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Almost all sports have them, that period where the sport and its particpants can dust themselves down and regroup for the following season. It gives spectactors and supporters a bt of respite too and, in my opinion, serves to whet the appetitite and avoid spectator-fatigue. I can remember the sense of anticpation there used to be when the new jumps season got under way each autumn, now it justs seems like a never-ending conveyor belt of (mainly) low-grade fare and it is easy to, simply, get fed up of it.
So, do we need to call time on jumps racing for a period over the summer?
Robbie Power highlighted the relentless demands on jockeys and raises concerns about the lack of an off-season in a an article in an Irish Examiner article this week.
Nope.
We don’t need a Summer Jumps racing programme in June, July and August, but my reasoning is more to do with less safe going and horses being trained on hard ground at home.Value Is EverythingI think it was better when there was a break during the summer. Not racing on the hardest ground and also gives the courses themselves a break. I sometimes wonder if there should be one in the month of January as well due to the likelihood of losing meetings due to the winter weather.
I would have no problem with a break maybe 4-6 weeks in June and July.
Bear in mind though that some tracks that are best running in the drier months, notably Perth and Worcester. Both are positioned next to rivers so lack of water for irrigation is never a problem. I know Perth have an abstraction license and get first dibs on Perth’s water before the Gowans Terrace Waterworks!
Rob
I would have no problem with a break maybe 4-6 weeks in June and July.
Bear in mind though that some tracks that are best running in the drier months, notably Perth and Worcester. Both are positioned next to rivers so lack of water for irrigation is never a problem. I know Perth have an abstraction license and get first dibs on Perth’s water before the Gowans Terrace Waterworks!
Rob
Does it really do the turf husbandary to be watered heavily in the Summer Rob?
Value Is EverythingI would have no problem with a break maybe 4-6 weeks in June and July.
Bear in mind though that some tracks that are best running in the drier months, notably Perth and Worcester. Both are positioned next to rivers so lack of water for irrigation is never a problem. I know Perth have an abstraction license and get first dibs on Perth’s water before the Gowans Terrace Waterworks!
Rob
I’ve got a moonshine still set up near Perth and can assure you I get the best water before both the Racecourse and the Waterworks.
Glen Caution Whisky, £4.99 a bottle from all good Bothies in the area.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
When did Perth race before Summer racing started ? Did they shoehorn the meetings before the end of May and between August and end of September ?
I’d prefer a proper break of 6 weeks or so between end of May and middle of July, could start the season with the big Market Rasen meeting ?
When did Perth race before Summer racing started ? Did they shoehorn the meetings before the end of May and between August and end of September ?
Yes they did. As an example in 1990 they had the three day meeting in April, 2 days in, May, 2 in Auguat and then 3 in September.
Not inconceivable that they could do similar now, but their biggest meeting these days is the Perth Gold Cup meeting in June and there’s a popular Family Day in July.
Rob
I’m a big jumps fan though do find the majority of summer jumping quite boring, however having a break would mean no more Cartmel and look forward to going racing there one day. Their bank holiday meetings easily outshine the flat.
I’m a big jumps fan though do find the majority of summer jumping quite boring, however having a break would mean no more Cartmel and look forward to going racing there one day. Their bank holiday meetings easily outshine the flat.
Another course that benefits from running in the warmer months. They couldn’t produce decent ground in the winter, and they wouldn’t get the ‘country fair’ atmosphere that makes the place unique.
Summer jumping is here to stay, like it or not. It keeps courses like Perth, Worcester and Newton Abbot viable.
But I agree that the season needs more of a break and from a personal point of view I would prefer to see this break in mid-winter, say for 6 weeks after January 1st. This is a time when many NH horses have an MOT, flu vaccinations, gastric ulcer treatment, etc, and so wouldn’t be racing anyway. With the warmer climate we’re having wetter winters, and there are many abandonments during this period. And giving horses hard races on virtually unraceable ground cannot be in their best interest.
Of course any such proposal, however logical, would create a hue and cry and I couldn’t see all the different factions involved in our sport ever reaching agreement on it.
I’m with Moehat. In a parallel universe somewhere, small trainers and struggling jockeys might be saying…’Shouldn’t everyone who posts on internet forums be banned from earning a living for two or three months every year?’
I’m with Moehat. In a parallel universe somewhere, small trainers and struggling jockeys might be saying…’Shouldn’t everyone who posts on internet forums be banned from earning a living for two or three months every year?’
And the answer to your question Joe should be Yes, if it is less safe for the horses.
Value Is EverythingI’ve been looking at the early season novice hurdles and was a bit surprised to see horses running under penalties for winning hurdle races last season
I thought the whole purpose of novice races was that horses could run in them for the season in which they broke their duck…..and then they were funnelled into more competitive races
How can a horse who won a novice hurdle last season still be a novice this season ?
Some of the race conditions state that they’re for horses that haven’t won more than 3 novice hurdles…….so theoretically if you won one every two years you could run as a novice for 5 or 6 years after winning a hurdle race
Seems ridiculous…….
Horses that are maidens before March 1st but then win a race before the end of the season are eligible for novice races until the end of October. I presume this is to protect the strength of late season novice hurdles as any horse winning late season would be out of its novice stage very quickly in what is, to all intents and purposes, a ‘continuing season’ these days.
Rob
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