfred Tote ……..dont get me started
Ricky
A few voices mooting a five day Festival and a switch to the weekend.
Weekend is not a problem – racing needs to put it’s great days in the shop window.
I suppose if they reduced the number of races to 6 per day you’d only be talking about three additional races to make it a five day festival but I’m not in favour. What would be gained, bar racecourse and Cheltenham environs revenue?
That said, you could hardly imagine ever oing back to three days now so you never know.
Four days is good, and i like the Midlands National on the Saturday
As far as i can see it, there’s one race missing and that’s a 2.5 mile championship race for senior hurdlers. That can be slipped in to the current four days quite easily. Maybe a Veterans race.
6 more races ? Yet another 2.5 mile chase ? A mares bumper ?
Crap.
Galway is well celebrated but the craic is a huge attraction. On some days the racing is nowhere near " Festival " standard.
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