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Well the AW tracks are LH with short straights, and their little differences i.e polytrack and floodlights etc but there is little variety really.
No I wouldn’t want a horse to go through burning hoops and suchlike. As long as they go a steady pace round the X Country it’s fine and not so dangerous. Im not a "so called" horse lover and your point goes back to the question of cruelty/races and no I don’t want to go back there (until April perhaps!)
AW surfaces are different Mesh, and my "so called horselovers" wasn’t directed at you so appologies there, I meant those at the top of the game.
If Cheltenham insist on running this nonsense, would there be any possibility of them moving it to the last race on the card so as it it wouldn’t affect Placepots/Jackpots etc. They move bumpers often enough to try and keep people on course so why not switch this dross as well.
And while the AW may feature a number of low-grade contests, you are more likely to fins a future star at any of the three tracks than the donkeys that race around Folkestone in the summer.
I have to disagree with the original poster on this subject.
I love the Cross Country Steeplechases for the sheer variety, plus the fact that it replicates where the whole sport of steeplechasing started from initially. The obstacles can present a very different kind of challenge to a horse, and some horses thrive on them (Risk of Thunder and Spot The Difference from the all-conquering stable of Enda Bolger for example), whilst I am certain that many members of the general public enjoy them.
On a couple of occasions, I have been to Pardubice in the Czech Republic for the Velka Pardubicka, and believe me, the sport is very popular there !
It is a beautiful course, very well set out and certainly less dangerous than it used to be at the Taxis, now that the infamous ditch has been filled in.Long live Cross-Country steeplechasing is what I say !
…is the correct answer, Seventy Four. Yep, you can stay!
Any thoughts on tomorrow’s renewal? The wetter it gets, the more confident I am about my laying of Wonderkid.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Many thanks Graysonscolumn !
I guess that the Irish are usually to the fore in this event, so Heads on the Ground would have to come into the reckoning, but I have always followed Le Duc through thick and thin (plenty of thin with some very mixed displays) and he usually seems to go well in this type of event (has run well at Aintree on several occasions, unseated at Cheltenham when holding a winning chance three out in November I think, and landed a military race at Sandown last time out).
In the hope that he puts his best foot forward and concentrates on his jumping, it is Le Duc each way for me.
It is a beautiful course, very well set out and certainly less dangerous than it used to be at the Taxis, now that the infamous ditch has been filled in.
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