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I think that’s a really good idea. Could time it to take place at half time during one of the evening games.
The rest of the days could easily go on as normal and just chuck in a mares race (they’re all the rage at the moment) in it’s stead on the Saturday. Failing that, maybe premier the Virtual National on the Saturday in-between races?
Forget moving The Derby back to a Wednesday. Let’s have the Grand National on a Wednesday.
I am not sure half time during the football is a goer, Sunsets at 8:11 that evening. Was that what Gamble was alluding to?
So at 8:11 on said Wednesday
Civil sunset or civil dusk starts..when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon
On the ground, you can still see everything clearly without extra illumination, you can still read a book, for example. You can still count your winnings or watch the bookies muttering the word bloodbath. Towards the end of this period, car headlamps need to be switched on, so watch your back, and streetlamps will be lit and a good time to leg it to the Queens Arms for an alcoholic analysis and dissection of the tiger.
Bit dangerous asking the BHA to move races – you could end up with the Grand National, the Scottish National and the Whitbread the same day.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Low Sun is a reason I wouldn’t run it at 7pm. Would anyone like a National with last two fences bypassed twice and no Chair or Water Jump. Swap the days of the entire Ayr and Aintree meetings I think. I know that might not go down too well with Sandown and Punchestown but it’s the easiest solution if they want to run with the shops open.
There might be a potential problem at the four fences between the Canal Turn and Melling Road as these face about WNW which is where the sun sets in mid-April, though I’m of the well-worn opinion that if you worry about what the capricious weather here in Blighty might be like sometime in the future you wouldn’t bother organising any outdoor pursuits
However, 7pm strikes me as the latest it should be run: the rearranged 1997 National (run on Monday) went off around 5pm and plenty watched that on the goggler despite regulation 9-5 working hours (remember them?
) so why not compromise and run this one at 6pmI turned in at 1am and got up at 630. Due to evidence no sun in the sky viewed from my large expansive window which can monitor distant planes flying over Battersea to Heathrow, I crawled back to bed for a further glorious three hours
This might brighten up your cornflakes.
YEATS…Nov 4 2014
saw Lydia Hislop protesting vehemently about the inflexibility of the BHA in not allowing Cheltenham to bring forward the big race but it was too late to change times and the BHA were right.
The blame surely lies with Cheltenham, they didn’t know where the sun would be at 2.30 until a race had been run on Friday afternoon? :roll:
ALAN POTTS in reply
Go back a few years and the Saturday feature used to be run at 2:55. It was moved to the earlier time to avoid the problems associated with low sun, but now the jockeys have moved the goalposts and decided that even a race run almost two hours before sunset (4:19 yesterday) requires the removal of fences.
And it seems from his comments yesterday that the clerk of the course is frustrated, but can do nothing as the jockeys have all the power. They told the starter, he told the stewards and they ordered the clerk to do their bidding
Run a ‘Silver’ GN on the Saturday, to include all those horses that got balloted out of the 40.
Then run the GN on the Wednesday.
Selfish stuff from Betway mouthpiece Alan Alger as he comes out in opposition to the plans. Betway sponsor the meeting (if not the Grand National itself) and are setting themselves up to be a roadblock to the idea.
Surely this isn’t the time to play the big man. And whatever self-interest is driving Alger and his mob must be pathetically small fry anyway. How much would-be Grand National retail turnover would instead land in the pockets of Betway specifically? A paltry amount of money.
Shame on them.
Just leave it where it is.
Swapping about fixtures in the calendar would have knock on effects either before or after regarding trainers’ plans for horses.
It is just coincidence that the GN falls 2 days before the currently planned reopening of betting shops which is not set in stone. The last thing the scientists would want is shops’ busiest day of the year, best to reopen on a quiet Monday and let folk drift back gradually.
Totally irresponsible suggestion IMO. Money over health as usual.
Agree Golden Miller. If it’s moved and there are negative consequences, be it photos of crowded betting shops all over the media, equine deaths attributed to firmer ground/low sun (regardless of whether this has any basis in fact) or whatever, there will be more anti-racing publicity and controlled and responsible reintroduction of crowds & owners will be delayed even further. Every chance that canny bookmakers will benefit from marketing to small backers to encourage them to open online accounts anyway. National Lottery seems to have increased its online presence pretty successfully.
No way I would move it. The ante-post market is about a year old, you have plenty of opportunities to place a bet online and what if the re-opening is being put back another week or so?
As GM already said, nothing is set in stone.
https://mobile.twitter.com/RacingTV/status/1364965568042917893
As stated above it wasn’t advisable to reopen the bookies on the busiest day of the year.
Just announced on RTV that the race goes ahead on 10th April and will not be moved.
In theory the Betting Shops should reopen on April 12 in England. Scottish one will still be closed and Boris has said it’s data not dates. If for some reason the data not right then even putting it off by a week might mean still no mass public betting on it. However last year’s virtual National had plenty on it.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.
) so why not compromise and run this one at 6pm
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