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Absolutely brilliant opening paragraph, @espmadrid. I could not agree more.
“According to Ed Chamberlain he was consulted on these changes ”
But the Amateur Jockeys’ Association weren’t. You stay classy, Jockey Club!
Of course any “consultation” with the AJA would have been a mere fait accompli, along the lines of “You amateurs are embarrassing. Three whole races? I know you’re used to riding youngsters in the <cough, whisper> hunting field and point to points, but we’re taking the novice race away from you, it just looks bad.
You can keep the Kim Muir, for now, but really…well, we’ll probably turn that into some sort of veterans unlimited handicap for professional riders in future TBH. Sandown can dry their eyes. Who was Kim Muir anyway? Oh, some dashing amateur jockey officer type heroically killed in the war you say? Well, that’s…not very, is it? It’s 2024, FFS. That’s not the sort of thing…well, Ed Chamberlain said that’s not the sort of thing his imaginary young hip viewers want. Not hip. What do they say now? Rizz, or whatever.
You can keep the Foxhun…SH*T, I mean the Hunter Chase. We’ll probably change that name too. When we take the Kim Muir from you, we’ll call the Foxh…we’ll call the hunter chase the Amateurs’ Gold Cup – Ed likes saying that on TV and it shows that we’ve let you keep something, but gets rid of the the embarrassing reminder of the origin of our sport. A woman trainer won it last year didn’t she? Beat the JP plot with a cheap horse? Well done Fiona love, great stuff, Ed’s viewers love an underdog story. It’s all about the narrative, right? The horse was a girl too. Great. We can’t really use Hewick as our cheap underdog hero any more can we. Not after that…agricultural unpleasantness with the trainer.
Anyway, you’ve still got two races. Probably one in future when we monkey around again trying to make a four day festival as quality and exciting as the 3 days all those old whingers keep boring on about. We could always move it that meeting in April nobody cares about and replace it with a grey horse handicap bumper for lady jockeys, that’ll look nice on TV.
Right, now can you just do a press conference saying how pleased you are with the changes- smile and remember your media training. Off you pop”.
Consulted in the dictionary means ‘to discuss something with someone before you make a decision’.
If the changes were being made anyway was there any point in consulting with the amateur jockeys and their leaders? They were likely not going to be happy about it and ask/campaign to leave it as is. What I don’t know or read anywhere is if the head of the Amateur Jockeys association (or similar) was made aware about the changes before they were published. They should have done that at least.
The N H Chase – agree with Espmadrid. This stemmed from the fact that Gillepsie didn’t like having these lowly rated chasers performing at HIS festival. Every modification since has simply made things worse. So what should happen:
1. Return the race to it’s pre-Gillespie format, limited to maidens at the start of the season apart from point to point and hunter chase winners.
2. Move it to another date at Cheltenham or another track. Cheltenham could stage it as the highlight of its existing Hunter Chase meeting. Or it could be run at Warwick on the Sunday before the festival. Even become, as it was in the 19th century, a movable race touring round the JCR jumps courses.
3. Reduce the prize money, which was never the point of the race anyway. It doesn’t need to be worth more than £25k, which will deter pot hunters. And have a penalty structure based on prize money won, so that if the winner of a Graded novice chase chooses to enter, they’ll be set to carry 13 stone or more.
4. Recognise the history and significance of the race and make that the selling point. In one of the last renewals before the tampering began, Celestial Gold finished second. The following season he won the Paddy Power, the Hennessy and the Aintree Bowl. He was a typical runner in the N H Chase, a point to point winner that never ran over hurdles and had won a novice chase at Towcester earlier that season. The race as it was did often produce good late maturing chasers.
5. Stop the downplaying of amateur riders as somehow not worth a place at our big meetings. From my time watching NH racing, I can remember seeing Dunwoody, Maguire, Johnson and the Sherwood brothers all riding as amateurs and that’s just a small sample from my now fading memory!
“What I don’t know or read anywhere is if the head of the Amateur Jockeys association (or similar) was made aware about the changes before they were published. They should have done that at least.”
She wasn’t- the AJA found out at the same time as the rest of us
Shoddy behaviour.
Much as I’m always criticising him, Ed Chamberlain does talk a lot of sense here I thought:
https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/cheltenham-festival-changes-what-would-you-tweak/220749
He does indeed Green.
The things I want most in life are the things that I can't win.
That Ryanair fella moans the change to the Cross Country will lead to the public losing interest in it, was anyone particularly interested in the first place?
The things I want most in life are the things that I can't win.
“Much as I’m always criticising him, Ed Chamberlain does talk a lot of sense here I thought:”
Willie Mullins had mentioned the cost issue…
“‘We all know what’s wrong with Cheltenham – it’s just gone too expensive for ordinary punters to go there for a day’s racing,’ Mullins told Racing TV. ‘If they want to get people back it’s cost – it’s nothing to do with the horses that are running.'”
To paraphrase the great Mandy Rice Davies “He would say that, wouldn’t he?”
The four day Cheltenham festival with its diluted established races and additional contests suits someone with dozens of runners and plenty of owners to keep happy. I can see why someone who has trained over 100 winners doesn’t want any changes.
I don’t quite agree with him about price. The cost of a day at Cheltenham is not out of line with other top sporting events, or with concerts etc. Nor is £7.80 for a pint of Guinness,unfortunately.
What is a problem (as identified by some of the contributors to the “Sporting Life” article) is the cost of accommodation, transport etc. But I am not sure what Cheltenham can realistically do about it.
Even though attendance was down this year, the size of the crowd still puts off plenty of people. A lot of racegoers are put off by having to struggle to get around, nowhere to sit etc. At least at football and cricket, spectators have a seat and it is a more comfortable experience.
I think a lot of older racegoers have given up on the festival and prefer to go to smaller meetings. Even though the racing is not as good, it is in a more pleasant atmosphere.
On the “Sporting Life” article, I agree with the comments about the Mares Hurdle. It should either have a ratings limit or be moved to the April meeting.
I enjoyed the opening day this year from a punting perspective. But there is no getting away from the day being an underwhelming spectacle, largely because of Lossiemouth’s procession 40 minutes after the race she should have run in. Racegoers were denied a clash, so who can blame them for staying away?
As for Ed Chamberlin, I agree with his comment “‘We have to stop that first contact being ‘let me search your bag and take your picnic away'”. That is a problem on other racecourses as well.
However, I am not sure about “From the Jockey Club’s point of view they have to pack it out again”. Isn’t that a large factor in why some racegoers are staying away because the prospect of being packed in with a boozed up crowd makes zero appeal?
A boozed-up and charlied-up crowd, CAS.
All major race meetings suffer from the same problem: people on the lash and/or drugs. The problem is especially bad at Saturday meetings during the summer, but is becoming increasingly visible at major jumps meetings, too.
As your previous post correctly states, people are staying away due to the cost of getting to and staying in Cheltenham (I can remember when the return fare from Paddington was £22!), and the prospect of spending the day surrounded by hordes of people who are off their faces does not appeal at all… especially when all you’re going to see is a procession of odds-on favourites waltzing up by miles.
“A boozed-up and charlied-up crowd”.
It is probably more to do with the latter.
I have considered going to the festival for a day but the cost of transport, the ticket and other expenses means it is not worth it (especially as the view of the racing at Cheltenham is not that good). And being stuck on a train with a noisy crowd is too much to face, especially on the way back after they have sunk a few £7.80 pints.
I went to Hexham on the Cheltenham Thursday this year. It took about the same amount of time, the train fares were cheaper, admission was far cheaper and the coked up crowd were absent. An altogether far more enjoyable day out.
I suppose I am lucky having Aintree just down the road and can go there on the Thursday for a fraction of the cost of a day at Cheltenham.
Whilst I’m sure Cheltenham could do more about the drugs issue, it is a problem in wider society too. The stuff is everywhere (I suspect up to and including the Houses of Parliament) and you only need a gram or two to ‘get you through the day’ as it were so it is not difficult for people to smuggle it in. Clearly there is little to no chance of being caught. Not really the place to discuss it but it is a policing issue as well as a Cheltenham one.
“I suspect up to and including the Houses of Parliament”.
No question about it. In fact I reckon it is 1.01 on Betfair that drug use in that cesspit is far higher than average.
I’ve already said I sadly now give the Ayr National and gold cup meetings a miss because of the drink/drugs culture , I’d much rather go on a quiet day at Hamilton or Kelso , be able to walk around , look at the horses and enjoy the craic , as a teetotaler I really can’t stand being around drinkers
The NH Chase as a handicap – I guess a couple of the novices than run in the other handicaps might go here now and I think it could improve as a race, even though it’s disappointing for the amateur riders
The Golden Miller becoming a handicap – well a few of the better horses will now run in the Arkle or Broadway but I suspect a few will be held back for Aintree or plotted for the handicap
The Mares Only races are an issue and Dan Barber makes a good point in that Sporting Life article
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