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Surely racing from Dubai can be no worse than the AW fare in the UK at this time of year. From the quality point of view World Cup night is rivalled only by the BC imo.
Seeing the best horses in a quality packed cards is what it’s all about. So I think credit to the creators whatever your opinions are on Goldophin etc.<br>
Quote: from Lincoln Duncan on 10:19 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]And what is exciting about watching horses who can barely run fast enough to keep warm running for 3s 6d in some of Britain’s less salubrious corners?
There are plenty of websites through which to find out about South American/Brazilian/US form. Better that than the betting-shop fodder we get in Britain.<br>
Agree. There does seem to exist a certain smell of xenophobia in the air …
Quote: from Salselon on 10:27 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]
Quote: from Lincoln Duncan on 10:19 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]And what is exciting about watching horses who can barely run fast enough to keep warm running for 3s 6d in some of Britain’s less salubrious corners?
There are plenty of websites through which to find out about South American/Brazilian/US form. Better that than the betting-shop fodder we get in Britain.<br>
Agree. There does seem to exist a certain smell of xenophobia in the air …
Oh My god, I’ve heard it all now.
Come on, I’m not one to have a go at people but Xenopobia? FFS that is scraping the barrel of an argument. Is it neccessary to force yourself to love everything non English just to prove there’s no racist element to you?
Can’t believe what I’ve read here to be honest.
How can anyone pretend to prefer Southwell to Nad al Sheba???
There is no plausible argument..
Please tell me what is wrong with the calibre of horse running tomorrow (that being if you consider yourself a flat racing fan);<br>Discreet Cat<br>Best Name<br>Best Alibi<br>Imperial Stride<br>Olympian Odyssey<br>Stage Gift<br>Formal Decree<br>Ace<br>Touch of Land<br>Sanaya<br>Irridescence<br>Laverock<br>Excusez-moi<br>Thor’s Echo<br>and a host of other unexposed types (possibly Day Pass, Asiatic boy)
Is that not a mouth-watering days racing?<br>
(Edited by Salselon at 10:58 pm on Feb. 28, 2007)
Quote: from Salselon on 10:50 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]How can anyone pretend to prefer Southwell to Nad al Sheba???
There is no plausible argument..
<br>Some people do. Some people prefer Angelina Jolie to Billie Piper. Beats me why but they do.
I can’t stand any racing that isn’t on turf full stop so I treat Southwell and Nal al Sheba with equal disdain ;-).
I genuinely don’t mean to insult you or imply that you are not the most intelligent, but please look up tomorrow’s card (and the other cards from the carnival) before making such an embarassing statement…
Quote: from Salselon on 11:01 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]I genuinely don’t mean to insult you or imply that you are not the most intelligent, but please look up tomorrow’s card (and the other cards from the carnival) before making such an embarassing statement…
<br>Do you usually go around dictating to people what they should like and shouldn’t?
The last I heard everyone had a right to their own opinions. Free country, democratic society, ring any bells.
I will never have any interest in Nad al Sheba. Sorry if that upsets you but thats my right.
In terms of quality, I wouldn’t dispute that it is a very good card. But I’d be lying if I said my main interest in racing didn’t stem from being able to make money forecasting the correct outcomes. Given the data available to me that I trust, I’m far more likely to turn a profit on the British AW stuff than trying to work out if the ex-Tregoning thing that’s been off the track for 2 1/2 years retainsg its abilitry on it’s first start for Doug Watson.
How that makes me xenophobic I’m really not sure.
Agree with davidjohnson, who purely speaks from a punting point of view. i stopped betting on the dubai racing a long time ago when i sat helplessly watching horses who i’d never heard of with double-figure prices (triple figures sometimes on betfair) repeatedly go in.
that said, tomorrow’s card is the best BY FAR so far this year. i cannot wait to see discreet cat in action again and the inclusion of he, formal decree, asiatic boy and quijano in a yankee makes me almost wet my panties with excitement!
(Edited by chammy at 4:36 am on Mar. 1, 2007)
<br>I can’t stand any racing that isn’t on turf full stop so I treat Southwell and Nal al Sheba with equal disdain ;-). <br>
Okay, I’ll give you a clue – half of the races are on turf.
How anyone can prefer obstacle races featuring desperate old geldings plodding round ploughed fields at 20 mph beats me completely. But I accept that some people – in Britain and Ireland anyway – do.:cool: <br>
(Edited by Zorro at 10:57 am on Mar. 1, 2007)
They have the occasional interesting race at Nad al Sheba that’s worth a look even apart from the World Cup, but overall it doesn’t make good televiewing for me,  in fact a more bland, boring and characterless ‘Carnival’ I cannot imagine but each to their own.
Salselon sums it up for me but just a few stats:
We’ve had 134 runners from Britain so far – with two meetings to go so plenty of familiar horses.
Presuming that we won’t get any divisions on March 8th then the Carnival will have included 48 turf races and 26 dirt races.
As regards characterless I can’t understand this when we’ve had all the leading European based jockeys – Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore, Jamie Spencer, Michael Kinane, Johnny Murtagh Christophe Lemaire, Christophe Soumillon etc riding there. You then have to factor in the international stars such as Weichong Marwing, Kevin Shea, Kerrin McEvoy etc.
Many of the races have been handicaps but they have been very valuable and with small weight ranges which have made them very competitive.
Trainers can’t afford to take it easy. If they do then their horses ratings will drop and they’ll fail to get a run.
All this makes for a great spectacle for me and at a time when I can get to watch most of it!
Entirely agree Flash. Turf racing (including Dubai) an abomination, irrespective of venue, that should have been strangled at birth. Expect another dose of C4/BBC Dubaian brown-nosing any time.
I like the carnival.  Generally, I don’t care about half of the races on the card, and I’m very interested in the other half (the races where the form may have some bearing on my future betting: the races which feature lightlyraced European horses, like Formal Decree, Sir Gerard, Greek Renaissance, and Quijano, Laverock, etc).
And the handicaps (as Nick Mordin says) are group races in everything but name; they feature Group 1 winners, they have a narrow weight range, and they offer as much money as a Group 2 race.
I can understand why some don’t enjoy it. Sometimes, I get a vague sense that it isn’t ‘real’ racing, that its some kind of exhibition racing, the equivalent of a testimonial match or one of those meaningless World Eleven VS European Eleven football matches  – maybe its the lack of atmosphere or the way that most of the horses/trainers have a connection to the Maktoums – eventually it departs, and I enjoy it again.  <br>
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