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Only 4 races tomorrow afternoon (Friday 2) have fields of 8 or more, as an each way punter this is very disappointing, can racing survive with fields reducing like this I don’t think I have seen an afternoon with three meetings have so many small fields.
A poxy Friday afternoon meeting at Catterick with small fields…and yet the drama can’t be beat. We had slipping saddles, a horse running out through the wings of last when clear while one that was out with the washing came through to win, half the field being put out of the race at the 3rd in a staying chase, a winning jockey being unshipped after the line…
Yup, and no odds on winners.
From a punters point of view I hate huge fields for the amount of research required and small fields for the 1/5 favourites, but I love both occasionally, both often offer more drama than your 8-10 horse fields. Also for me the easiest races to analyse and therefore most profitable are races with poor horses, smallish fields and bottomless ground, find the most dour plodder and count your money.
It’s not rocket science, too much racing. The horse population isn’t there to support the amount of the fixtures there are, particularly over jumps.
The big day of the week for racing (Saturday) 20 races over jumps and only 5 of those have at least 8 declared, it’s pathetic.
What do Nick Rust & the hopeless BHA propose to do about it? Absolutely nothing, Rust said as much in an interview with Sean Boyce last week although he did say he didn’t foresee an increase in fixtures
. They are scared to death to reduce races and fixtures no matter how small the fields and we all know the reason for that.So it will continue to bury it’s head in the sand and just hope the problem goes away.
Specifically, too much All Weather racing for prize money that compares favourably to that offered over Jumps is severely restricting the flow of Flat horses into the jumping game. The BHA needs to lead an industry initiative to balance the prize money between the two codes. Even though bookmakers have been neglecting the racing product in favour of FOBTs, they need the AW to justify keeping shops open later to suck in FOBT players. As a consequence of more shops open for longer hours racing has benefited in terms of revenue received. Just because the extra money has derived from the ability to race on sand under floodlights (glorified dog racing) doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be directed mainly towards the superior code. The AW will still serve its purpose if mainly Class 5 & 6.
GoldenMiller – that’s utter tripe drawn from your own personal preference towards jumps and turf racing. If anything, all-weather could support another 10-20% increase in fixtures. There are plenty of AW horses struggling to get the amount of runs their trainers want them to have. Every meeting, Kempton and Newcastle consistently have max fields in handicaps through the cards. Lingfield, Wolverhampton, Chelmsford and Southwell are well-subscribed too. Not to mention Dundalk, which is proving so popular with trainers that they are announcing extra fixtures.
There are legions of AW fans who enjoy this type of racing as spectators rather than just punters – and you could even make a cogent argument for an artificial surface being ‘superior’ to turf (safer, requires less maintenance, weather proof). As a jumps fan too (I like it all), I’d take issue with your view that healthy AW prize money is hurting the National Hunt game. Surely we don’t want flimsy AW horses making up the numbers in a code that should be looking for soundness, thickness of bone and proven jumping pedigrees.
I think there just needs to be a little tinkering to improve the schedule. More low-grade handicaps under both codes (always well populated) and fewer fiddly little niche races like mares-only novices’ chases, open novices’ chases and open graded races in the North. Supply and demand. If a certain type of race or a particular track consistently attracts low numbers then these races need to be reduced. If one type of race is consistently oversubscribed with horses balloted out, we need more of these. Am I right or am I right?
I am sure the powers that be can do a study where they historically look at what races on various race days that continuously attracted less than 10 runners year on year and weed them out where possibly – in a lot of cases we have too many races for a smaller minority type of horse (that are always under subscribed) and then not enough for the largest population of horse (the ones of average/just below/just above average ability) which always have healthy field sizes.
At the end of the day the BHA have got to breakout a nice pair of their hardly ever used big boy pants and man up to the racecourses and bookmakers and start reducing the fixture list where necessary, as anything else will just be papering over the cracks and not addressing the real issue of there being too many fixtures.
LS, I’m entitled to my personal preference! Jump racing is a unique jewel of a sport, basically found in just three countries, whereas the AW Flat is particularly boring even without RUK forcing AW from France, Dubai, Hong Kong, etc down our throats when it’s supposed to be the Jumps season. The ‘legion’ of AW fans probably used to go to the dogs before they started closing all the tracks!
Interesting that you, from the bookmakers perspective, are calling for more fixtures but LD for less!
I think you are wrong, LS, there are not so many juvenile hurdlers due to AW prize money and ex-Flat horses have a place in NH alongside the Jumps-bred.
What you are advocating, LS, is the reversal of the encouragement of jumping mares, novice chasers, and revitalisation of the North in favour of promoting flimsy or unsound animals who require an artificial/safe surface to stand training/racing at all. You are calling for more low-grade races in general instead of the fostering of quality in Jumps racing. For example, would Alderbrook even be put over hurdles these days?
Again, GM, you need to separate your own eccentric opinions from the percentage calls that are best for the sport. You find dog racing and AW racing boring. You are not everyone.
Also, you’re wide of the mark in tagging ‘from the bookmaker’s perspective’ onto my views. My anti-FOBT views should give you clue about that. I am a racing fan first and foremost and have been fiercely pro-AW on this forum from well before I started working for a bookmaker.
You’re putting words into my mouth in your final paragraph. The AW population and National Hunt population should not be seen as linked issues – that kind of bodger attitude is the cause of many of the serious problems of wastage and poor longevity we see in racehorses today. National Hunt horses should be purpose-bred from sound, stamina-laden stock – ideally with thick bones. AW horses are not relevant to this problem at all – they are a separate population. I’m calling for an appropriate racing calendar to suit the current racehorse population. If we have reams of sub-standard small field graded races, surely we need less of those races? If we have hundreds of sound low-grade horses struggling to get a run, surely we need more races for them. I don’t see where that logic falls down unless, as I sense you do, you wrongly equate a racehorse’s ability level with its overall merit as a racehorse. Low-grade racing under every code is as entertaining, viable for betting and generally interesting as Grade 1 racing. If you don’t feel that way, I suggest the problem is yours rather than racing’s.
I only have a bet on the AW once in several blue moons, but some punters enjoy the AW so I have no problem with it. However, the standard in places (and only in places) is not what it should be. Some horses are winning in the lowest grade where their ability should not enable them to win any race in Britain. Exactly the same for the lowest grade on turf as well as over jumps.
What about those who enjoy the lowest of the low grade? I here you ask.
Well, Britain should surely be of a higher standard than the racing in Denmark, Spain or Barbados? Are you saying we should bring in races of an even worse standard to be the lowest of the low grades? Only question is where that level should be and imo it should be higher. There should be a certain level where it’s impossible for a horse in Britain to win. We should reverse the race to the bottom we had under Peter Savill.There’s also too much supposedly top class racing. ie Too many races of the “highest standard” means too many options and connections avoiding each other. Therefore we’ve not got enough runners per race. Where as fewer races means bigger odds – being more competitive with more runners in each race. Although am sure there are some types of horse in between the top and lowest grades who can be better catered for, with more races for them.
Value Is EverythingSome Flat fans find NH racing boring and refer to the competitors as hedgehoppers, LS, does that make them eccentric too?
I do find all classes of Jump racing interesting, however, ability and merit of a horse is the same thing and most fans of any sport get more excited about the higher quality action.
I think your logic does fall down in that the large population of low-class AW horses has been created by the advent and growing proliferation of AW races with prize money that is relatively too high in comparison to that over Jumps for low and medium class races. Prize money is linked to the populations of different types of horses and to what type are bred.
Not all horses running on the AW are of the low type you describe and I still say there is a place in Jumping for Flat-breds of reasonable ability and confirmation – but less of these horse are becoming juvenile hurdlers because of AW prize money and that has an effect, for years down the line, on NH field sizes.
In your scenario, racing should carry on as is by catering even more for the demand for low-grade AW fare. This will only exacerbate and distort the respective populations and field sizes further. It’s particularly annoying because AW racing only came into being in the first place to help the shops in bad weather winters but the shops once they’ve got the punters in would rather they bet on many things in preference to horse racing.
Meanwhile, part of the sport is being damaged. Yes, I am biased, and Flat and Jumps can well be seen as two different sports entirely, however, they will always be linked and under the one governing body. That body needs to redistribute resources disproportionately towards Jumps to offset the damage caused by the AW otherwise in 50-100 years time we will lose a fairly unique sport that boasts a much longer tradition and , quite frankly, is the more popular in terms of top betting revenue races and top TV viewing figures.
Lost Soldier – “There are legions of AW who enjoy this type of racing as spectators”. Really ?
I have attended some of these soul-less , bookmaker encouraged events, for my sins.
They generally seem to have the minimum required on course bookmakers to form a market, there to “accommodate” a handful of individuals there to watch and bet.
All it is there for is to milk as much money as possible from those desperate to bet on the dross generally provided, via off course bookies and on line.
Bit of a generalisation, but I think fairly accurate.
. They are scared to death to reduce races and fixtures no matter how small the fields and we all know the reason for that.
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