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Horses can be withdrawn shortly before a race without penalty if there is a change in the going.
Can connections withdraw their runner without penalty if a race is turned into a flat event?
It was pointless running Hiconic and Frodon today.
The race was a farce. It is not as if Aintree is unaware of the issue. Last season’s Old Roan Chase was ruined as well. Poor Frodon has not had much luck at Aintree!
How difficult is it to check the times of the sunset and then schedule the main race an hour before?!
Disagree here – fraudy Frodon for once not allowed to dictate and suspect stamina exposed, also jumped poorly by his standards when facing pressure.
The race certainly didn’t turn into a speed test when you look at the finishing speed % and the fact that paceless long distance chaser Lake View Lad managed to win.
Correct Cork. I wonder if that’s why Kelso have the Borders National as the final race on the card tomorrow?
I can remember when racing ahead when there was low sun. The sun has always been low in December and January. Of course everyone is so crazily safety conscience now. Has someone give me an instance of an accident or fatality created by the sun? Horses eyes are at the side and behind so they are not so effected by the sun as a jockey and they should wear suitable eyewear.
I’m sure Aintree would love to change the off time of The Many Clouds Chase to earlier but can’t due to ITV just as the station forces Becher day to be on the same day as the Tingle Creek and big races to be run late in the day on chopped up ground.
I can’t believe there isn’t a way to avoid this low sun issue, at least at some courses. Plants some trees, put up a screen, park one of those horrible blimp things that TV crews love so much… May not be logistically possible for some, and prohibitively expensive at smaller courses but big venues really should be open to options other than just bypassing obstacles. Since even re-timing key races seems beyond the wit of some in charge, I won’t hold my breath though
Patriot1
There was one occasion in the past when the start of the Borders National was delayed a few minutes for the sun to go down behind the hills. It is a pain that when the course as built in the 1820s H&S wasn’t high up the priority list!
Shipitollabolla
Horses rated in the 150s are not ‘paceless’. Lake View Lad can keep up the strong gallop and that is what he did yesterday against two top class opponents.
I appreciate the ITV coverage is important to racing but common sense needs to be shown with race times at this time of year. The tail should not be wagging the dog.
Crepello – I cannot recall an accident or fatality caused by low sun. However, I do remember seeing all the fences in the back straight omitted at Sedgefield one day. It meant a very long run to the first fence because the fences out the back were just too dangerous to jump. And at the very first fence in the home straight, the leader took it by the roots and crashed out spectacularly. Which made missing out the others on the grounds of safety look a bit ridiculous!
Returning to the question raised by Patriot, I don’t think the issue of withdrawing your horse if fences are being bypassed with no prior notice, has ever been tested.
But it might have been a year ago, when I had a runner in a two mile chase at Ffos Las, and there was a threat of low sun removing all four fences in the home straight, turning it into a race involving just five fences. I instructed my trainer to tell the jockey that he was to refuse to race if those fences were taken out due to low sun, and he was happy to do so.
But by the time of the race it had clouded over, so we never found out how the officials would have reacted. As it turned out, the horse jumped badly up the straight both times!
I guess the dificulty for most connections is that once you’ve paid the entry fee, the jockey fee and transport to the course, you might as well take part and hope for some prize money.
As for the race yesterday, it could have been delayed and run 30 minutes after the scheduled final race at 3:45, as sunset wasn’t until 3:55. This sort of delay can happen due to an ambulance having to leave the course, or an injured horse or jockey still being treated on the course, so why not for low sun. Many of us will remember the Gold Cup being delayed by about 75 minutes by a heavy snow shower – if it’s OK for the Gold Cup …..
If the TV company don’t like it, tough. We’re running a live sport, not a TV spectacular.
Thanks for the response AP. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if you had withdrawn your horse. As I said earlier it was pointless running Frodon and Hiconic without jumps so if they were my horses I would have withdrawn them.
Rob, I was at the borders national meeting last year. I was on top of the wonderful old grandstand before one of the later races chatting to a guy who had travelled up from Aintree the previous day. All the fences were being dolled off and he pointed to a large bank of cloud which was heading towards the sun. Sure enough 60 seconds before the race started the sun was completely covered. Did they take the dolls out? No. They still had a farcical race run under cloud cover.
Francome said twenty years ago that someone should be able to devise a screen to block out the low sun. And Peter Scu said that in all his time riding low sun was never an issue. The sun hasn’t moved has it?
As a Kelso member, and one of the ‘Rooftop Regulars’, I know the frustration only too well. Plenty of times the cloud has come down and the race is run with no sun but jumps missed. We had a farce one time last season when the last hurdle was in the shadow of the stands, and the nearest sunny part of the track was a furlong up the course, yet they still missed both hurdles in the straight.
It may have helped if they had built the new High School right next to the course!
Incidentally, I’ve stood down by the last in the mid winter, looked back up the hill and to be quite honestly you can see **** all going up that hill into bright sunshine, so I do understand why fences are omitted.
On a positive note Rob, the view from the top of the grandstand at Kelso is superb. You’re almost on top of the horses on the hurdle course.
Here’s hoping we get the chance to sample it again before the end of the season.
We always have a bit of a laugh in September/October when the roof is well populated. we know that there will only be the most hardy up there when the sleet is blowing sideways in December/January! Superb view, one of the four best in racing alongside Goodwood, Ludlow and, unaided by a stand, Hexham.
2020 Membership has been extended to end of May, which I hope will give us something for our money. I reckon Morebattle meeting in February would be first chance of any sort of crowd at Kelso.
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