- This topic has 11 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by
.
- Posts
Wetherby want to trial flat racing next year. They are having the course surveyed in order to set up a flat track. They hope to start in June next year.
Wetherby have said one of their concerns is they feel the future of jumps racing is uncertain.
.. and so the dilution of racing continues, though the days when Wetherby was a top class racecourse have long since gone along with their once fearsome fences. A sad day for jumps racing if this comes true.
I presume this means wheelie fences……or have they already got wheelie fences?
Is there still a jumps track that is a proper test?
I suppose at least it’s not all weather, but they face a lot of competition, as there are low grade flat racing courses all over Yorkshire.
I thought it might be a late April Fool…..Is there still a jumps track that is a proper test?…..
Sandown’s fences are a proper test, shame their racing isn’t
Its awful , no doubt and augurs badly for jump racing , if the track owners think Jumping has a limited shelf life !!!
I disagree , jumping will always be a part of racing in the Uk and Ireland, horse population allowing , which may be the stat that worries these courses the most
It is possible the dreaded AW and its low grade dross will eventually replace fine jumping tracks like wetherby , But I very much hope the BHA wake up and put a stop to it , sadly those hopes dont carry much confidence with the present batch of BHA incumbents …they jump to the bookies every order
imo
Wetherby have said one of their concerns is they feel the future of jumps racing is uncertain.
Be wary of anyone who uses bogus excuses for change. Not sure about Sandown still being a good jumping test, I’ve seen a number of horses this season just walk through the fences and even go on to win there.
Fences have just got softer and softer all over, tracks just dont want fallers.
Here’s the full article, which neither suggests the imminent demise of NH nor any dilution of the current winter NH season. As pointed out, the topography of Wetherby is ideal for Flat racing, save perhaps for that little rise after the winning post, and this is not the first time Flat racing has been mooted at the course; if memory serves an AW track on the Siberian Steppe-like infield was mentioned at one time
I personally see no need for them to stage summer Flat racing but if it goes ahead I’d more than likely find it less boring than Catterick. Yep, suck and see chaps
Wetherby is looking into the possibility of staging summer Flat racing in an attempt to make more use of the course and the facilities throughout the year.
A Flat racing trial is being organised some time in June with a provisional fixture pencilled in for next April to possibly replace the jumps meeting rescheduled this year due to a revamp of the National Hunt season.
Should the trial be successful and Flat racing approved, then Yorkshire’s sole jumps-only venue could be staging several fixtures on the level during the summer months in the future.
"We are looking at it and having a trial in June, but we are from being concerned about where National Hunt racing will be in 25 years," said clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson.
"As a business, we are constantly trying to grow our business and attract new customers. To do that as a racecourse you need to have more racing fixtures and how many more racing fixtures could Wetherby stage during the winter? Probably not that many so you look at the summer end.
"We’ve got a wonderful track here, which we believe would be fantastic for Flat racing, and if we are to acquire new fixtures in our close season which is June, July and August, then Flat racing is really the route we want to go down and not summer jumping.
"Obviously we’ve got some fantastic facilities here as well which are not being used in the summer. That is fundamentally the reason we are looking at it. We’ve looked at it before and have now come to progress that further.
"The British Horseracing Authority came to us last year and told us we had to move off our Sunday at the end of April. In fairness to them, when I mooted the idea they were very accommodating and I floated the idea of Flat racing here.
"They said yes, provisionally they said we could have our Sunday back for that at the end of the month and provisionally allocate us a Flat fixture in 2015. Of course, we have to satisfy the necessary racecourse department regulations.
"We need to make sure the course is right for Flat racing, so at the end of this current National Hunt season we will stage this Flat trial in June on a date yet to be decided. We hope things go well on that day and we can move to the next stage. It’s very much an experiment from Wetherby’s perspective. It’s about moving forward."
Sanderson has already secured the help of a number of trainers and Wetherby plan to trial a variety of distances.
"I’d have had a chat with a few trainers who are more than happy to bring some horses down for the trial," said Sanderson.
"We’ll gallop some over a shorter distance. We won’t have a five-furlong straight. It’s more five and a half furlongs round the bend, starting in the back corner.
"We’ll gallop some over a mile, a mile and a quarter and some over a longer distance over the full circuit and see how the bends are at both ends of the straight and make sure everything is OK.
"We had the track surveyed this week and all seems well, but until you put these things into practice you don’t know. That is what a trial is all about.
"The starts will be surveyed as part of this process. I think five and a half furlongs is one distance we could race over, six would probably be too tight, so we might have seven and eight furlongs, 10, then a mile and five or six, two miles and two and a half miles.
"That is the range we might look at, but what the programme potentially will be, we don’t know yet. We’ve got a lot of things to overcome before we get that far.
"This is very much about supplementing what we do now and not changing what we do now.
"Jumps racing will at the forefront of Wetherby’s mind for years and years to come. This will only be an addition to that."
Here’s the full article, which neither suggests the imminent demise of NH nor any dilution of the current winter NH season. As pointed out, the topography of Wetherby is ideal for Flat racing, save perhaps for that little rise after the winning post, and this is not the first time Flat racing has been mooted at the course; if memory serves an AW track on the Siberian Steppe-like infield was mentioned at one time
I personally see no need for them to stage summer Flat racing but if it goes ahead I’d more than likely find it less boring than Catterick. Yep, suck and see chaps
One of the strong points of British racing is the variety of tracks. Although usually lower class, it’s hard to know how anyone would find racing at Catterick boring due to the almost unique nature of the track and the competitive racing. You’re not getting it mixed up with Southwell are you Drone?
It’s hard to see what flat racing at Wetherby would bring to the party that’s not already there.
I would take with a pinch of salt Wetherby’s assurances that jump racing would be safe there. You only have to look at the pitiful level of prize money they offer, a miserly 31 grand for last Tuesdays meeting, lower than every other meeting on the day including an AW evening meeting at Wolves.
Maybe they should build some houses on it.I agree with Ricky that it’s time the BHA knocked all this nonsense about more AW tracks etc on the head. We don’t need any more AW tracks, if they want one in the north they should close one in the south.
One of the strong points of British racing is the variety of tracks. Although usually lower class, it’s hard to know how anyone would find racing at Catterick boring due to the almost unique nature of the track and the competitive racing. You’re not getting it mixed up with Southwell are you Drone?
Indeed,
vive la difference
and I’d agree that the 6f races at Catterick have a Chester-like entertainment value though in general of all the tracks in Yorkshire Catterick Flat is the one I like least and wouldn’t miss. And it’s a grim, cold, forbidding place, which is just the ticket in January but not in July
Incidentally I don’t particularly care for what the bookmakers tell us the racegoer and punter craves: ‘competitive racing’ comprising large fields and open betting, certainly not from a betting point of view. Give me fields of 5-10 with an apparently ‘obvious’ favourite
As for Southwell AW, I’d estimate I watch about half-a-dozen races per annum, so familiarity doesn’t breed contempt and I find the, now unique, sight of fibresand flying mildly entertaining
Regarding Wetherby Flat: Guess I was just guilty of countering the expected wholesale denigration of the idea and unsubstantiated accusations that the Clerk is mouthing weasel words with an attempt at being ‘reasonable’: This is a cross we wishy-washy liberals have to bear
Incidentally I don’t particularly care for what the bookmakers tell us the racegoer and punter craves: ‘competitive racing’ comprising large fields and open betting, certainly not from a betting point of view. Give me fields of 5-10 with an apparently ‘obvious’ favourite
And I wonder what we would be getting from Wetherby for their 30 or so grand a meeting? Did the weasel mention Group/ Listed or high quality handicaps?
To reiterate Eddie: "less boring than Catterick" hopefully, possibly
I don’t pay much attention to the Flat anyway, so this I think is a good time for me to cease being reasonable about the exciting/godawful prospect of Wetherby staging it, sgin off and retire to bed until Wednesday evening when the unquestionably exciting NH season resumes after far too long a close season with the splendid Hunters’ meeting at Cheltenham…or is that unreasonable
Sadly racecourses can do what the hell they like these days as shown by haydock ripping up its chase course, using trolley fences but still being allowed to stage a grade one chase on what is now a gaff track,so no surprise that Kirkland tellaporkie said he "understands" what wetherby are doing.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.