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You make valid points. Not a fan of this pressure to get horses winning big races at 2. BAAEED didn’t even race as a 2yo.
@MissWoodford
Interesting to hear about jumps racing in other jurisdictions.
I’m a huge flat and jumps fan, racing fan full stop but Royal Ascot is far too long for me to study for, too long to watch, its just too much. Too many handicaps, too many 2yo races, too many similar races full stop. A bit like Cheltenham you potentially dilute the quantity if not the quality in the Queen Anne by giving the girls a race of their own to avoid running against the boys. Would the Prince Of Wales attract a bigger field if you didn’t have the Hardwicke or perhaps we should have the Hardwicke as a Group 1 but no Prince Of Wales? I can’t see the need for both personally, they both attract small fields high on quality but unappealing as betting mediums. We don’t have a 10F G1 on Arc Day thankfully as that would probably decimate the Arc field.
Another bug bear is the plethora of 3yo Group races. No need for the Hampton Court and the King Edward. I’d love to see them make the boys and girls clash rather than having separate races (Coronation Stakes, Ribblesdale shouldn’t exist). I don’t care much for another rematch from the various Guineas races although this year Paddington and Chaldean haven’t met I suppose but normally its just another rematch after Newmarket and Ireland. Either pit the sexes against each other or start the clashes with the older generation at Ascot. Same for the Commonwealth Cup, who cares who the fastest 3yo is? Normally just whoever the fastest 2yo was.
My personal flat festival list goes Ebor Festival, Glorious Goodwood then Royal Ascot. I think most flat fans prefer York to any of the others. All of them behind Cheltenham but all probably ahead of Aintree for me except for the National itself.
I would imagine Royal Ascot has a much bigger international profile than Cheltenham. Especially given the association with the royal family.
Some of the Group 1 races at Royal Ascot did not have top status until fairly recently.
The Queen Anne, Prince of Wales and King’s Stand were all Group 2 (I think the latter might have been downgraded and then promoted back).
The Jubilee Stakes was the Cork And Orrery and a Group 3.
The Commonwealth Cup was created as a Group 1 with no form to justify its status.
On the other hand, the Gold Cup having Group 1 status is an anachronism.
Group 1 is now a devalued currency. There are far too many. Are all the winners really ultra top class horses?
To be fair the Queen Anne / POW deserve G1 status as they do attract the top older horses at their respective distances.
I completely agree the 2m4f Gold Cup is an anachronism but, given such extreme staying championship races still exist, it makes sense for me for it to still be a Group 1.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"For all Pattern Races, for the last half-century, The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities agrees on the standing of each race by averaging the international ratings of the first four home in the most recent three years. There is nobody saying “I have a feeling that race should be promoted/demoted “, it is all done by the numbers.
They protected the Pattern far more in the early years with no careless upgrading – in fact it was probably over protected.
A good example is when the old Vernons (or Ladbrokes Sprint Cup as it had become by then) was upgraded to G1 in the mid 80’s. So as to ‘protect’ the quality of G1 sprints they downgraded the King’s Stand from G1 to G2. To me, that race was the most enjoyable race of it’s kind of the season, setting an early pecking order that was sometimes maintained.
Since then it’s all gone out of control. Not only the Kings’s Stand back to it’s original status, but the old Cork And Orrey come Golden Jubilee also G1, and now the Commonwealth Cup, which means nowadays the chances of your mighty Marwells taking on the older horses in the King’s Stand are unlikely unless they are seen as 5f specialists.
Still, the dilution at the Royal meeting has had nowhere near the same negative effect as similar as had on Cheltenham.
“Group 1 is now a devalued currency. There are far too many.”
Absolutely correct, CAS. Its symptomatic of modern society, where everything has to be better than whatever preceded it- it’s all pure marketing nonsense.
“which means nowadays the chances of your mighty Marwells taking on the older horses in the King’s Stand are unlikely unless they are seen as 5f specialists.”
I was a massive Marwell fan and I 100% agree with this.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The commonwealth cup has been an excellent addition imo
We have the July Cup A few weeks later for the 3yos to take on the older horses
Having what is virtually a 6f classic for the 3yos is something I like a lot
Yeah, but, no, but, yeah, but….
Without the King’s Stand being open to 3yo and no other place for 3yo to go I wouldn’t have got 9/4 Marwell with Jack Ferens bookmakers in Hull the morning of the race: https://youtu.be/QvO0cY9-Jvc
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Ascot paddock is always beautiful and room to breath
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Must admit I’ve loving this meeting so far – the results have helped, though.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The prestige, the royalty, the glamour/ fashion and the international pull make it what it is. I have concerns about all the additional races, but we only occasionally get to see 4-5 runner races….The horses are around to fill these races, unlike another festival which can’t as there simply aren’t the horses to go around.
I still think of myself as more a jumping fan, but also a realist; Cheltenham/ NH is rather parochial that doesn’t seem to do anything to attract French raiders, or even US challengers….and if anything has become a worse event due to pure greed. And the fact that far too many people think the season is all about March…..
I preferred the Ebor meeting when it ran Tuesday – Thursday, similar to the July meeting, and I’m not sure about Goodwood’s rearranging of their races years ago.
“The prestige, the royalty, the glamour/ fashion and the international pull make it what it is.”
All lost on me, sadly, backing a few winners at prices make it what it is chez moi!
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
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