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All credit to Kirkland for calling it off early this time rather than wait until everyone is sat on the Open Ditch to do it.
Tellwright is a ******* disgrace. Why they didn’t put the frost covers down is anyone’s guess.
He just isn’t fussed about NH racing I suppose.
He’s also a liar. The forecast which he claims was -1 was in fact -3 when I looked at it yesterday afternoon.
I’m going to start a campaign to get Tellwright sacked, who’s with me?!
Frozen Haddock all round, then! Very disappointing.
(PS What is a Graduation Chase?)
In essence a conditions event for a winner of up to, but no more than, two steeplechases. Punchestowns was eligible for the Mandarin Graduation Chase at Newbury last time out by dint of having won the Berkshire and the Scilly Isles Novice Chases in 2009-10, but would have disqualified himself from any further examples had he got the head verdict over Pride Of Dulcote rather than the other way round.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Curious stat: the Peter Marsh meeting has now been lost in 1991, 2001 AND 2011. The inaugural running of the race in 1981, won by Little Owl, is the only "1" year renewal to have survived.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Seeing all the Haydock threads is making me miss home now lol – anyone going to be there for the Walrus Hunters Chase/National Trial double-header?
Will be celebrating 13 years since I first attended a race meeting and went through the turnstyles that day I believe
‘Fraid I’ll be at the North Herefordshire point-to-point at Whitwick Manor that day, Irish, a course I’ve been meaning to chalk off for aeons. Big, left-handed track with frequently deep going and a proper test under most conditions – almost makes it sound like Haydock the old…
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Tellwright is a [expletive] disgrace. Why they didn’t put the frost covers down is anyone’s guess.
He just isn’t fussed about NH racing I suppose.
He’s also a liar. The forecast which he claims was -1 was in fact -3 when I looked at it yesterday afternoon.
I’m going to start a campaign to get Tellwright sacked, who’s with me?!
I’m totally with you Anthony, add my name to your campaign!
I understand when you get temperatures well below freezing then there’s little you can do, but its the arrogance of this man to show little concern at the possibility of freezing cold temperatures that annoys me most.
For me this is another sign that Haydock concentrates so much on the flat, as they make most money out of it as well as pulling in the big crowds, so why should they care what happens during the winter.
It looks to me as they are working towards getting jumping removed from the course & replacing it with an all weather track.
If no frost covers were put down, it was freezing in Manchester at 5pm & was very cold & barely above freezing all day. Haydock is obviously more exposed than Chorlton-c-Hardy so why did they not put the covers down?
Why did they grub up one of the best jumping courses in the country & replace it with soft portable jumps?
Why are they employing a seemingly incompetent clerk of the course?
I used to like going there, now they have girls walking about with back packs of lager dispensing it to people in plastic glasses. It is really going down hill fast.As I invariably do when meetings are lost, I’ve checked the racecourse website concerned just now to see how this is being conveyed.
The whole initial screen of Haydock’s homepage is filled with contact numbers, links to forthcoming events and hospitality packages, with an option to book tickets for this afternoon’s racing online looping round every 30 seconds or so.
Surely it is a fundamental of the design of any website concerned with a live sporting event, and particularly one never not at the mercy of the weather, that inspections, abandonments, etc. should be viewable on the very first screen you encounter, even just as a strapline along the top of the screen.
In Haydock’s case, however, you have to scroll at least another screen down the homepage before getting to the blurb;
"
Welcome to Haydock Park Racecourse
Serious Sport…Serious Fun…Whether you are looking for an exciting racing atmosphere that cannot be matched or a unique leading conference centre in the heart of the North West of England, Haydock Park is the perfect choice for you.
With 33 racedays in 2011 along with a range of first-class facilities all set in 127 acres of beautiful parkland, you could not ask for a better location for your event.
From your very first enquiry, our dedicated team will be there to help you co-ordinate your event and ensure that it runs smoothly and successfully.
Visit Our Racing & Events Calendar 2010/11- Something for Everyone
For General Enquiries please call 01942 725 963.
Please Note: Unfortunately, racing today (Saturday 22nd January 2011) has been abandoned due to frost
"
i.e. the most important detail of the entire day, namely whether there’s a show or not, is the last thing of all dealt with.
There is, admittedly, a Twitter feed on the homepage as well, which imparted news of the abandonment in a timely enough fashion; but this is in no more prominent a position on the page, being merely adjacent to the notification of abandonment described above.
This can’t be described as satisfactory. As the dissertation supervisor for my first MA once neatly put it, some time before the thing had finally been bashed into passable shape; "this isn’t thinking in ice cubes, this is thinking in spaghetti". The Haydock web designers, and presumably therefore by association the executive, have all the tools required for a serviceable racecourse website, but the understanding of their application is only partial.
Oh, and if you do click on the aforementioned link to get tickets for today’s meeting online, today’s meeting isn’t listed…
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I live 2 mile from the course and the frost is out of my Lawns already. I cant for the life of me imagine that another two hours would not see the course raceable.
These two recent very early cancellations seem to be a massive over reaction to the incident when everyone was kept on tenterhooks until very late on a couple of months ago.
In my opinion thats twice he’s has got it wrong recently. He is not half costing that course some money tellwrong. It would be interesting to see a tv report on the ground, after all they are already there.
À la recherche du temps not-buggered-about-with, herewith Youtube clips of three Peter Marshes from another time;
1982; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLt_1ttrnQI&NR=1
1986; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkwDfgB7ghg
1998; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tpSTsZoWOU
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
If no frost covers were put down, it was freezing in Manchester at 5pm & was very cold & barely above freezing all day. Haydock is obviously more exposed than Chorlton-c-Hardy so why did they not put the covers down?
Funny you should mention Chorlton Cum Hardy cos the frost is out of my front garden already. I’m not annoyed at the meeting being called off, I’m annoyed at the lies from the course & that they didn’t take any precautions. Should never have been off today.
Wigan was freezing too yesterday afternoon, so to still talk like passing the inspection was a sure thing was foolish.
I’ll be honest, if Haydock were to turn round and say ‘we’re abandoning jumps racing & putting an all weather course in’ I wouldn’t have any objections. From a personal perspective, they could give Haydock’s jumps fixtures to Uttoxeter, it takes me no longer to get there from Manchester than Haydock does.
I recall (around the time when Haydock installed portable fences) a statement (I think from Berkland) stating that Peter Marsh day was a loss-making meeting, so the meeting is probably worth more in insurance (if courses have that sort of thing) in being called off, then racing actually taking place.
Like others I think the long term plans are to go polytrack and become a "the North West’s premier weekend Racing & Niteclub experience!".
Noticed how Carlise (also JCR course) are investing in a new hurdle track? I think Carlise and Aintree will be sharing out the big Haydock jump meetings before too long.
I recall (around the time when Haydock installed portable fences) a statement (I think from Berkland) stating that Peter Marsh day was a loss-making meeting, so the meeting is probably worth more in insurance (if courses have that sort of thing) in being called off, then racing actually taking place.
Like others I think the long term plans are to go polytrack and become a "the North West’s premier weekend Racing & Niteclub experience!".
Noticed how Carlise (also JCR course) are investing in a new hurdle track? I think Carlise and Aintree will be sharing out the big Haydock jump meetings before too long.
Whilst I think you are probably right on both these last two statements Katie, I do think the other reason for Carlisle investing in a new hurdles track is that hurdle races are currently run on the flat track and it was wrecking the going on that course. They lost a lot of meetings to waterlogging at one time, but it has always been a well run track and very pro-jumping in a pro-jumping area. Deserves better races to he honest and the current Haydock would be no loss to jumping if its meetings went to Carlisle.
If the meeting is a loss maker then market the thing properly. Do deals with the working men’s clubs like they do for their friday night boozeups. It is a winter meeting so cut the prices (i believe that Haydock is not a cheap day out) combine the enclosures and run shuttle buses from the nearby rail stations and encourage the real jumping enthusiasts to come. They have two really good races that they could make much more of than they do. Haydock could do with a good kick up the backside as it is not as good a flat track as it was either I don’t think.
Haydock chairman Dickon White (Kirkland, Dickon – what is it with Haydock?) is quoted in the Guardian to the effect that an overnight frost of 3.5 degrees in the middle of January is ‘a freak of nature’.
He might note that sister track Warwick plan to cover the track tomorrow to protect Thursday’s fixture, despite the fact that no frost is forecast there either.
AP
Haydock chairman Dickon White (Kirkland, Dickon – what is it with Haydock?) is quoted in the Guardian to the effect that an overnight frost of 3.5 degrees in the middle of January is ‘a freak of nature’.
He might note that sister track Warwick plan to cover the track tomorrow to protect Thursday’s fixture, despite the fact that no frost is forecast there either.
AP
Overnight frost in that part of the world in January of 3.5 degrees is a freak of nature. Where on earth does he think Haydock is situated, the channel islands where -3.5 might well be considered such a freak. Those guys need to get a grip on reality.
- Total Posts 17716
Dickon White’s long telephone interview with Lydia Hislop on RUK that afternoon was frankly astounding.
Apparently the insurers pay out if racing is cancelled and they
don’t
use frost covers, but
don’t
pay out if racing is cancelled and they
did
use the frost covers.
Apparently also it costs Haydock
£30,000 a time
for using the covers.
If all this is accurate, which I suppose it must be seeing as the man said it, and repeated it to the incredulous Lydia, then you do the maths:
it makes little fiscal sense for Haydock to use the covers at all
, unless they are going to provide 100% assurance that racing will go ahead.
It also puts that guff about "freak temperatures" in …. well, a very different light.
I trust Haydock will be revisiting their Insurance Agent to sort out this apparently crazy situation.
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