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A 12 furlong handicap schedueled 5 mins before the Derby.
Who on earth is running the show?
Not the BHA… must be the bookies in charge rubbing us punters blind with horses, greyhounds, virtual horses, virtual greyhounds, roulette and other nonsense like that. Perhaps they will create virtual punters one day….
Though I’m a jumps fan I can’t defend having meetings at Hexham and Worcester on the same day as the Derby. It’s ridiculous.
Phil
I don’t know the figure from today, but Hexham have had a decent crowd for their corresponding fixture for the past few years, and on a couple of occasions it’s been an annual best. On that basis I presume the Hexham management would beg to differ on your opinion.
Worcester have recorded their best attendance of the year on the corresponding day for the last five years.
Somebody might be doing something wrong, but I suggest it’s not the management of Hexham or Worcester.
Rob
Not the BHA… must be the bookies in charge rubbing us punters blind with horses, greyhounds, virtual horses, virtual greyhounds, roulette and other nonsense like that. Perhaps they will create virtual punters one day….
Though I’m a jumps fan I can’t defend having meetings at Hexham and Worcester on the same day as the Derby. It’s ridiculous.
Why must people insist on blaming bookies for every ill in racing even when that ill (as Rob has just pointed out) is not really an ill at all?
It’s ridiculous having jumps meetings on the same day as the Derby if all you’re planning to do is watch racing on tv or in the bookies.
If however, you like to attend racing & you live near Worcester, Hexham or any of the other courses holding meetings today, then what you want is racing on a beautiful sunny day like today.
Not to mention if the bookies were in charge, races would NEVER clash. You can only fill in one betting slip at a time after all.
The inaugural running of this Worcester meeting was in 1995, the same year as the Derby moved to a Saturday
There’ve been five afternoon meetings since 2006, two of which have been NH, and prior to this, with the exception of 2002 when there were again five, four was the rule since that Black Saturday in ’95
Haydock’s Cecil Frail/John O’Gaunt meeting was run on this Saturday for many years but seems to have disappeared, not that I’m sorry to see a jolly good meeting lose its undeserved subordinate place to the Derby meeting but…
…does anyone know if these famous old races are still run at another Haydock meeting?
It’s the scheduling of this very decent Musselburgh meeting (in Haydock’s place
) that perplexes me. The track has tried hard to improve the quality of its cards in recent years and this presumably is its flagship meeting. Now while I daresay the crowds flocked there today, for the majority of off-course Flat punters/fans it was surely more a case of three good Class 2 events slipping well under the radar and being wasted, due to eyes being focussed on EpsomWhy not stage it tomorrow instead? The Flat meetings at Brighton and Southwell hardly get the pulse going let alone er…racing
Far too much of a good thing today, as is the case with most summer Saturdays
The Wednesday Derby afternoons had just the one away meeting – halcyon days
The inaugural running of this Worcester meeting was in 1995, the same year as the Derby moved to a Saturday
…and the first year of summer jumping. Ergo, this has been one of Worcester’s flagship meetings ever since it became one of the pioneers of that splendid innovation, and I’d see no reason why the course executive there ought to be browbeaten out of keeping that meeting on this date by anyone.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Drone
Haydock’s John of Gaunt meeting was run last Saturday, the John of Gaunt being run under the guise of the Timeform Jury Stakes for the past 2 years.
The Cecil Frail Stakes was run at The Temple meeting there a week before, won by Beyond Desire.
Feel sorry for Musselburgh for not getting a bete field for their 0-105 3-y-o 12f handicap. It appears owners and trainers would rather dress up and run for far less at Royal Ascot.
If however, you like to attend racing & you live near Worcester, Hexham or any of the other courses holding meetings today, then what you want is racing on a beautiful sunny day like today.
Nail, head once again. Throw in the point-to-point meetings this afternoon at Cherrybrook (Devon), Trecoed (Pembrokeshire) and this evening at Whitfield (Northants), and to my mind this has been as comprehensive a programme of racing as there should be on a summer Saturday, Derby or otherwise. Racing cannot complain that prospective / tentative attendees are opting to spend their leisure pounds on other sports when there’s no meetings in their locality to go to in the first place.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
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Feel sorry for Musselburgh for not getting a better field for their 0-105 3-y-o 12f handicap. It appears owners and trainers would rather dress up and run for far less at Royal Ascot.
It was a surprise to me that Elite Racing’s lovely colt Dandino was sent to Epsom rather than Edinburgh, as he was in both races and the Scottish race seemed tailor-made for him, as well as richer and weaker in depth. Maybe the lure of getting 5 club badges for Derby Day was too strong.
In the event, of course, he provided the Club with a magnificent thrill by powering home on the Downs: next stop, I understand,
will
indeed be the 3yo handicap at Royal Ascot!
…and the first year of summer jumping.
So it was GC, had overlooked that. Not too black a Saturday then
Haydock’s John of Gaunt meeting was run last Saturday, the John of Gaunt being run under the guise of the Timeform Jury Stakes
Thanks DJ. Thought you lot would’ve had the good taste to retain the original name, but in matters of the Rose it is true that the Jury is still out on John O’Gaunt: White on Red or Red on White
Throw in the point-to-point meetings this afternoon at Cherrybrook (Devon), Trecoed (Pembrokeshire) and this evening at Whitfield (Northants), and to my mind this has been as comprehensive a programme of racing as there should be on a summer Saturday,
While I’m not so keenly keen on Summer Jumps as your good self GC, it’s not the scheduling of NH cards or a plethora of Points against the Derby (or any other big Flat meet) that bothers me particularly; these are indeed more or less complimentary and are much more welcome (IMO) than the confliction of one top-class Flat meeting with another very good one, particularly when followed by what is in comparison a Sunday vacuum
RFC’s obsession with weekends would be better fixated on Sundays than Saturdays
As for the subject of ‘too much racing’ overall, I think we went our separate ways many moons ago
It’s the scheduling of this very decent Musselburgh meeting (in Haydock’s place
) that perplexes me.Drone
Given that Musselburgh have had their best crowd of the season on the corresponding day for the past few years then it’s no surprise to me. I’m not sure of the crowd figure yesterday, and it’s been marketed as Ladies’ Day in previous years, but it was a packed house once again, so who is going to tell them they’ve got things wrong?
That’s three tracks at or near their season’s best crowds. Far from there being a problem I’d say it’s a case of the industry tapping into the Derby Day theme and doing very nicely thank you.
If there was an oddity I’d say it was Lingfield racing from 5.15 onwards, but then there’s an evening meeting slot available and it’s their decision.
Rob
A 12 furlong handicap schedueled 5 mins before the Derby.
Who on earth is running the show?
I think it’s the BHA Brains Trust, someone mentioned yesterday that Derby Day was one of only 3 Saturdays during the year with so many meetings, you couldn’t make it up and look what we have today, 3 meetings of the most miserable fare you could wish to see and only 2 races worth more than 3 grand to the winner but both less than £3.5k.
BHA you are a disgrace!With all due respect to Musselburgh and they fully deserve it, I think Elite Racing were probably swayed by the publicity value of running at Epsom and so it proved with a superb performance by the colt under a (IMHO) faultless ride by Paul Mulrennan.
Feel sorry for Musselburgh for not getting a better field for their 0-105 3-y-o 12f handicap. It appears owners and trainers would rather dress up and run for far less at Royal Ascot.
It was a surprise to me that Elite Racing’s lovely colt Dandino was sent to Epsom rather than Edinburgh, as he was in both races and the Scottish race seemed tailor-made for him, as well as richer and weaker in depth. Maybe the lure of getting 5 club badges for Derby Day was too strong.
In the event, of course, he provided the Club with a magnificent thrill by powering home on the Downs: next stop, I understand,
will
indeed be the 3yo handicap at Royal Ascot!
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I think it’s the BHA Brains Trust, someone mentioned yesterday that Derby Day was one of only 3 Saturdays during the year with so many meetings, you couldn’t make it up and look what we have today, 3 meetings of the most miserable fare you could wish to see and only 2 races worth more than 3 grand to the winner but both less than £3.5k.
BHA you are a disgrace!I went to Musselburgh for a Friday evwening meeting a couple of weeks back. It was very busy with punters quite happy to pay £20 for Class 4, 5 and 6 racing. To my mind that’s not not deal, but those present were perfectly happy and had a great time. Most wouldn’t know the difference between a Class 6 animal and a Class 2 animal. All they see is an exciting spectacle and a chance to enjoy themselves. Is that such a bad thing?
Musselburgh had two Class 2 races, a decent sprint handicap well oversubscridbed and, for all the questions about quality, a competitive middle distance handicap with a full house of runners. They had a decent two-year-old race with than one Royal Ascot contender present, and even the seller included that admirable eprformer Fremen who completed a six-timer for the season. Decent racing and a packed house, what’s wrong with that?
Hexham’s card was headlined by a decent Class 2 handicap hurdle with a number of in-form performers. Yes, the support card wasn’t brilliant but it’s still enough to pull in a decent crowd.
Worcester had a card filled with decent sized fields giving the £2 punter the each-way opportunities that they would welcome.
Here we have a day where the industry is successfully tapping in to Derby Day. It works and if every Saturday were like this the sport would be stronger for it, yet all we get on here are a bunch of ‘Disnal Jimmys’ de-crying the day’s racing.
If anybody here can tell me that all the Musselburgh, Hexham, Worcester and Doncaster racegoers would either have traipsed down to Epsom, or would have watched the Derby on TV then fine. Quite frankly I’m not sure they would, and perhaps a fair few would have been down the garden centre or in town centres.
Rob
When Sunday Racing first started we were told that some of the cream of the racing would take place on that day and that no race would be worth under 8 grand. Todays is a disgrace.
Frankly Robnorth if you consider it a success because they get a big crowd at the track then I would suggest you are living in cloud cuckoo land.
Superb last couple of posts, Rob – agree on all points without reservation.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
) that perplexes me. The track has tried hard to improve the quality of its cards in recent years and this presumably is its flagship meeting. Now while I daresay the crowds flocked there today, for the majority of off-course Flat punters/fans it was surely more a case of three good Class 2 events slipping well under the radar and being wasted, due to eyes being focussed on Epsom
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