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Most the big field maidens in Ireland only have 3 or 4 horses who want to be handy at the start, the rest are happy to sit in.
So to be a true trial you really have to try it at a main festival or big field valuable handicap where there’s lots of runners who want to get a good position at the start.
There’s still a good amount of false starts at the regular meetings in Ireland that I see .
There will always be false starts because you are dealing with animals that weigh half a tonne and if the mood takes them they are not always going to do what a 10st jockey is asking them to do and once they become agitated enough you are more likely to get horses kicking out and/or messing around even more.
I really don’t see what the issue is with going to flag starts over tapes (why does it need to be trialled and not just done) because you automatically cut out the delay of having to let the tape go (if a horse is in danger of breaking through it) and then having to wait while the tape man has to run over and collect the tape and then run back to re-attach it.
I do also think that starters need to be giving a lot more leeway with allowing a field to start even if they are not coming in at the regulated speed – you see plenty of races where a pedantic starter calls a flase start simply because they are coming in a little too fast even when in a good line to be let go. Thise that are out the back by a little way more often than not are doing so for a reason (hold up horses and/or hard pullers) and as such they are not interested in being front and centre to get a good start.
The proceedure needs to be as simple as possible with as few moving parts as possible – a standing start needs to be done away with completely, it should simply be a rolling start with horses walking/totting in as good a line as they can (as many times as it takes until they start), they also need to shorten the distance they have to travel towards the tapes as some races they are walking in from a good 100 yards away which is way too far. Wherever possible they should also try to avoid starting races off a turn especially if it is a large field.
I noted that later in the week at Cheltenham one of the false start races where the tape got released they did away with re-attaching it and just started it by flag with no issue.
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