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Of course as BigG says it makes no sense to turn down 4.45 and prefer 3.00 when 5.30 wasn’t possible.
Surely it should have been foreseen as the match taking place was hardly likely to be the only high risk category combination. eg Liverpool v Man Utd/City, Arsenal v Spurs/Chelsea etc.As daft as it may sound Nathan could well be right that ITV, once they couldn’t have 5.30 thought 3.00 was the better bet as they could have the best of both worlds and their usual Saurday night dross unaffected, especially as they knew racing would bend over and give them what they want.
At least Formula One is now off terrestrial TV. I can recall York resechulding times on one of their established Saturday fixtures (think it was Timeform Charity Day) so as not to clash with Grand Prix ‘qualifying’. I note as the Derby is run the Spanish Grand Prix will be staging it’s final qualifying hour. C4 regularly would request courses to switch a quality race or two around on the card to allow them to show it, otherwise the mighty Countdown would cancel it out, same with ‘ Film on 4’.
I’d guess many of us who watch the Derby at home and who’d usually open up their first bottle around noon will now have to start on the pop at dawn and retire to bed around 2 pm!
Have only saw one Derby live and got the short straw with Quest For Fame in 1990, sandwiched between two outstanding winners. They were also rebuilding the new stand at the time so it was all a bit of a mess.
How Epsom seriously thought that 4:30 would be a good time for The Derby when they would have known that the FA Cup final was on the same day (and it has been known for a long time). They should have looked at previous ko times for the final, which were I think 5:15 and 5:30 and should have known or been in consultation with ITV and about a time for The Derby and 4:30 being to close to the ko.
This is all of course immaterial now the ko is even earlier. All just goes to show the lack of organising.
My idea would have been to move The Derby to Sunday months ago when the clash was known about.
While I believe racing had little choice to move the race once it became clear the police would not allow a late kick off, I do think it is fair to say racing was slow off the mark.
I assume the date of the FA Cup final was known about before the last racing fixture list was drawn up. The match was always going to be later this year due to the Qatar World Cup.
I think for one year only there should have been a bumper Friday card of the Coronation Cup, Oaks and Derby. Then the Saturday card could feature the Woodcote, Diomed, Dash and the 1m 4f handicap. It would still have been a reasonably strong Saturday card.
I would not have been in favour of a Sunday Derby. I think that would have affected betting turnover.
Well I knew back in October the date of the cup final I am sure the BHA would have known.
Bumper Friday sounded like a great idea CAS.
Utterly bizarre decision. So devalues a great race. I’m sure the horses aren’t bothered but such a bad look for racing.
As others have already said, the best thing would be to move the Derby back to its Wednesday slot.
Leaving aside the sadly unwanted (by those pulling the strings) option of returning to the Wednesday, I’d prefer an after 7pm time as a one off. The Grand Prix de Paris has now settled in at this sort of time and I’m assuming the Paris Muteuel turnover has not been affected negatively since the move. You’d also have a wave of viewers tuning into the race once the match finishes as the neutral footy viewers along with armchair fans of the losing team would not really want to view the tiresome walk up the steps.
We may have to get used to more big races being moved on a Saturday if womens football and Rugby continue in becoming more popular.
This decision could cause a rise in the death rate. It is an ungodly hour and a lot of people are not even up at that time. Those that do try to get there will be tired out, a state that causes accidents, and drivers may be tempted to put their foot down and this could cause a smash and a pile up.
I’m a Wednesday man myself.
‘We may have to get used to more big races being moved on a Saturday if womens football and Rugby continue in becoming more popular.’
Perhaps racing could work on becoming more popular and then it wouldn’t have to bow to other events. Clearly people are out there to be won over, and by all accounts much of the growth in women’s football and rugby is people new to the respective games as opposed to just those who already watch the men’s game.
The thing is women’s sport, especially football and rugby tick a lot of the boxes with parts of the media. For example, the BBC – who once covered the sport enthusiastically on TV & Radio, and with 2 regular racing updates on 5 live every morning, and with a respected correspondent. Most of that has gone, and the racing they cover has certainly been cut back.
Even most of the daily newspapers have drastically cut their racing coverage.Horse racing seems to be up against it at the moment; this decision merely reinforces it.
Re the comments about women’s sport being a rival to racing for media attention, it’s somewhat ironic that racing is one of the few sports where women compete against (and sometimes beat) men at the highest level.
I know individual women such as Rachael Blackmore and Hollie Doyle get plenty of media attention already, but think that women’s involvement in the sport is still something that needs to be broadened and publicised further. I would go so far as to say this is one of the sport’s strongest attributes that could help ensure its continued success.
I have lost my poundsstretchers so am at a bit of a loss visually. I can still see …click …click
Anyway bit of a strange post this – I had had an unusual day grafting and was literally like an empty can as I sat om the bus home – tank on empty. I went to bed yesterday at 3.30 am. and the alarm went at 6.45 – I was all fingers and thumbs with that miserable alcohol vacant feeling. Anyway just felt drained after a day and a half it seemed of draining my batteries and was on the bus home taking up two seats as I had three bags with me and looked a complete mess and asking myself what man of my advanced age is risking his life up a ladder like a miserable protagonist in a Tolstoy novel, and then I suddenly saw her, and she stuck right out of the crowd – a female walking head high, mid speed, down Kensington Church Street and 28 and full of bounce. About 5 foot 7 brown hair – not British – who is these days ? – could have been French. Anyway my eyes were riveted on her lips painted red and something alluring about them but something amiss and then I worked it out – she had red pencilled the sides of her lips to be wider. Suddenly I was presented with a scene from a Batman movie and a female joker. I was hot and I was cold I was in and I was out – just couldn’t really believe what I was seeing and I knew I wasn’t in the back row but it felt like it. Vamp allure and sensuality but in the same schadenfreude filled aghast breath came vomit and here she monsters in – the freak, Martha don’t look at her, and quick get the fire extinguisher to douse out the abnormality, and finally,, when I got off the bus and reached home and did the stairs and collapsed into a cream leathered winged armchair I suddenly thought…hang on it’s exactly the same initially joyous, perplexed, sick, disgusted feeling I felt when I heard of the breakfast time Derby !
“Derby do you take 430 to be your lawfully wedded wife ?”
….According to Matt Chapman this morning, ITV would have been happy with a 6.45pm Derby and said racing’s missed a great opportunity to have a prime time slot on ITV1. I’ve got to agree and the apparent reason for this shortsighted decision. The World Pool
Racing hasn’t even started yet and The Derby is less than an hour away – feels weird!
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