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You could see some of the horses struggling with the ground as well. As said previously there is no excuse for not having a watering system.
Mind you some trainers are criticising the tracks that are watering for producing inaccurate going reports. So the courses can’t win.
If hard ground results in abandonment because hard ground is not safe, why is “hard in places” ok?
Why is it ok to race at all on hard ground, wherever it is?Also
When hard going wasn’t so frowned on it was fairly often found at Bath when it did not have a watering system.
Official Hard going is seldom seen at Bath these days and yet Bath still does not have a watering system. What has changed at Bath for this to happen? Is it an improvement in ground care or is the going report inacurate?Well done the trainers who pulled horses out.
The person whose opinion is the official going description is also the person responsible for producing said going and is employed by the racecourse. Why is that not a conflict of interest? It is in the best interests of the course to race… And yet the going description is the only thing between horses potentially racing on unsafe ground.
Value Is EverythingDue to the small fields at Bath yesterday, not one race dipped under RP standard time, this resulted in my going allowance being +0.49s/f (Firm)
+0.50s/f (firm)
+0.25s/f (good to firm)
0.00s/f (good)
-0.25s/f (good to soft)
-0.50s/f (soft)
-0.75s/f (soft to heavy)
-1.0s/f (heavy)Mike.
Do you think any race was truly run, Mike?
In those circumstances how do overall times show the true state of the ground? Had there been a race run in equal fractions I think we would’ve seen a far faster overall time. Jockeys wisely looking after their horses.
Brown grass must be hard ground, surely?
Even in the days Bath had absolute official Hard ground I can’t remember the grass that colour.Value Is EverythingPossibly more danger today with the temperature. Esher, location of Sandown, may hit the mid 90s this afternoon. With 2 and 3 year olds running, possibly getting worked up about entering stalls etc. I hope they all come back safe and sound. Also temperatures for the NH meeting at Worcester are to get into the low 80s. No races over 3 miles but some biggish fields. Again I hope all horses and jockeys come back safe.
Gingertipster – Do you think any race was truly run, Mike?
No…
Top Speed has the the going as firm at +0.40s/f, when we agree there is a 0.10s/f difference between us.Mike.
Mike, can I ask what you made of the ground at Cartmel on Monday?
Horse I have a share in ran badly there (first race) and trainer is saying the ground was very patchy. Just wondering what you made of it.
betlarge said
The late Folkestone’s 3.1 on April 1, 2008 and Haydock’s watery 2.7 on Feb 20th this year are the Flat & NH records respectively at the soggy end of things.
Presumably Tellwrong reported that going as ‘Good to Soft’ on the latter occasion?
Mike, can I ask what you made of the ground at Cartmel on Monday?
0.18s/f (good)
Cartmel 23 Jul 2018
02:15 Beach Break 2m1f 63
02:45 Alfie’s Choice 3m1½f 83
03:20 Short Flight 2m6f 42
03:50 Dear Sire 2m5f 98
04:25 Raise A Spark 2m1½f 107
04:55 Shake It Up 3m1½f 72
05:25 Stags Leap 2m1f 61Mike.
Bath’s GoingStick reading of 11.1 this morning still lags behind Thirsk’s 12.8 (which was presumably taken in the car park) on a surprisingly early-season April 17, 2009. A few weeks earlier on March 25th that year, Taunton recorded a pavement-like 11.7 for it’s jumps meeting.
I wonder if we’re being slightly spooked by the word ‘Hard’ in the going report? It seems like that’s the underlying reason for the August 3rd fixture-switch to Wolves, with a couple of trainers in the Post today railing against it.
With those record GoingStick readings, the Thirsk meeting was given as Firm on the round course and Good to Firm (Firm in places) on the straight course. Taunton’s going was Firm.
Mike
Betlarge wrote:
I wonder if we’re being slightly spooked by the word ‘Hard’ in the going report?…
…With those record GoingStick readings, the Thirsk meeting was given as Firm on the round course and Good to Firm (Firm in places) on the straight course. Taunton’s going was Firm.Indeed
The extreme Going descriptions of Hard and Heavy are subjective, emotive words which conjour up an image of a Death Valley and a Grimpen Mire
Going Stick figures are objective and analytical; hence, in my opinion, if one is to employ the souped-up walking stick then its figures should be used alone without the appending of prosaic adjectives
Given the forecast over the weekend, the going at Bath on August 3rd could be ‘good racing ground’ anyway
Also, the thoroughbred seems more fragile than in days of yore and consequently there is a perception amongst stakeholders that horses are more likely to break down on Hard going these days. Whether or not statistics would prove that theory correct is another matter, largely because generally better watering systems and grass management allied with the possible manipulation of going descriptions in order to banish the word ‘Hard’ from them means there is a lack of evidence.
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