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Where trainers are unsure (due to rain that may or may not come) they enter both soft and firm ground horses for a big meeting like this. When there’s good-firm ground the soft ground horses are taken out. If good-soft the firm ground horses come out. If good ground no horses come out. So of course the clerk is going to say the rain is "most welcome"… he doesn’t want non-runners.
Interesting theory, a load of old cobblers though of course.
Most trainers don’t have the luxury of having multiple entries for good horses dependent on the ground, the odd one who does such as Mark Johnston will probably run most of them irrespective of the conditions.
When would you expect trainers to make such a decision based on ground conditions?
I would be interested to see your list of horses trainers had entered to take advantage of good to firm as opposed to those they had entered to take advantage of good to soft.
The thing is fast ground horses don’t get a fair crack of the whip in this country and they couldn’t ever be guaranteed good to firm at Goodwood in the middle of a heatwave.
Where trainers are unsure (due to rain that may or may not come) they enter both soft and firm ground horses for a big meeting like this. When there’s good-firm ground the soft ground horses are taken out. If good-soft the firm ground horses come out. If good ground no horses come out. So of course the clerk is going to say the rain is "most welcome"… he doesn’t want non-runners.
The thing is fast ground horses don’t get a fair crack of the whip in this country and they couldn’t ever be guaranteed good to firm at Goodwood in the middle of a heatwave.
Is that the same "fast ground horses that don’t get a fair crack of the whip in this country" – that had good-firm ground all 3 days of Newmarket’s July Festival and 4 of 5 days at Royal Ascot officially good-firm. Actually – scrub that. Timeform described all 5 Royal Ascot days as on the firm side… You are wrong Eddie, fast ground horses get plenty of opportunities.
And as I said ealier, rain before the start of Goodwood that produced a good-soft surface was far from certain to hit the track. As you say yourself Eddie, it was in the middle of a heatwave. If rain had missed the track Goodwood may have been too firm. Very firm (or worse) on an undulating track – is an accident waiting to happen. It’s a safety issue. Far better to have the track in a condition that if rain misses the course it’s good-firm and if it hits it’s good or (as in this case) good-soft. Times strongly suggest the ground at Goodwood was back to good by Wednesday and good-firm Thursday and Friday; and no softer than Good Saturday.
Value Is EverythingInteresting theory, a load of old cobblers though of course.
Most trainers don’t have the luxury of having multiple entries for good horses dependent on the ground, the odd one who does such as Mark Johnston will probably run most of them irrespective of the conditions.
When would you expect trainers to make such a decision based on ground conditions?
I would be interested to see your list of horses trainers had entered to take advantage of good to firm as opposed to those they had entered to take advantage of good to soft.
Trainers can phone most if not all Clerks Of Course days before to get their opinion of what the ground is likely to be. Sometimes trainers will know at final decs time, sometimes before, sometimes if rain is about overnight/morning not until turning up. Clerks are not God, they can only go by the weather forecast.
Not going to produce a list Eddie, but reading form that week it was obvious some horses chances would benifit from rain and others not. That always happens with ground near "good".
Value Is Everything7mm rain overnight at Goodwood.
I quote the Clerk of Course from the RP "If the rain had not come, the going would have been good to firm so it was most welcome."
BHA directive is to produce good to firm ground on the flat. It’s time this Clerk was reminded of this.
He does seem to enjoy being the centre of attention with his daily sound bites.
Both the BHA directive and Clerk’s comments make perfect sense to me Oasis.
Where trainers are unsure (due to rain that may or may not come) they enter both soft and firm ground horses for a big meeting like this. When there’s good-firm ground the soft ground horses are taken out. If good-soft the firm ground horses come out. If good ground no horses come out. So of course the clerk is going to say the rain is "most welcome"… he doesn’t want non-runners.
That is
not
to say the Clerk waters to
provide
"good" ground. Those horses who like it on the firm side deserve a chance to win, therefore the BHA directive to try and water to provide good-firm – is dead right. Not "firm", as firm always has a certain amount of "jar"…
After that – as in this case – if rain comes to alter ground conditions so be it.
Personally as a punter Oasis, I want to hear what the Clerk thinks. So am grateful for the "daily sound bites".
GT – I am loathe to give this particular CoC more column inches but I feel the urge to respond!
In most walks of life the more I hear from some individuals the more I switch off – I am sure you feel that way about some on TRF!
I’m afraid some CoC think they have become as (more) important than the horses / trainers / jockeys. Their role is not to opinionate but to provide information on ground and track conditions. It’s clear Mr Buckley enjoys his 15 minutes of fame every Goodwood meeting. I, and most punters, would prefer if he concentrated on not watering away good to firm summer ground (any natural rainfall that occurs accepted of course).
Your other point regarding multiple trainer entries. At the big festival meetings there’s always a demand from trainers and owners to run their horses even if the ground goes against them. Look at the number of entries – all the handicaps are heavily over subscribed. Reasons being it’s normally a fantastic day out at a top track, arrangements will have been made days in advance to attend and prize money is usually worth taking a chance on after paying a hefty entry fee.
Any trainer pulling the plug on one of his charges at the last minute does so with an unhappy owner in his or her ear! Most trainers don’t have the quantity of horses to juggle between soft and firm ground preferences – if it’s in the handicap it runs or else another trainer declares their horse in the race instead. As the saying goes…If you ain’t in it, you can’t win it!
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